Leon Trillmich has a different view on Boyertown than most people in the school.

The foreign exchange student is a sophomore from Vechta, Lower Saxony, which is in the northwest of Germany. He came to Boyertown close to the start of the school year through the Academic Year in America (AYA) program and will be here until either the middle of January or middle of June.

One of his main reasons for coming here was to experience what America is truly like, not just how it is portrayed in movies.

“I mean, when you look at Hollywood you always see that side of America, but I know that it is not really reality so I wanted to experience how it really is,” he says.

So far, “it’s not as different as I thought it would be, the cinemas are the same,” he says. Also, when it comes to music, he says there isn’t too much difference between nations. He likes all kinds of music, but prefers rap and rock.

Now, that’s not to say the US and Germany are identical. Leon said that the US is different in that it uses technology more in schools. “In Germany, you still write on blackboards.”

One thing he did say is different about America is the food — and it’s one of his favorite things about this country.

”The food, the food is really good here, I like food.”  

He likes burgers and pizza. However, his favorite food is Turkish, Doner kebab, a type of sandwich.  Even though he likes American food overall, he says school lunches are much better in Germany because all students are allowed to leave for lunch.

Outside of school, Leon plays for the Boyertown Soccer Club. His favorite “football” team is Bayern Munich, and one of his idols is a former Bayern goalkeeper. He has not been to any Philadelphia Union games, but says he likes basketball and is going to a s Sixers game in November.

He also enjoys spending time with his three brothers, who are in 11th, 9th and 4th grades, and are also in the school district and staying with the same host family.