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Wednesday was a full day for the youngsters and their two chaperones, Miss Pamela Lee of Palo Alto, Calif., and Meg Goetz of Ventura, Calif. They spent the afternoon on the beach at 62nd Street, then returned to the hosts' homes to change for dinner at the Angler Restaurant, followed by an ocean cruise on Ocean City's finest and newest charter boat, the Capt. Talbot.
Following the cruise they returned to the 62d St. beach for a party and bonfire.
They left on the last leg of their trip to New York at 10 am Thursday. In New York they will be debriefed on their year in the United States after being separated into countries. They will then return to their home countries.
The bus, one of 76 similar buses, left California June 25 and has stopped at Scottsdale, Ariz.; Deming, N.M.; Kermit, Texas, Dallas, Texas; Vicksburg, Miss.; Opelika, Ala.; Greenville, S.C.; Rocky Mount, N.C., and Ocean City.
All of the buses presently touring the nation with AFS students will converge on New York the same day to conclude the year.
The bus arrived in Rockville, Md., for several days for visits to Washington, D.C., before they go to New York.
Miss Goetz, who is only 21 herself, said the students have been a pleasure to work with during the entire trip- and despite a few minor problems- morale has remained extremely high and everyone has learned a lot more about the nation they have been in for the past year.
She said the biggest thrill for her has been the experience of seeing her own nation through the eyes of the foreign students- "even though they are all Californians to me, now."
Miss Goetz said, the students have found that they are having a difficult time reverting to their native tongue because they now think in English. When they meet a student from their native country they usually try to converse in their native tongue, but revert to English in short order, she commented.
The students themselves had the highest praise for the host families all across the nation. Everyone welcomed them whole-heartedly.
Miss Goetz pointed out, too, that the program is non-political and non-religious. Among the students on the bus were those from Israel, the United Arab Republic and Viet Nam. "Some places we stopped they were asked to comment on the situations in their home country,' said Miss Goetz, "but they don't know anymore than we do- all they know is what they've read in the American press and heard from their own native village. That's no indication," she said.
One of the big disappointments for the students was the anticipation of the Fourth of July celebration, but unfortunately they were in Vicksburg, Miss., that day. There is no Fourth celebration there, she said, because that's the day Vicksburg fell before North's forces during the Civil War.
She said, though that they were taken for a boat cruise on the Mississippi that day and they held their own celebration aboard the boat.
To keep discipline and morale problems in hand during the trip, bus officers were elected each week. They included bus president, secretary, sergeant-at- arms, cheerleaders and entertainment director. They composed bus songs and all learned songs native to most of the countries represented. Several musical instruments were in hand at all times.
At each stop one student has written the highlights of their stay. Miss Lee and Miss Goetz will collect these at the end of the trip, duplicate them and mall them to each one of the students for a permanent record of the three weeks they spent together on the bus.
In Ocean City they really enjoyed the ocean and most spent practically all of Wednesday afternoon in the water. Very few of them were ready to leave Beachcomber Land when they boarded their bus for the next hop in their trip to their native countries.