Homestay Parenting Experiences - What a Difference!

No two apples are alike. Right?

Well, I believe so…….

Two days ago we picked up our next “adoptees”.   Right away, I notice some differences between this group and the last we’ve hosted.  The oldest one,  17,  has his hair spiked and dons his logoed t-shirts in layers. The next older one. 14,  was in full black the t-shirt of which is not one that is locally made in China. The other two are still younger,  13 & 12 respectively, so they are more, well, should I say,  conformist?

When we got home, the 12-year old went straight to a picture poster of one of our grandsons and examined it.

 “Oh, I got scared when I saw it from the door.”

 Everyone laughed.  That was quite revealing! He was the only one who noticed the poster which has been hanging in that corner of the house  for years!

When I showed them the bathroom the 14-yr old said they already know as if to tell me “Let’s move on!.”    Oh, okay!  Then I showed them where they will sleep. They looked at each other when they saw  the first room with two twin beds.

 “Are we all going to sleep here?”

 “No.”   They smiled.

Then, to my surprise,  two bolted onto a bed each as if to say “this is mine”!

Then I showed them the second room, they peeked then burst into loud, very loud laughter! The room has only one full bed!

“Alright, get settled. Wash yourselves and in 30 minutes we will eat hamburgers for dinner.”  (Before going home, we paid an In-and-Out drive thru a visit.  How is that for a first American experience, ha?)

While we were having dinner, the boy in black (^{are you still following me? Lol}) had both parents who are engineers. 

“So, you must have travelled before?”  (I offered an honest guess).

“Yes, Australia, Canada and Italy.”  

It didn’t surprise me that he is the most vocal in the group.

“Mine are both businessmen.” Offered the spikey. (He is the disciplinarian in this group.)

“My mother teaches history and my father teaches math.” The youngest declared and who, I later observe, is the spokesman of the group, speaks better English and practices it more often.  He is also the gentlest.

One more glaring fact that differentiate them from our previous adoptees:  they chose colors as their English names! Green, Yellow, Gray, later changed to Toni, and Sage.  I think these boys will make our week adventuruous!

When I woke them up for breakfast, I discovered that the youngest had the 2^nd bedroom to himself while the other three slept in the first bedroom!