I received an email via the homeschool loop about three weeks ago that said a Chinese foreign exchange student needed a home for the week of Thanksgiving...her regular host family was going out of town. Well, something moved in me that day and I immediately wanted to do it. I have been praying about being more hospitable and sharing our home. A girl in our S.S. class spoke one Sunday about how her mom always had people over, no matter what holiday, there was always someone extra that needed some loving or didn't have any family, etc. That struck a chord in my heart and I love the concept. God has blessed us with food (and over abundance for sure) and a great BIG family that is all here in Tallahassee...so why not share it with someone else. And I think the fact that we have been "praying around the world" has made me more aware of the people that don't do things like me, act like me, or look like me. Praying for other countries as truly been an amazing experience in that I no longer feel so isolated in the small town of Tallahassee...I feel like I'm a part of something bigger and I feel privileged....I want my kids to know that everyone doesn't look like us "white Southern Americans"...that everyone is different and beautiful just the way God made them...funny how some people think that us homeschoolers want to isolate our children...but I actually feel like homeschooling has done the opposite for me...it has allowed us to explore things, people, places that we might not have otherwise.
I was a little concerned, I won't lie...bringing a stranger in the house, not knowing anything about her...John and I sat one night after I mentioned it to him and we discussed..."What if she is a serial killer, what if she is weird, what if she is crazy, what if she won't talk to us...." I'm serious, all those things went through our minds BUT then we talked about how WE as Christians are way to careful at times...what if we just decided to take some chances every now and then and step out of the box...and we decided to commit to host Yang for 8 days. Many people do this, why not us?
This meant moving Molly out of her room and into our room for 7 nights. This meant having the kids use the Master Bath most of the time, this meant driving her to and from school, feeding her meals, and getting her to places where she could use her wireless Internet access.
The kids were so excited to meet her last Saturday and just meeting her for 10 minutes relieved all of my fears. She was sweet, polite, and already had all our names down by the time she left!
She arrived on Monday night and we have enjoyed it ever since. She keeps her room neat, is very polite, and not a problem at all. Last night, she and the kids played for four hours. They sat in the swings playing "I spy" and then built Lego block houses, and colored for the longest time. Yang is 18 and is of course good at everything! As I write this, she is playing piano in my living room...it is amazing! Yang's mom is a physician in China and her Dad is a business man. In 2005, Yang's mom was a honor apprentice in the United States in Ohio after getting her PhD. She is an endocrinologist in China now. In 2005, Yang and her Dad came to America to visit her mom and traveled all over the country. She has been more places in the United States than I have. They visited Yosemite, Grand Canyon, California, Texas, New York, Washington DC, and more. I guess that gave her the bug to come back and her Junior year in high school she entered the foreign exchange program. She was in Washington State last year and then here in Tallahassee at Maclay School for her Senior year. She wants to go into Life Science. She lives about 1 hour by plane from Beijing, China. She said she came to America because she loves the schools. She said she has straight A+ grades except a B+ in American history. She just took the SATs. She said back in China, they went to school from 7 am until 12 pm, went home to eat lunch and nap, went back to school at 2pm and stayed until 6pm, went home to eat dinner and then went back to school for study hall at 8 until 10 pm. Wow!
I asked her what she thought of Americans....she smiled and said, "They are nice, fun, and laid back." "They also like to do social things and like to do lots of things." She said that her parents work a lot but America is different. She said that most people in China are Buddhist. Her family isn't very religious but she said Buddhism has a strong history there and most people call themselves Buddhist but don't follow all the practices. She goes to church with her host family which by the way are a retired couple that live in Sommerbrooke...there is certainly more chaos in our home! She said Americans eat a lot of meat. She likes my food though...has been back for seconds two nights in a row. She pet the chickens. She won't sit down at the table until John and I have been seated. She always says thank you and has asked me many times what she can do for me...I finally let her and Emily clean the kitchen tonight. My sweet Emily has been so hospitable...she jumped right in and has been talking and asking questions...Yang seems to really like Emily and feels comfortable around her. Emily has taken charge and will ask her things or offer her a snack or drink...they are cute together! She gave the kids little gifts from China and today Emily bought her a Mood Bracelet at Justice and she is wearing it. We all had fun shopping today together...Emily got a kick out of taking her to Justice! So far it has been a real joy having her here.
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