By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Chi Do, a foreign exchange student from Vietnam, is studying at Centre High School this year. He lives with host parents Marcus and Peggy Carlson of rural Lincolnville.

Considering the goal the 16-year-old teenager set for himself when he enrolled, Chi Do spends most of his time doing schoolwork. He was classified as a junior but wanted to graduate with the 2011 senior class. In order to do that, he was required to take four online classes.

With that more-than-full schedule, Chi still takes time to participate in basketball and golf, scholars’ bowl, and Future Business Leaders of America.

Coming from the metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam to a farm in the middle of Kansas was a drastic change, but Chi had some idea of what life would be like here. That is because his sister, Khanh Do, was an exchange student at CHS in the 2004-05 school year.

Khanh continued her education in the U.S. after graduating from Centre. She is a senior at the University of Kansas and will be employed as a pharmacist in California after graduation.

The siblings’ mother traveled to the U.S. two years ago to visit Khanh. She also visited the Carlsons and expressed appreciation for making Khanh a part of their family.

The mother asked the Carlsons if they would also host her son Chi, and they agreed to do so. He received advanced placement.

“It’s pretty quiet here,” Chi said. “At first it was kind of boring, but it’s fun now.”

As Vietnam has a tropical climate, he had never seen snow. He called snow “boring” and said he spent snow days concentrating on his studies.

Marcus said Chi has been an “easy keeper.” He said he needs little help with schoolwork, keeps his bedroom and bathroom orderly, and does his own laundry. He also helps around the farm.

Chi said he enjoys playing with the farm dogs. He has never had a pet. He also enjoys taking walks with Marcus and learning from him about American agriculture. Peggy occasionally helps him with assignments and prepares meals. Chi helped her seed some early garden vegetables.

Chi has learned to eat potatoes and gravy, something he was not familiar with in Vietnam. The Carlsons occasionally take him to a Vietnamese restaurant.

“The food is good,” Marcus said.

Chi keeps in touch with his parents through e-mails. Both of them are pharmacists. After graduation, he plans to return to Vietnam for the summer and hopes to return to the United States in the fall. He wants to attend Emporia State University and pursue a pre-engineering course of study.

Chi is the 10th exchange student the Carlsons have hosted, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. During that time, they have raised three children — Travis, Brent, and Brooke.

They have hosted three students from Vietnam, two from Brazil, and one each from Ukraine, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Moscow.

The Carlsons said Chi might be their last exchange student. “It’s time for us to experience the empty-nest syndrome,” Peggy said.

“It’s opened our eyes to see that the world is not as large as you think it is,” she added. “And we also learned that teenagers are the same all over.”

She has a photo album of photos taken with the exchange students. She keeps in touch with most of them through Facebook and an occasional phone call.

“It’s been a good run,” Peggy said. “I love the kids. They are good kids.”

“This was our way of seeing the world,” Marcus said.