’99 exchange student returns
Staff writer
Coming from the German city of Bremen to Marion was quite a culture shock for Christopher Behnken.
He barely spoke English and knew nothing about the town when he arrived for an exchange program in August, 1998.
“I knew I was going to Kansas, to Marion,” Behnken said. “But at that time, there was not much internet, so I didn’t actually know anything about Marion.”
Small-town living also was new to Behnken. Bremen is a dense city with a population of more than half a million. That’s more than Kansas City and in a city with about half the area.
Behnken came to Marion after graduating from10th grade in the German school system. One of his friends told him she had been accepted into an exchange program. The idea of an adventure across the Atlantic excited Behnken.
“I was pretty bad at school. Like, I failed English class,” he said. “And I thought, OK, getting out of school here, going to the United States, that’s kind of a great idea.”
He spoke with his parents about the possibility of going abroad. They agreed.
Behnken took various tests with a German company to see whether he qualified for an exchange program. He surprised himself by passing every one.
“I guess they wanted to make money with me,” he joked.
The company did not give him a choice about where he’d be living in the United States. Eventually, he got a call about a couple who’d be willing to house him for the year. They lived in a town of about 2,000 named Marion.
“I wrote a letter and sent some pictures, and they wrote me back,” Behnken said.
Soon, the couple was greeting him at the airport.
Behnken liked his classes, and, at 6-foot-6, was welcomed onto Marion High School’s basketball team.
“I was going to school the next day after I came to the United States,” Behnken said. “At the high school, everyone was very nice and very helpful.”
He also quickly picked up English.
“I was 16, so at that age, you learn pretty fast,” he said.
Living in a small town was different, but he enjoyed the experience.
“You greeted everyone on the street, said hi to the cops. It was easy for me to live there,” he said. “I had a lot of friends, I was able to play basketball.”
Behnken emphasized multiple times that he “grew a lot” in Marion.
Behnken left Marion after graduating with the class of 1999. He attended school in Germany for three more years, then joined what was at the time a mandatory military service program.
After a three-year apprenticeship with Kraft Foods, he attended the University of Kiel, where he met his future wife and became a medical doctor.
“A lot of changes,” he laughed.
Today, he lives in his hometown of Bremen with his wife.
Behnken has come back to Kansas “once or twice” to visit his host family. He also attended Old Settlers Day in 2009 for his 10-year reunion.
“It was fun, because everybody looked at me and asked why I was there,” he said.
Back in 2009, not too much had changed between Behnken and his former classmates. In 2024, he expects things to be quite different.
“Everybody started families, has kids,” he said. “I will be happy to see them again and talk to them in person. It’s going to be great.”