Nearly 50 years later, exchange student’s ties to Belmond remain strong

When Anne Stokke arrived in Iowa as a 17-year-old foreign exchange student, she didn’t know exactly what to expect, only that she was ready for something different.

Stokke came to Belmond-Klemme High School from Notterøy, Norway, in August 1976 through Youth For Understanding (YFU), an exchange program that placed students with host families across the United States. Participants did not choose their destination.

“I had finished compulsory school in Norway and had started another three years of education, but I wasn’t very motivated,” Stokke said. “I had also lost my father the year before, so things were a little tough. I figured a year of something completely different might be good for me.”

She was placed with the Bob and Inez Ketchum family, who picked her up at the Mason City airport on Aug. 5, 1976, a date she recently rediscovered on her original plane ticket while looking through photos to share for this story. 

“I had all kinds of feelings and thoughts going through my mind,” she said. “Maybe it’s like skydiving for the first time, not knowing where or how you’ll land.”

As she prepares to mark 50 years since her arrival next August, Stokke says the significance of that moment has only grown with time.

She recently reread two letters from her host family sent before her arrival, welcoming her as their American daughter and sister.

“As an adult, I realize how big that was,” she said. “To say yes to having a complete stranger live in your home for a whole year, that’s amazing. Back then, I didn’t think about it that way, and I had no idea what I was about to experience.”

Coming from a coastal town in Norway, Stokke quickly realized how different life in north central Iowa was. 

“I remember looking out of the plane window and being surprised by how flat everything was,” she said. “No mountains. Driving to school was new to me. Homecoming, warm lunches at school, the sports, the cheerleaders, celebrating the Fourth of July, it was all so different from how we do things in Norway.”

While she felt welcomed by her host family, the adjustment wasn’t easy. Stokke admits she was very homesick during her first weeks in Belmond.

“I was used to a different kind of freedom,” she said. “I could hop on my bike or a bus and go wherever I wanted. I lived close to a town and the ocean. That was hard to adjust to.”

She believes the lack of instant communication ultimately helped her stay.

“There were no computers, no cellphones,” she said. “I couldn’t just FaceTime my family back in Norway. Phone calls were expensive and had to be planned. We wrote letters, and it could take weeks to get a response.”

By the time she was able to explain how homesick she felt, she had already begun to adjust. Encouragement from her mother to “hang in there” helped as well.

“I’m so glad no one told me I could go back,” she said. 

Some adjustments were easier, and more enjoyable, than others. She fondly remembers warm blueberry muffins with butter and pancakes for breakfast.

Joining Belmond-Klemme as a senior, Stokke said she was warmly welcomed by classmates and teachers alike. Friends invited her along to everyday activities, from volleyball games to canoeing trips on the river.

One moment from her senior year has stayed with her for decades.

“I remember the principal, Mr. Cleveland,” she said. “He came into the classroom one day, very serious, and asked me to follow him to his office. I was sure I was in trouble.”

Instead, he pulled her class ring from his desk drawer.

“I’ve shown that ring many times when traveling back to the U.S.,” she said. “When they ask why I’m visiting, I show them the ring and say I was an exchange student. That usually helps.”

Nearly 50 years later, Stokke’s connection to Belmond remains strong. She has returned many times over the years, attending most class reunions and visiting friends in Iowa and now living across the country.

“I made so many good friends for life, and I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “True friendship tops different views and ways of life.”

Several classmates and host family members have also visited her in Norway, and Stokke has traveled with her Belmond classmates to places including Rome, London, Copenhagen and Canada. It even took two classmates visiting her in Norway to convince her to finally explore the fjords on the country’s west coast.

Looking back, Stokke says her year at Belmond-Klemme gave her a wider perspective on life.

“It’s too easy to say people from one country are all the same,” she said. “We are all different. It’s the connections with people that matter and shape who you become.”

Asked what made Belmond such a special place for forming lifelong bonds, she doesn’t point to geography.

“It was the people,” she said. “You don’t choose your family, but you choose your friends, and they choose you.”

If she could offer advice to her 18-year-old self stepping off the plane in Iowa for the first time, it would be simple.

“Give it time, be open-minded, and trust the friendships you build,” she said. “Those connections are what will stay with you long after the year is over.”