Fifteen year-old cultural exchange student Dominik Kinner, center, sits with his host mom Jane Keirns, right, and her 15 year-old son J.R.

“What the media says is different than what I saw. Not every American is totally fat and eating at McDonald’s every day, or taking their car for 200 meters,” he said. “I would prefer it if more Americans wouldn’t take the car that much, if they would walk more if it’s like a mile or something, but there are people in Germany that don’t do that, either.”

Despite the stereotype American cuisine has formed, Kinner says he enjoys eating it.

“I like the food, even if it makes you fat sometimes,” he said. “I like burgers and Pop Tarts, even though I don’t eat them that much. I also like cheeseburgers and the many pops you have here. We don’t have free refills in Germany. In the next town over from where I live, which would be like Lima for you, we have several McDonald’s and only one has free refills.”