Flames’ singles players taking in American culture
Julia Butaev and Benedetta Piotti are two juniors at Lodi High who are looking to making a smash hit in their favorite sport.
They are also taking part in teenage activities such learning about a new culture and expanding their taste buds at different restaurants.
Butaev and Piotti are two of 14 foreign exchange students who are attending Lodi, Tokay and Galt high schools for the 2019-20 school year. The two are also starting singles players on the Lodi High girls tennis team; Piotti is in the No. 2 spot with an 8-0 record and Butaev is at No. 3 at 71.
According to the Sac-Joaquin Section, Lodi and Galt high schools each have five foreign exchange students and Tokay four. According to Lodi High Athletic Director Robert Winterhalter and Tokay High Athletic Director Michael Holst, their respective schools use Cultural Homestay International, a worldwide student exchange program that started in 1980. The California Interscholastic Federation uses Cultural Homestay International as one of nearly three-dozen organizations being used for the current school year, according to its website – cifstate.org.
Butaev is from Hanover, Germany, which is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Her host family
is Neil and Ruth Anderson, who have a daughter. Butaev is also living with another foreign exchange student in Leila Penna, who is from Spain.
Butaev’s parents are Artur and Irina. Julia is the youngest of four siblings; her sister, Rita, 30 and brothers Oleg and David, both of whom are in their mid to late-20s.
Piotti is from Brescia, Italy, in the north Italian region of Lombardy. Her host family is Casey and Jennifer Haynes and their children Alexandria and Hunter. Piotti’s father is Andrea and her mother is Mariuccia. Alessandro, 19, is Benedetta’s brother.
Tennis is a part of Butaev and Piotti’s lives; Butaev has been playing for the last four years and Piotti five years. Since their schools in their countries don’t offer sports after school, they play for club teams.
Playing high school tennis in the U.S. has been a rewarding experience for Butaev.
“The girls are really nice,” said Butaev of her Flame teammates. “I feel we have a team bonding.
Added Piotti, “Tennis in Italy is very different. We don’t have sports in schools, so if you want to play a sport you have to find a club and play it outside of the school. We are usually few people, so the practice is more focused.”
Butaev credits playing hard and good conditioning — now and before coming to the United States — for her performance on the tennis courts.
“I just wait for the player I play against,” Butaev said. “I can play really long rallies. I like winning.” Piotti reveals part of her strategy toward winning matches.
“I think that my serve and forehand are pretty good,” Piotti said.
The sport has helped Piotti adjust to life in the United States.
“I was pretty sad when I first got in America, but knowing the tennis team helped me a lot; they are super nice and funny,” said Piotti of her Lodi teammates.
Piotti also enjoys working with Lodi High girls tennis head coach Shelby Stillwell, who is in her first year running the program.
“Shelby is also very nice,” said Piotti of Stillwell. “She is like a second host mum.”
Butaev thinks it is “pretty cool” to be studying and living in the United States.
“It’s really different compared to Germany,” Butaev said.
Along with getting to know their American classmates and teammates on the girls tennis team, the duo experienced their first American high school football game on Aug. 30. That was when Lodi hosted Ceres in a nonleague game at the Grape Bowl. The two girls sat with their teammates in the Flames’ student section as the Flames posted a 51-0 win over the Bulldogs.
“It was an amazing experience,” Piotti said. “It was like in a film.”
One of the differences between Germany and the United States is the food, Butaev noted.
“I love the food like In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A,” Butaev said. “We just have McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC.”
Butaev likes the friendly faces she sees when she’s gone into InN-Out Burger and other restaurants she’s visited since she arrived in the United States.
“It’s really nice,” Butaev said. Piotti has her reason for wanting to study in the United States for a year.
“I wanted to challenge myself and learn English,” Piotti said.
Butaev said her parents wanted her to spend a year in America for the education.
“My parents wanted me to do it because to improve my English language,” Butaev said. “I’ve always been interested in the U.S., live here and (see) how it is, how it is different than Europe. I wanted to get to know the culture.”
The thoughts of living in the United States has entered Butaev’s mind.
“It’s really different than Europe,” Butaev said. “I want to get to know the culture and my English and go to school here.”
Butaev said that Germany students, after they finish fourth grade in grammar school attend one of three types of schools that range from fifth grade to 13th grade. The students who do well in grammar school after fourth grade attend a higher and better academic school, which is where Butaev was attending before leaving for the United States.
“We don’t have the same classes every day,” said Butaev of the classes in Germany. “We have a couple of days to do homework in those classes. We don’t just have six classes in a year; we have 13 classes.”
Both girls are planning to go out for other sports teams during the school year. Piotti plans to try out for the Lodi High girls soccer team this winter. Butaev plans to go out for the school’s girls track and field team next spring.