Stevy Claire- France

• My name is Stevy Claire. I am this man who has always lived in a small village of France called La Membrolle. La Membrolle is a tranquil place with few inhabitants situated at fifteen minutes by car from the center of Tours. I have a taste for uncommon situations like meeting new people from different parts of the world and I'm quite sure that my decision to go to the USA is due to that open-mindedness. My parents are people of faith and always encouraged us to try to meet new people from everywhere; they have this taste for travelling and they gave us this proclivity to love others even if they are different from you.      
  
  As far as I'm concerned, I am someone very hearty who thinks that nothing is better than life, and life is precious. Encouraging others is something that I always tried to do, because it is a lesson of life; when you encourage people to hold on, you encourage yourself by the same way. Concerning my abilities, I have to say that I'm fond of music, but especially  “Gospel music". Everything has begun when I was 4 or 5, I started to sing at church in front of the crowd, and since that day, my life has been surrounded by music. I enrolled in Amity institute because the exchanges are important for the knowledge. This program is also a faster means to improve my English, and being a teacher is something that I'm quite comfortable and acquainted with. More than theory, practice is my area of expertise, and I insist on that value because it is with oral practice that my contribution to an American foreign language classroom would be appreciated. I’m waiting upon this year to experience the greatest year of my life.

• Noelia is from Huelva, a city located in the South of Spain in the Region of Andalucia. She is 25 years old and has a degree in Advertising/Publicity & Public Relations from the University of Valladolid.
  Her interests are travelling anywhere, reading the newspapers and historical novels, listening to music (especially indie rock) and watching movies...Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton are two of her favorites film directors.
  She loves to meet  people from different cultures and share with them opinions, ideas and customs...that is one of the reasons for which she decided to come to the USA as an amity.
  

Jorge Franco Salazar- Colombia

• My name is Jorge Enrique Franco Salazar, I was born in a little town called Tunja it is near to Bogota in Colombia, I´m 26 years old, I like to play soccer and listen to music, I love metal music because It gives me a feeling of freedom, my favorite band is Iron Maiden, also I have a metal band in my hometown, we play death-thrash metal and our lyrics are related to Muiska tribe and social issues in Colombia; I´m in 8th semester of Foreign Languages at the UPTC (Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologicaq de Colombia); I came to US because it was a dream to study and share my culture abroad and I´m very glad to be an Amity Intern Teacher in UWL, it´s a good experience that I´ll never forget.

Pilar Pino Zaballos- Spain

• Hi! I am one of the two Amities from Spain this year. I Graduated in English Philology last course, at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, being American Literature my specialization. I am a book devourer, film lover (especially Classic Hollywood movies) and I enjoy discovering new music styles.  I came here to learn about and experience American culture, and I will be very glad to share my own with anybody who is interested in knowing a little more from my country.

Lara Riedel- Germany

• My name is Lara Riedel. I am 25 years old and come from a small town in Bavaria. I’ve been living in Hanover for 5 years now, where I study music and English to become a teacher. Music is the most important thing in my life. I sing and play the piano, like listening to pop music and jazz and also like writing own songs. I enjoy inviting friends and cooking for them, I think there is no better way to spend an evening than having a good meal with friends and talking about everything under the sun.

  Being an Amity not only gives me the opportunity to gain teaching experience and improving my English language skills, it also means getting to know people from all over the world. I love meeting new people! Here in La Crosse I not only meet people from America but a lot of international students, too. I think this is great!