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From Germany to the Iron Range: A Story 38 Years in the Making
German Exchange Student’s Dream Comes True
(Feature Photo: Henri, #35, on the right with his two host family brothers, Brayden and Bryce)
Acknowledgements: This story was submitted via the Contact Form on the Minnesota Hockey Magazine’s website by Jessa Preimesberger, a regional manager with Flag International, a global student exchange organization. Additional information was provided by Maggie Vekich, a local coordinator with the same organization living in Minnesota and Jamie Nielsen, mom of the host family. Photos courtesy of Jamie Nielsen.
It started with a love of hockey and ended with a moment that felt like fate.
My name is Jessa Preimesberger, and I am a Regional Manager with FLAG International, a nonprofit student exchange organization. Last year, we received an application from a student named Henri, a teenager from Germany. What made Henri unique was his passion for hockey, a sport not commonly played in his home country, but one he loved deeply.
As we learned more about his family, we discovered something interesting: Henri’s father had been an exchange student himself 38 years ago somewhere in northern Minnesota. The exact town was unclear, and the host family he had lived with had since passed away. There were no remaining ties to that event. Just memories.
One of our Local Coordinators, Maggie Vekich, who lives in the small Iron Range town of Bovey, felt strongly compelled to find Henri a host family in the area. She searched tirelessly across her region, driven by nothing more than intuition and hope.
Eventually, she found the Nielsen family in Bovey, MN. The family immediately opened their home, excited to share their sport, their school, and their community. They had twin boys Henri’s age, Brayden and Bryce, and like Henri, hockey was their life. Henri was thrilled.
But nothing could have prepared him for what came next. When Henri received his school placement, he froze. He stared at the school name in disbelief.
It was Greenway High School. This was the exact same small, rural high school his father had attended as an exchange student 38 years earlier.
The same tiny school. The same tiny town. Two different host families. Two different generations. One incredible coincidence.
Without planning it. Without knowing it. Without any remaining connections tying them there, this small northern Minnesota community had welcomed both a father and his son, decades apart.
For Henri, it wasn’t just an exchange year anymore. It was a continuation of his father’s story.
Henri on his way with his dad to his first hockey game in Germany
Maggie continues – When placing Henri, all we knew was that his dad spent his exchange year in a small town of under a thousand people somewhere in Northern Minnesota. We didn’t know that it was Greenway until AFTER placing him with the Nielsen family!
Henri reached out to Jamie (his host mom) and sent a picture of his dad’s letterman jacket from Greenway High School years ago – so you can imagine all of our shock and excitement when we realized he has been placed in the same exact small school as his father… not on purpose!
Henri arrived in Greenway on August 29th, 2025. He joined the football team in the fall (his dad had joined the football team and was the kicker while he was here at Greenway as well).
He was most excited to join the hockey team and indicated that it was quite a bit different from back home as he was in inline hockey there vs. ice hockey here. He said he was really excited to be part of a hockey enthusiastic family.
His host mom, Jamie, adds that having twin host brothers share their love of the game really helped – we were able to make it to a couple of UMD Bulldog games, a couple World Junior games (USA against Germany being one of them and USA against Finland the other). They also attended the 7A & 7AA section finals games as well as the HS State games this year. You can ask him…but he may or may not say he’s “hockey’d out” for a bit, lol.
Henri, #35, same number as his dad when he played football for Greenway
Jamie continues that Henri has had a lot of firsts here. Pretty much all the outdoor activities have been the first time for him: started out with his first day here on the pontoon, jet skiing and his try at water skiing. Although hunting and fishing are not his favorite, he has participated and has experienced all these northland activities.
Maggie concludes that Henri became a GNK Titan when he first joined the football team as stated above. He then continued to play for the Raiders during hockey season – which was his childhood dream that came true because of the Nielsen’s. He truly got the best family to give him that MN experience 🙂
When I talk with Henri, all he talks about is how much he loves this community. He is truly so happy to be part of the Greenway community and wear the Titans/Raider gear.
Final note: Henri is currently set to fly home to his family in Cologne, Germany on June 6th. He plans to attend college when he returns. Truly a remarkable adventure Henri will remember fondly.
For more information on Flag International, check out their website at:
https://www.flag-intl.org/
