Columnist Susan Snyder: Frobel, Fritz and Uezel settle in

Friday, Aug. 17, 2001 | 9:36 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Sundays and Tuesdays in Accent. Reach her at snyder@vegas.com or 259-4082.

German citizens Hendrik Frobel and his two friends haven't even been in Las Vegas a month, yet they've already been immersed in the great American experience that is Sin City.

They saw "Splash" at the Riviera.

They attended an 'N Sync concert at Sam Boyd Stadium.

They've seen fountains dance at Bellagio.

And they rode the Stratosphere's Big Shot.

"Hooo, that was something," 20-year-old Carlo Fritz said, rolling his eyes skyward. "Your stomach hits the chair."

"I pretty much dragged him up there," Frobel said.

But then, Frobel has been somewhat of a ringleader since this odyssey of theirs started. Frobel, also 20, his girlfriend, Burcu Uezel, and Fritz came here to work as interns and fulfill their country's community service requirement before starting college.

Frobel and Fritz work at Candlelighters for Children's Cancer, and Uezel is a getting a taste of the resort and hospitality industry at the Fremont Hotel.

Some may recall Frobel's plea in early July for a host family to take in Uezel, who had been unable to find a place to stay. As required by their government's program, the three work for free and provide their own spending money. They rely on host families for lodging. As is the case with Las Vegans, many people stepped forward to help, and Uezel is living with a couple in the northwest.

Uezel's duties started in the Fremont's human resources department, and Frobel says she'll spend the next year working a little in all the hotel's areas to learn about the industry.

Frobel and Fritz do some administrative work for the non-profit Candlelighters organization that offers financial and moral support to children with cancer and their families. They also visit Sunrise Children's Hospital to do crafts, toss a ball around and generally cheer up little ones suffering from cancer.

"It's a lot of fun," Frobel said. "But it makes you sad somehow. Some of them are only a few months old, and they have cancer. There's just no reason for them to be sick. It seems so unfair."

Still, Las Vegas gives the three young adults plenty to smile about. The replicated buildings at Paris and Bellagio are an odd juxtaposition to those who have spent considerable time around the real ones in Europe.

"This is the culture we live in, in Europe. It's weird to see Americans bringing the culture here in this way," he said.

But they're loving it. They hope to visit the Grand Canyon, San Diego, Disneyland and other parts of Nevada before their internships end and they either return to Germany or enroll in college classes here.

Before too long, they hope to obtain the modern trademark of the American West:

A car.

Our bus service, it seems, is "not so great." Guess the Eiffel Tower isn't the only thing that's done a little better over there.

I didn't have the heart to tell them our public transit probably won't improve until we've obtained thousands of dollars in government grants, hired a consultant and conducted a study.

That is, after all, the American way.