Many students have proudly lived in Marin for their entire lives. But for a few, Northern California is just the newest place they can call home.
This year, 13 students came to Redwood from all around the world, hailing from nine different countries.

Sophomore Sebastian William Nee arrived from Panama eight months ago, but the move was not his first relocation. Born in Italy, Nee has alternated between living in Italy and New York City for the majority of his life.
“My dad made websites, so we could live anywhere,” he said. “So we moved to Italy because my mom has family there and wanted to be with them, and then New York because my dad has family there.”
Nee said his family moved to Panama so that he could fully immerse himself in the Spanish language.
Senior Maria Yacobi has also lived in multiple countries. Yacobi, who calls Madrid her hometown, has also lived in Ireland.
According to Yacobi, one of the biggest differences between school life in Spain and the United States is the homework load.
“I’ve never had so much homework in my life,” she said. “In Spain you have to do homework until you’re 15 or something. As long as you learn the material, it’s fine.”
Nee said that he has also had to learn to quickly adjust to different schools. He has attended a total of 13 schools and said that, with each new move and each new school, he faces similar problems.
“I’ve had a lot of trouble getting used to languages,” Nee said. “I’m fluent in Spanish, Italian and English. But even when I was moving from Italy and New York, it was hard to get used to speaking English again, or Italian. And right after you get used to it, you move again.”
Sophomore Alex Egger, who moved from Moscow this year, also said he finds it difficult to immediately adapt to his new school’s culture.
“First I try to settle in, find the people I know, like neighbors,” Egger said. “And of course I try and find Russian students. I’ve already found a few here, but it’s not always easy.”
The United States is the seventh country that Egger has called home. He was born in Dubai, but has also lived in London, Switzerland, Singapore, Beijing, and Moscow.
According to Egger, the key difference between all the cultures is the people’s attitude, particularly the level of politeness.
“Some places are more formal, some more aggressive,” Egger said. “The most polite place I’ve lived in would probably be Singapore. In their families, they’re taught that you have to say ‘Hello, how are you?,’ ‘Thank you,’ and they have all known that since they were kids.”
On the other hand, Egger said not all places are so welcoming.
“Moscow is very different,” Egger said. “People there can be polite once they get to know you, but they’re not friendly when you meet them,” Egger said. “You can say they have bad opinions of other people. For example, Americans, they think they’re all big, fat, lazy hamburgers.”
Yacobi said that she based her expectations on the reputation of the ‘typical’ American high school.
“I expected it to be like the movies,” Yacobi said. “And I think it turned out to be like I expected, mostly.”
However, Egger said that so far, Americans have not met the stereotypes held about them by people abroad.
“I’d say the US is an eight out of ten on politeness. And here, it’s relaxed, sort of, which is nice,” Egger said.