Posted: 10/15/03

Forest Lake teen trades reality in reality show

Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

Caleb Rotach is a regular, albeit busy, 15-year-old. Just ask Jacob Lee of Hoffman Estates, IL.

The two traded places recently as part of the ABC Family channelís reality show ìSwitched!î

The Forest Lake teenager is a sophomore at Forest Lake High School, is a youth football coach, is busy rehearsing his part in the upcoming production of ìAnnie Get Your Gun,î works part time at Peppermint Parlor and Eatery, serves on the student council, plays basketball and tennis, acts, sings and dances with Youth Performing Arts and sings in the high school choir.

Lee is a 15-year-old living in an outer ring suburb of Chicago, with a traditional Korean familyósome who donít speak English. The family runs a Korean restaurant, watches Korean television and eats Korean food. Lee is involved in Tae Kwon Do and is a talented artist.

The two switched for four days the beginning of this monthóthough neither knew where they were going until shortly before they left for the airport.

Beyond walking a mile in their footsteps, they lived in each otherís homes, dated each otherís girl friends and worked at each otherís jobs.

Rotach sent in the audition tape via overnight mail toward the end of summer. Producers of Switched! called the next day.

ìI just thought it would be a cool experience,î Rotach said of changing places with a peer.

Though he had watched the show in the past, he wasnít sure what to expect, and he didnít think the switch would be so close geographically.

ìI think it would have been fun to go to Texas or somewhere on the East Coast,î Rotach said.

Still, the switch he made was worlds apart from his own life. Leeís grandma did not speak English. She sang songs in Korean, watched Korean Television and spoke in Korean. Still, the 83-year-old made Rotach feel welcome.

ìThe family was really nice,î the Forest Lake teen said of his host family.

While in Hoffman Estates, Rotach attended Leeís school, studied Tae Kwon Do and fought and lost a fight with Leeís brother. Lee, in Forest Lake, got up bright and early on a Saturday morning to coach Rotachís sixth grade football team. He took a private dance lesson at Dance Tech and got up at 5:45 a.m. to practice shooting hoops.

He took a friend of Leeís to the homecoming danceówhile Lee was here singing ìThe Star Spangled Bannerî with the Forest Lake Choir. Rotach worked at the family restaurant, Goochieís Carry Outs, while Lee scooped up cones at Peppermint Parlor and Eatery.

Rotach celebrated Leeís motherís birthday with dozens of his family members. Lee took Rotachís girlfriend, Jessica Bystrom, on a date.

Rotach ate Korean food. Lee ate American food with a Minnesota flair. ìI never had Korean food before, but I liked it,î he said. ìIt was really neat to experience the Korean culture.î

Still, Rotach said he was glad to go home.

ìI missed being able to communicate with people and joke around,î Rotach said, explaining the language barriers hindered joking around.

Judy and Dan Rotach may have missed their son while he was in Illinois, but they enjoyed their time with their Switched! son.

ìHe was just a great kid,î Judy Rotach said of Lee who slept in her sonís room and cuddled with her sonís dog, Pepper at night. ìHe was just a really sweet kid.î

Lee doesnít have cable television at home. He learned of the show by responding to an advertisement in a Korean newspaper. Switched! was looking to make a cultural exchange.
And that is exactly what they got.

While the Rotachs have a family custom of serving guests first at mealtimes, at the Lee household it is customary for elders to be served first.

ìHe said I canít eat. The elders have to eat first,î Judy Rotach said. ìThere were a few cultural things we had to get used to.î

In addition to hosting Lee, the Rotachs hosted a chaperone (All participants on Switched! have a chaperone.) and a camera crew always was in wait.

The community responded in helping the Rotach family get ready for the visitors. Forest Lake Floral came by with fall decorations for in front of the house. Friends and neighbors stopped by with homemade pies and other food.

ìIt just is a treasure, the producers even said they thought Forest Lake was one of the best Switched! theyíve ever done,î Judy Rotach said. ìMy friends they were there. Forest Lake Floral come by. The whole town, I was just really proud to live here.î

Coming from Los Angeles, the crew was not used to the cooler temperatures of fall.

ìThe crew was really cold, they went to Gander Mountain to get gear,î Rotach joked.

On the last day of Switched!, Rotach flew back to Minnesota to be reunited with his friends and family and to finally meet Lee.

ìHe was a lot different than I thought heíd be, he was a lot more outgoing,î Rotach said.

That night, the two sat up late and talked about their journeys in each otherís shoes.

While Lee doesnít have email, the teenagers plan to try to stay connected.

There are no regrets with Switched! The Rotachs said they are glad they signed on.

ìAll in all, it was a very positive experience,î Rotach said.

Top of Page