When Emir Nohutcu was preparing to leave his native Turkey last summer for a year on Vashon, he turned for advice to his uncle, an Istanbul ophthalmologist who had been an exchange student in Philadelphia 30 years ago.

“When your host brother tells you early in the morning that your breath is bad,” Emir was told, “don’t take it personally. That’s just the way they are in America, much more direct than here.”

Clasping this kernel of insight, Emir said over a cup of tea last week that American candor never bothered him.

“I was accepted right away. My new friends treated me like they had known me 10 years. I was really flattered by the interest.”

Emir’s junior year at Vashon High School was made possible by Rotary Youth Exchange, in which Vashon Island’s Rotary Club has been active for more than a decade. He selected it over Turkey’s other large international exchange program, American Field Service, because the Rotary option is less expensive for the student’s family.

Emir’s mother, Nese Nohutcu, cautioned him not to get his hopes too high because she had heard most successful applicants in Turkey had already completed high school. But Emir, who has been studying English several hours each week since second grade, sought an overseas experience for his junior year. He survived each level of the application process until he was told during his Italian class in March that he was headed for either Canada or the United States.

After a successful telephone interview with local Rotarians Gene Lipitz and Bart Queary, Emir, 16, had his ticket to Vashon, where he would stay with two host families: Leslie Brown and Jim Evans from August to February and Leslie Ferriel and Evan Simmons from February until last week, when he headed to his home in Turkey.

His initial excitement was tempered by caution about coming from Izmir, an ancient city of nearly four million on the Aegean Sea, to an island of nearly 11,000 on Puget Sound. Would there be enough to do?

“After a while, I really liked that it was peaceful and quiet, yet close to a big city,” he said. “I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and sports (soccer and tennis). I never felt bored; there was always something to do.”

His favorite club at the high school was Rotary-sponsored Amnesty Interact, and he was especially proud that the group raised more than $1,000 in a single day from the Empty Bowl Auction this past spring for the food bank.

In the classroom, he found schoolwork easier here, noting that grades in Turkey are based solely on frequent exams. “It’s pretty boring in Turkey,” he added. “You can actually have fun at school here; there’s more freedom.”

In Turkey, uniforms were required at both the public and private schools he attended, which helped him realize, “It’s education that matters, not the clothes you wear.”

Did Emir’s stay here work out as well as Vashon Rotarians had hoped?

“Absolutely,” said Queary. “He’s an exceptional kid, a straight-A student, completely open to new experiences and very able to make friends in a multi-cultural environment. He was elected junior class homecoming prince after only being here just a few months.”

In doing so, he was just living up to his name: “Emir” means “prince of a small country” in Turkish.

“I enjoyed working with him on the food bank fundraiser,” said Sam Hankin, a recent Vashon High School graduate who spent his junior year abroad in Argentina and got to know Emir as his second home-stay brother. “He’s a funny guy who picks up things really quickly.

“Exchange programs are great all the way around. My experience made me a lot more self-reliant,” Hankin added. “You don’t just meet people from your host country, but from other countries, too. It expands your world view. If kids 16-to-18 can do this, it gives us hope that adults across the world can diplomatically solve problems.”

What will Emir miss most about Vashon?

“The many friends I’ve made here. They always will have a place to stay in Turkey.”

Even the ones with bad breath?

“Even those,” he said with a gentle grin. “My first host brother, Peter Evans, commented on my breath before breakfast one morning, and I was OK with that. In fact, I was comfortable saying the same thing back to him.”

— Islander Bob Booth is a communications and marketing consultant and a member of the Vashon Island Rotary Club who says he has good breath most of the time.