State Fair: Not so foreign to exchange students

I saw the Minnesota State Fair with fresh eyes this year, thanks to Max Kern, Selma Celenligil and Nada Ali. It just wasn't quite the fresh-eyed outcome I expected.

The three poised and polite young people arrived in the Twin Cities in August and will attend high school through the international exchange program Youth for Understanding USA. My idea was to dazzle the three with the fair's sights and lights, bizarre foods on sticks, the midway and music -- basically offer them experiences they'd never had. This would have worked really well ... about 25 years ago.

Note to self: The world is so small now.

"Katy Perry!" 17-year-old Selma, of Ankara, Turkey, shouted as we wandered down the midway to a pulsating "California Gurls." Selma also watches "Family Guy."

She, along with Max, 17, of Friedberg, Germany, and Nada, 15, of Al Ahmadi, Kuwait, are all on Facebook, have cell phones, text their friends and speak English beautifully. They're well-versed in roller coasters, too.

But there we were on a cool, clear Tuesday night, and I was determined to find something that would make them say OMG. Fortunately, the Great Minnesota Get-Together offered up a few experiences that did the trick:

Foot-long hot dogs. Max, tall and slender, made a beeline for the beef-and-pork dogs and made one disappear like magic. "The best!" he said.

"Nobody eats sauerkraut on hot dogs in Germany," said Max, who will attend Roseville High School.

Nada, 15, was spellbound by the 90-pound butter heads in the Dairy Building. "Oh, my god!" asked Nada, who will attend Central High School in St. Paul. "Then what? Do they take them home and put them in the fridge?"

Selma attempted to succeed at another great American tradition: Overeating. "Ughhh," she moaned after trying to finish her chocolate-and-vanilla soft-serve from the Dairy Building. "Too big." (Mine must have been smaller, because I had no trouble finishing it.) Selma, 17, will attend Como Park High School in St. Paul.

Spinning, flying, scary things: All three rode the whirling Techno Power, making me glad we hadn't eaten first. "Not bad," Selma said. "In Turkey, it doesn't turn like that."

Yessssssss.

The three added a few other items to the list for me. They find American cookies, especially those called "Oreos," the best thing ever. They love how green and lush everything looks here, and how interesting it is that homes stretch out sideways instead of up-and-up in the form of high-rises. They are amused by how many festivals we offer in the summer. They think it's funny that we make a whole meal out of just eggs. And meals out of cans.

Despite the fact that tensions are running high in this political season, they independently confirmed that Minnesota graciousness remains top-notch. At the Crutchee's food stand, the smiling owner offered all three a free cheese-on-a-stick and lemonade (this before learning that a reporter was present). "I want you to like America," she said.

"People here are so nice," said Nada who, observing Ramadan, waited patiently to eat until sundown. "No one treats me different because I look different," she said.

Max agreed. "I like how the Americans talk to me, very open-minded," and more than willing to make him really feel at home.

"I don't know why," he said, delighted, "but everyone's talking to me in German."

Gail Rosenblum • 612-673-7350 • gail.rosenblum@startribune.com