by Katelyn Smelcer
Neirivue, Switzerland is home to Johan, a small town of only 300 people. There, he learned his first language, French, but also to be fluent in English and German. He has brought with him  both culture and charm to the halls of Liberty High School. To fly across the sea was not cheap. It cost Johan about eleven thousand dollars, even with the two thousand dollar scholarship he recieved. But Johan does not regret it.
“I wanted to do an exchange year. I was bored of my life in Switzerland; I did the same thing every day. I wanted a change,” Lanzrein said.
Curiosity, it seems, is contagious, as it is building up in many students as they speculate on what Johan thinks of Liberty.
“High School is much easier and the classes are more fun. Here the people are much nicer, because in Switzerland if people don’t know you they won’t talk to you. The food is very different too,” Lanzrein said.
What is more is that the students appear to be quite intrigued with him.
“Johan is very nice, he’s easy to talk to, and he has better manners than some of the guys here,” sophomore Aubrynne Jaramillo said. Others are charmed by Johan, as well.
“He’s really funny and sociable,” junior Alexa Wright said. It is no riddle to Johan when it comes to charm, and he has even managed to make a best friend.
“I went over to his host parents’ house to sell him cookies for a fundraiser. We’ve become pretty close, best friends actually,” senior Chelsea Ross said.
His schedule now consists of classes that give him diversely new experiences each day. Compared to his life back home in Neirivue, Johan is happy about the miscellany of America.
“Back home, I just liked to hang out with my friends and go to the park. During the week all I did was go to school, I did the same thing every day. Here, every day I do different things,” he said.