Sheena

Exchange Student Program (Utah)

“I have been back to Hong Kong from Utah for a month. I love being in Hong Kong, but I also misses Utah a lot and even wants to go back sometimes. The reason why I have that feeling is very simple. It is because I had a lot of fun there.

What have I done in those 10 months? I stayed with a great host family and they treated me like their own daughter, a part of their family. First, they asked me to choose a color for the room which I was going to stay before I go. After I arrived, my host parents let me call them mom and dad. They worried about me when I got sick. My host dad would give a gift for my host sister and me such as a bear or a hat when he went on a business trip. They also took me to their grandparents’ cabin during the holidays. We played with fireworks over there and it was fun. I feel loved in this family. Other than that, they gave me a gift in every festival, even in Halloween and April fools. Also, they like to cook a big tasty meal in every festival, so I ate a lot and gained weight. But I think it is worth to gain that much since I can’t have that delicious American food in Hong Kong. I feel lucky with them being my host family. However, I still feel sad sometimes and the reason was I could not stay alone with my host sister very well. We did not talk very much even though we went to the same school and stayed in the same house alone a lot. We just played on our own computer with no communication to each other, but I talked to my host mom a lot and I love doing that.

In school, the teachers were very nice to me. They were so patient to listen at my bad English and helped me a lot; even my classmates did too. They were interested in my country and asked me many questions about Hong Kong. They loved to be my friends too. It was easy and more relaxed studying in America compared to Hong Kong. I like studying in America. Not only the teachers and classmates helped me on my academics, but my host family also cared about my school results too, and asked me if I need help on my homework and my school life.

To sum up, I am glad to have an exchange year and I wish I can be an exchange student with this host family again. Not only did I learn English this year, but also I learned to be more independent, and to respect and love our family. I was not very polite to my family before this year. I expected my parents to do everything for me and I was mean to them! I am not a little girl anymore, I should not ask people to do everything for me. Rather, I would like to help others. I have to thank my dad who asked me to join the exchange student program and my host family for taking care of me for a school year.”