When I was in 8th grade, my Mom saw an add in a local paper asking for families to host foreign exchange students in their homes for one year. The add was sponsored by a program called
YFU. We called the number and an older man named Mr. Giles came to the house to talk to us. I remember the process being semi-short but there were a ton of questions. My family sat down and talked about all of the benefits from hosting a student.. The ability to see the world through the eyes of someone from another culture.. Learning more about the world.. Seemed like a really great idea.
In August of 1988, we went to the airport to pick up our Foreign Exchange Student,
Masanori from
Japan. He seemed a little frightened of us, but we attempted to make him feel at home. That night for dinner, being from Texas, we made Tacos. We asked him to join us and he seemed less interested in eating. We carried on.. A little while later, he came out of his room and saw what we were eating. Seems like "taco" means octopus in Japanese. That was one of the many funny misunderstandings that we would have that year!
After Masanori left, we thought about it, and decided that we would go ahead and do it one more time! That summer, we picked up
Sabine from
Germany. We had a rough start, but all in all, we did have a good time. She and I finally became good
friends closer to the end of the year. She played on the high school basketball team and tried to get involved with some other
school activities.
Well, the time came where we decided, that wall, maybe, we'd host just one more. We saw the biography pages and saw a boy from
Spain from a big family with all sisters. We picked him.
Miguel arrived that summer. Let's just say that Miguel and I never quite got along when he lived with us, but as time went by, we are friends. He's married with an adorable wife and daughter! He's a published author, although, since I can't read Spanish, I haven't read any. Might be a good reason to learn. I am glad though, that I did get to be his little sister for a while.
That would not be the last, it was decided, in the summer of 1991,
Adriana from
Colombia arrived to become a part of the family. What made it special was that Adriana and I would be Seniors in High School together. {The picture to the right is my brother Michael and cousin Dallas at the Mall in Mesquite buying Adriana some cowboy boots for school} It was really like having a sister with her, we shared clothes, shoes, jewelry, and secrets. We really enjoyed our time together going to school more than any other exchange student. I think it's because we got to be seniors together! She was amazing and I miss her. She's married now and has an amazing family of her own!
Ok, I think it's safe to assume that we had became addicted to Hosting exchange students at this point!! Mom and dad decided that since I was leaving for college, they would host another daughter,
Sandra from
Germany. I wasn't home much that year, so I only have a few memories. She played on the High School basketball team and was a bit of a tomboy. She did enjoy traveling with my parents, who loved to just hop in the car on a Saturday morning and go, anywhere.
In 1993, again, my family decided to host another student. This time, it was Little Miss
Sally from
Australia. She came with a years supply of vegemite and and a seriously hilarious personality. Sally was basically a ball of energy wrapped in an awesome personality. She could make you laugh without trying and most of the times you'd laugh until you cried! I do miss my Sal!!
Not long after Sally came, my mom, who was now a full time volunteer for the Exchange Program, heard of a girl in a different town that was having some serious problems, without a bit of hesitation, our family asked if we could host her for the rest of the year.
Vibeke from
Denmark arrived and joined the family. The three of us were some kind of trouble! Always up to something! My little sister Vibeke was quiet at first, but with a a little prodding from Sally an I, she opened up in no time and we had a great year! I was in college for the first half but I was home a lot at the end!
Miho from
Japan and I had then become a volunteer, tutoring for students with English problems, which is where I met Maria. She was a student who was not happy in her home and her exchange family was not very nice to her. Miho and I had a discussion and we told mom that we needed Maria to be our new sister.
hose who would certainly not be the last! Mom had chosen
Shortly after,
Maria from
Colombia became my ninth new sibling! The three of us were inseparable! My favorite memory of them is when we went to a YFU event, and these two switched "home Countries" and Maria pretended to be from Japan, even wearing the traditional kimono. Miho pretended to be Colombian. It really baffled some of the other families, but that's something that we loved to do! They attended my bootcamp graduation in Chicago on Feb 4, 1995 (
MY 21st BIRTHDAY). I'm glad they got to come up and see this very important day in my life. It was also a really awesome day getting to spend some time sightseeing in Chicago before they had to leave and go back home and I had to move on to a new school.
The next year, my parents chose
Olga from
Russia.
She was absolutely beautiful and absolutely tall! I know she had to be at least 6'2"! I wasn't home to much that year since I was in the Navy stationed in Norfolk, but I came home for Christmas which is where we had the picture to the right taken. She was always very sweet to me and my family and I think my parents appreciated that! She just got married last year and I can only hope that she will be happy for the rest of her life!
Same goes for
Aigul from
Kazakhstan.. I wasn't home much but the few times that I was home, she made me laugh! Aigul was in my wedding in 1996. I remember that she used to eat bugles snack crackers and chocolate milk like cereal. Aigul is married with two very adorable babies!
I wasn't home at all the year that my parents hosted
Geidre from
Lithuania. Mom had a lot of fun with Geirdre. I hear they cooked a lot and walked a lot of laps at the local high school after dinner.
I did come home when they hosted
Gulzat from
Kyrgyzstan. That little girl was very special! I
was only there for Christmas,
which is kinda the only time that we can get time off from the military for more than a few days.
Then there was
Yenni from
Argentina, my 14th new sibling! This was unfortunately another year that I was not able to come home. :( {I don't have any pictures of Yenni!}
New sister alert!
Oksana from
Ukraine! I came home for Christmas, again, and had a great time hanging out with Oksana. She and I went to the mall in Dallas and had some pictures taken with a creepy Santa! Oksana was very much like most of the other Eastern European girls we'd hosted as our family, they were all very polite and kind and helpful. I think this was something that the kids in the US could learn from! Shortly after that, Mom added a new sister,
Ani from
Argentina. Again, I wasn't home during that time to get to know Ani, but my mom and Dad really enjoyed having her there!
In 2001, my parents hosted one last student this one would be a special one.
Giovanna {Elvira} from
Colombia was the sister of Maria, he sister that we hosted in 1994-95. Maria's entire family visited that year from Colombia when Giovanna was about 9 years old. Little did they know that in a few years, that she would be the final student that our family would host! Giovanna also visited me in Virginia Beach that year with our exchange daughter Anke. (see below)
This was also the same year that Terry and I hosted an exchange student of our own.
Anke form
Germany. This little girl will always be my daughter, even if she wasn't actually mine! We had a great time, dyed our hair, and shared secrets. We were alone most of the year since Terry was on a six month cruise! Her favorite thing to do was LOSE HER HOUSE KEY! I miss her every day, but glad that we got to visit when we lived in Europe and glad that we have Facebook! We do miss our little girl, even though she wasn't really ours!
