Helena, 17, came to Saginaw, Michigan from eastern Germany for her exchange year — and landed with a host family she already knew. Years earlier, her own family in Germany hosted an American advisor named Janis during a two-week exchange. They stayed in touch for a year. Now that same advisor is Helena’s host mom — and Kelsey is about to chaperone the very program that started it all.
In this episode:
- homesickness around the holidays
- three host brothers who took a while to warm up (and eventually became her favorite part of the year)
- prom dress shopping with her host mom
- a surprise German carol solo at a Frankenmuth church
- graduation nerves
- and why Helena sums up her whole year in one word: magical