A ‘joyeux’ reunion for Peggy and Perry Olson
One of the couple’s 7 former exchange students returns to BE
Twenty years ago, Peggy and Perry Olson began what was to become a lifelong, cross-continental friendship.
Foreign exchange student Marine Lefranc, a native of Beauvais, France, came to stay with the Olsons in 2003, and has been an important part of their lives ever since.
Peggy explains she and Perry initially decided to host an exchange student after their own children were grown and had moved out of the family’s home in Blue Earth.
At the age of 39, Peggy felt she was too young to be an empty-nester.
“I wasn’t ready not to have kids in the house, yet,” she remembers.
The couple reached out to Elmore resident Vicki Boeckman, a long-time exchange student host, and Boeckman connected the Olsons with an exchange student program.
Thus began an exciting chapter in the couple’s lives.
All in all, the Olsons have hosted seven exchange students over the years. Their young, international guests have hailed from all over the world: Ecuador, the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and, of course, France.
Years later, the Olsons still check in with their former foreign exchange students regularly – mostly through the messaging platform WhatsApp.
“We talk to most of them monthly, or every two months,” Peggy says.
However, she and Perry have maintained a particularly close bond with Marine.
“Marine was the first - that’s why I think she is so extra-special to us,” Peggy explains.
Now, it has been almost 20 years since Marine first met the Olsons. At that time, she was a high school student who was still learning to speak English.
“It was her first time in the U.S.,” Peggy recalls.
However, Marine would return to the United States many times over the next two decades; Peggy says she and Perry typically receive annual visits from their French friend.
Marine has even made arrangements to meet – in person – each exchange student the Olsons have hosted since her own exchange trip in 2003.
However, COVID marked a years-long separation for the lifelong friends. Until this month, the Olsons had waited a stretch of six years to see Marine in person again.
Marine was finally able to travel to Blue Earth last week, however, and it was a joyous reunion.
“When I pulled in (to the airport) she jumped into my arms,” Peggy laughs.
Marine arrived in Minnesota on Sunday, July 9, and she was joined by a few friends from Europe the following Wednesday. One was Marine’s friend from France, and the other was her colleague from Spain.
Apart from visiting the Olsons, the three women had traveled to the United States to embark upon a two-week long road trip
Following their short stay in Blue Earth, the women borrowed some camping gear from the Olsons and headed out to the Badlands. Since then, they have extended their journey westward to visit landmarks such as Montana’s Glacier National Park and Wyoming’s Custer State Park.
Peggy explains Marine is something of a globetrotter. She has been teaching English in Santiago, Chile, for the past three years. However, whenever Marine has a break from teaching, Peggy says she “jumps in a car, and goes somewhere.”
“She travels all over the world,” Peggy summarizes.
It seems Marine has passed the travel bug on to her former host family, as well. The Olsons, too, have become international travelers since they first hosted Marine in 2003.
In fact, Tuesday, July 18 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Olsons’ homecoming from an 18-day excursion through Europe. During their time overseas, the couple took the opportunity to visit many of their previous exchange students and their families.
The Olsons’ trip took them on a winding journey through France, the Czech Republic, Spain and Denmark.
Peggy recalls a fascinating, six-hour jaunt through Prague with a former exchange student as their guide.
“He’s such a history buff,” she says. “It was absolutely beautiful.”
On another occasion, their former exchange student’s parents hopped on a plane to Copenhagen, just so they could meet the couple who hosted their daughter for a year.
When asked if she and Perry intend to return to Europe some day, Peggy replies, “Absolutely,” adding, with a smile, “We’ll go back for weddings.”
In the meantime, the Olsons are taking a break from hosting at their Blue Earth home.
Peggy explains they hosted their last exchange student in 2014, and, since then, they have finally settled into their role as empty-nesters.
“We’re busy with grandkids,” Peggy explains.
However, she and Perry were able to forge relationships to last a lifetime during the decade they spent opening their home to exchange students.
More than anything, Peggy says she loved how hosting an exchange student allowed her and Perry to enhance their involvement in the Blue Earth Area School District, and the community at large.
She recalls, “We were getting to know the younger kids, and just getting to know everyone over again.”