Ohayogozaimasu!
Basically, some of our students host some of theirs and we go on field trips all week. It sounds simple, but the connections these students make is unreal and the amount of care the host families put into having a student from another country in their house is amazing. This program is a lot of work, for everyone, for teachers and parents and students. However, last week proved to me that it is worth every second.
What is most interesting, and the purpose of this homestay to me, is how different our cultures are and in the end how that doesn’t seem to matter at all. The kids made friends, regardless of the language barrier and personality differences.
In the end, kids are kids and I learned a lot from how my students were able to communicate with their homestays and the relationships they were able to create in just one week.
Ellyn Yae is a book enthusiast, a maker of perpetual mistakes and a third year grade 8 Humanities teacher at Nose Creek School.