For some, traveling to places as far as Europe is unimaginable, let alone moving there. For junior Zoltan “Zozo” Gothard, moving to different countries is not uncommon. Gothard has lived in Canada, Belgium and the U.S., and has experienced the cultures of all these countries. He now resides in the U.S. permanently.

Gothard, originally born in Canada, moved to Kansas. After living in Kansas for 12 years, he moved back to Mississauga, a suburb of Ontario, Canada.

While living in different countries, Gothard experienced different educational systems. Gothard attended a private school in Canada, and the curriculum is not as rigorous as it is in the United States. It is about a year behind classes in the U.S., according to Gothard.

Although the school in Canada was not as difficult as others, Gothard learned best there because of his teachers’ approach to learning.

“The teachers there are really focused on each individual student,” Gothard said. “They don’t think of it as a class.”

Despite cultural differences between the different countries, living in Mississauga was somewhat similar to living in Kansas, according to Gothard.

“It’s pretty much the same,” Gothard said. “The area I lived in was very suburban, like Johnson County.”

From Canada, Gothard moved to Grimbergen, located in central Belgium, for his freshman year of high school.

In Grimbergen, people mostly speak Dutch and French. According to Gothard, locals enjoyed being able to speak other languages, and this made Belgium Gothard’s favorite place to live.

While living in Grimbergen, Gothard met local Jens Moens. Despite a language barrier, the two quickly became friends.

“My English is very bad, but I could understand him,” Moens said via email and Google Translate. “We only learn English from our teachers and from the internet … We never talked one language; we always talked a mix between English and Dutch.”

In Belgium, according to Gothard, the school work is at a pretty high level.

“The school is very much you go to school [only to learn]” Gothard said. “There’s no extracurriculars, and how they do schooling there is that you choose a path.”

Paths offered include science, economics, arts and Latin; Gothard chose science. He had to take both biology and chemistry in his freshman year.

According to Gothard, the freshman level classes are similar to a sophomore level class in an American high school, Gothard said.

Moens often noticed the many cultural differences between the U.S. and Belgium.

“I think it changed [Gothard’s] life,” Moens said. “We have another culture than in the U.S., so he learned new languages … [and] different eating habits.”

Living in different cultures taught Gothard a lot and a unique perspective.

“It let me learn a lot how people act differently in different areas,” Gothard said. “It gave me experiences that most other kids wouldn’t have.”