06/07/2021
"To say it's been a long year is an understatement. 19 months of quarantine, masks, stay-at-home orders have taken their toll. Gatherings with friends and families cancelled or postponed. Special occasions stifled and stilted due to the pandemic. Now, with vaccinations on the rise and new understandings of the virus, it feels like the world is opening back up and finding its way towards the "new normal."
One unexpected way the pandemic affected my family is that it forced our exchange student, Natchaya, to make a rather quick and disappointing early departure in March 2020. While we were open (and even matched) with another student to come in Fall, 2020, the virus persisted and we were unable to host a student this past year. I didn't realize how much we missed our foreign family members until they weren't here. There was an emptiness to the house that I couldn't really explain, except that the chair at the table that was once filled with our bonus daughter/sister, was now empty, and a member of our family was missing...
My daughter especially missed having her bonus sister this year. She has developed a strong bond with all of our girls and really enjoys having a big sister to share with. When they are here, our exchange students have become members of our family. They share our adventures and sorrows. We learn about each other's cultures and foods and traditions. While we may have different origins, we are all one family.
It is amazing to see their eyes light up in wonder at all they are seeing/experiencing. While we do try to plan some special adventures, something as simple as going to Costco or BJs can be a fun experience. The concept of "buying in bulk" is very American, so seeing HUGE quantities and bags of chips or cookies or other products is astounding to my girls...Going to see a Christmas light display (especially for my girls from Asian nations) is always a treat. Even watching my girls from tropical climates experience SNOW for the first time makes me (and my daughter) appreciate it all the more.
When we decided four years ago to begin hosting exchange students we didn't really know what we were getting into. Now, three students and four years later, we feel like veterans. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our newest family members, as this year we are hosting two young ladies, one from Spain, and another from Taiwan. We've been emailing and connecting via social media and already starting to build our relationships! We can't wait for them to get here to join our family in August!
If you aren't sure about hosting an exchange student, let me tell you it was one of the best decisions we've made as a family." ~KC Caldwell, host mom.
