Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2013, Page 173

Description:	The Chance of aLifetimeId Khaledto America from Israel hefound much more than heBig cities, big people and big dreams. This is how Americais portrayed in other countries and this is the mentality thatjunior Khaled Sabri Zbidat had with him when he came to thecountry. Zbidat is a foreign exchange student from Sakhnin,Israel. He came to the states in early August of 2012. Heapplied for a foreign exchange scholarship and when he gotaccepted, he couldnt believe it This was the opportunity thathis older brother had told him so much about.I wasnt going to miss my chance. Zbidat said. WhenZbidat arrived at Dulles airport in Washington D.C., he saw alot of what was America in the movies, big buildings, lots ofpeople and a beautiful city. Three days later, after his stay inWashington, he arrived in Bloomington and all of his thoughtsabout America had changed. He was told that there was goingto be a lot of obese people. I got here and I thought, Okay,where are the fat people? Zbidat said.That wasnt the only thing that surprised him though. Thementality, freedom and the kindness of the American people,especially the teenager was something very new to him.American teenagers are cool, Zbidat said. They respectyou a lot. They are all very interested to know more about you.You feel like the center of the world.•«Story and photo by Jade Passwaiter173
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/7600
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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