It was a good old-fashioned American barbeque and it’s something returning exchange students who spent a year abroad missed a lot.

Emily Lawrence and Andrew Walker were just two local students who traveled across the globe as part of the Rotary organization’s student exchange program and were the guests of honor at last week’s mulit-family barbeque to welcome everyone back. Lawrence spent her time in Barberg, Sweden, a beach town just south of the second largest Swedish city, while Walker spent time in Turkey.

Lawrence said her draw to Sweden was familial, as her family has Scandinavian roots and her uncle used to live there.

“My favorite part was just experiencing the culture, seeing it was different, but we’re all still the same in some ways,” said Lawrence. But Lawrence said she did miss getting to drive, as she biked most everywhere she went in Sweden.

This year the Lawrence family will be hosting a student from Sweden as part of the exchange program.

Walker spent his year in Turkey, in a town south of Istanbul. He said originally he had hoped to spend his time somewhere in Europe, but when Rotary suggested Turkey as his option he said it sounded like a good choice. He said culturally it was different, but western Turkey, where he was, is not as strict as eastern locations. Walker said he missed peanut butter and root beer.

Lawrence will be starting her senior year at Issaquah High School in a few weeks, and thankfully, she said, she took classes while abroad to make up for missing her junior year at home, allowing her to stay in the same grade with her classmates. Walker did the same, and will finish up at Tahoma High School this year.