The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

"Magician's lie all the time," Flavio Stucki, a 15 year old exchange student at Wahkiakum High School said mischievously on Tuesday.

Stucki, who will turn 16 in December, is from Basel, Switzerland, population 180,000.

Or he might be from a little town of 13,000 just outside Basel, that so far has remained nameless.

It's hard to get a straight answer from a magician.

The word from students, teachers and staff is that Stucki is funny and great at card tricks. He didn't have a deck of cards ready for his interview and he hadn't asked for any, but it didn't stop a staff member from setting a deck on the table a few minutes later.

"I've been fascinated with magic for a long time," Stucki said, "but I never did it really as actively as I do now."

It was on a holiday trip to visit California, Arizona and Nevada when he decided he wanted to be an exchange student. It was also on this holiday when he picked up his first deck of Bicycle cards.

"I actually started when I got a professional deck like this," Stucki said. "We don't have good poker cards at home. When I was here for the holidays, I bought 10 decks of Bicycle cards because I really like them. Then I started doing new tricks."

Balloons and foam pieces are also part of his repertoire.

Still, it's not his dream job.

"If I could choose between professional magician and professional director, it would be director," Stucki said. He is a member of the Media Club at WHS and can be seen filming games and events. He has also made a few short films which can be found on youtube.com.

"I've wanted to do that for five years," he said of directing. He hasn't sorted out just why yet, but he knows he likes it.

Diana Zimmerman

Maybe it's just another form of magic.

Stucki turned out for football in the fall and has been running while he waits for basketball to begin. He's never played either sport, but it hasn't stopped this adventurous young man. In the spring, he will turn out for track.

He speaks Swiss German, German, and English. He studied French when he was younger, but admits he doesn't remember any of it.

There is one difference in cultures that has surprised Stucki.

"If you cuss in Switzerland," he said, "nobody cares. If you burp, they're shocked. Here everyone burps, but if you cuss, they're shocked."

Stucki is staying with John and Nova Lee Knopp.