Celebration Saturday: Celebrating Friends Old and New
Thank you to Ruth Ayres at Discover. Play. Build. for hosting the Celebration Link up. I invite you to visit her site to read other bloggers' celebration posts.
Our lives forever changed when we answered an email from our high school principal several years back. It was an invitation to host a Rotary foreign exchange student for the upcoming school year. I've always loved opening my home to others, so when this opportunity presented itself, I knew it was something I wanted to do. My family agreed and we quickly replied that we would be a host family. We had no idea who would be coming and never in my dreams did I imagine the impact Rotary Youth Exchange would have on our family. Three months later, we welcomed Sana, a 16 year-old girl from Pune, India into our home. We fell in love with her immediately. Since then, we've hosted students from Spain, Germany, Turkey and South Korea. Each girl has had a positive impact on our family. Because of our experience hosting, our daughter Annie, lived in Spain for a month and then spent last school year in Turkey. Our family has grown to include so many people we never would have met if we hadn't said yes to that simple request 4 years ago.
Today I celebrate this wonderful group of people including all of the volunteers who work with the kids here in the US. Many of them are now our friends. They give hours and hours of their time to ensure that the kids who come to the US and those who leave the US for their own exchange experience are successful.
I celebrate the kids. The bond they form is like no other. They become each other's forever brothers and sisters. Moving to a foreign country, navigating a new culture, and learning a new language provides an experience that not many can relate to. These kids get each other, no matter where they come from.
Annie and Sana are still best friends. They are there for each other no matter what. Skype is a lifesaver when either one of them needs the other. There's been a lot of time on Skype this week and for that I am so thankful. Sometimes there are words that only your best friend can say to make things better.
I celebrate friends - old friends and new. Today, we had lunch with my best friend from high school, her husband, daughter, and their Rotary Youth Exchange student, Siengpin from Thailand. Every December, students from the Ohio-Erie region take a trip to Disney World in Florida. This area includes exchange students who live within a several state radius and includes parts of Canada. Marlene (who is a first time host mom) lives a few hours away. Since they needed to drive Seingpin to Columbus, I invited them to lunch. Chanju, our student from South Korea, was going on the same trip. We were going to have an international lunch before the girls headed out.
As I sat at the table, I couldn't help but reflect on how amazing it was that here we were, all of us from different places, sitting together sharing stories and laughter as we learned more about each other. Marlene and I, friends for the last 35 years, now have another connection. Seingpin and Chanju will get to know each other better this week as they travel to Florida. As they meet other kids on the trip, they will form new friendships that will stay with them forever.
I celebrate the weaving of cultures and families that span the world. I celebrate friends - new and old - who touch our lives and leave us better people.
Our lives forever changed when we answered an email from our high school principal several years back. It was an invitation to host a Rotary foreign exchange student for the upcoming school year. I've always loved opening my home to others, so when this opportunity presented itself, I knew it was something I wanted to do. My family agreed and we quickly replied that we would be a host family. We had no idea who would be coming and never in my dreams did I imagine the impact Rotary Youth Exchange would have on our family. Three months later, we welcomed Sana, a 16 year-old girl from Pune, India into our home. We fell in love with her immediately. Since then, we've hosted students from Spain, Germany, Turkey and South Korea. Each girl has had a positive impact on our family. Because of our experience hosting, our daughter Annie, lived in Spain for a month and then spent last school year in Turkey. Our family has grown to include so many people we never would have met if we hadn't said yes to that simple request 4 years ago.
Today I celebrate this wonderful group of people including all of the volunteers who work with the kids here in the US. Many of them are now our friends. They give hours and hours of their time to ensure that the kids who come to the US and those who leave the US for their own exchange experience are successful.
I celebrate the kids. The bond they form is like no other. They become each other's forever brothers and sisters. Moving to a foreign country, navigating a new culture, and learning a new language provides an experience that not many can relate to. These kids get each other, no matter where they come from.
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| Sana, our daughter from India. |
I celebrate friends - old friends and new. Today, we had lunch with my best friend from high school, her husband, daughter, and their Rotary Youth Exchange student, Siengpin from Thailand. Every December, students from the Ohio-Erie region take a trip to Disney World in Florida. This area includes exchange students who live within a several state radius and includes parts of Canada. Marlene (who is a first time host mom) lives a few hours away. Since they needed to drive Seingpin to Columbus, I invited them to lunch. Chanju, our student from South Korea, was going on the same trip. We were going to have an international lunch before the girls headed out.
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| From the left going clockwise: Chanju, Marlene, her husband Chris, my husband Keith, me, Seingpin, and Abigail, Marlene and Chris' daughter. |
I celebrate the weaving of cultures and families that span the world. I celebrate friends - new and old - who touch our lives and leave us better people.
Celebrating friends who touch our lives and leave us better people. It's great to hear of the impact hosting foreign exchange students has had on your family.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great experience! Sounds like there are tons of benefits for everyone involved!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing - you have so enriched your lives and the lives of these students with that "yes". Love the picture of all of you, Julie.
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous experience you all have had, Julie. I applaud you for taking the time to make homes for so many. It seems that they have loved it too & then your further connection via your old friend is wonderful too. Lovely to hear your story!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such an amazing experience. It is wonderful that you have been able to make so many connections with young people and that your daughter has had such a positive experience because of it. It sounds like this is a wonderful organization.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity for you, your family, and those visiting students! It seems so great that you can learn from each other and expand your world because of it. I have thought about hosting an exchange student but we live in a townhouse and our kids are still super young...but you reminded me to keep it in mind for the future!
ReplyDeleteI praise this magnificent gathering of individuals including the greater part of the volunteers who work with the children here in the US. My name is Nagaraj I'm a car driver Now I'm working cab services in kochi my opinion is A large number of them are presently our companions. They give a long stretch of time of their opportunity to guarantee that the children who go to the US and the individuals who leave the US for their own trade experience are effective. They turn out to be each other's eternity siblings and sisters. Moving to an outside nation, exploring another culture, and taking in another dialect gives an ordeal that relatively few can identify with. These children get each other, regardless of where they originate from.
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