Tag Archives: host family

From Pittsburgh to Petersburg

Now that I have developed somewhat of a routine that involves getting used to the constant daylight of White Nights in Saint Petersburg (waking up at 3 a.m. and seeing daylight kept throwing me for a loop), I am rather excited to share my experiences with you!

As my plane flew from Brussels to Saint Petersburg two weeks ago, I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. Maybe it was a combination of the dehydration that comes with running through airports and time zones without a water bottle handy and the anxiety of flying to Russia to live there for the summer. Yeah, that was probably it.

To ease my nerves and excitement, I peered out the window into the vast blue. The sky seemed cloudless and endless, and eventually the pilot’s voice announced our descent into Saint Petersburg. As if on cue, the sky turned to a thick, milky gray, and condensation covered my window. When my plane landed, the 20-some degree drop in the temperature blasted me like a bad surprise… But there was absolutely no time to let the stereotypically temperamental Petersburg weather being me down. I was greeted by enthusiastic CIEE employees and taken to Crowne Plaza, a gorgeous hotel (WITH WIFI!), to wind down and prepare for dinner and, yes finally, sleep.

I landed on a Friday and spent the weekend attending orientation sessions with the other CIEE program participants to prepare for Sunday afternoon. That was when our host families were meeting us to take us to our home for the summer. (Ahhhhh!!! We were all so anxious..)

But everything has been great, and I am happily typing away in my own bedroom in an apartment with my host mother and her little Yorkshire Terrier. We have had multiple funny moments together, and no matter how awkward a situation may seem due to cultural differences… we both get a kick out of it.

For example, during first evening with my host mom I was telling her about where I came from, and I brought out my gifts to share with her. I presented to her a Pennsylvania map, Pittsburgh sports memorabilia (including a Fourth-of-July-edition Terrible Towel, of course), JIF Peanut Butter and family pictures.

I guess I figured that my lack of language skills (how does one explain the Terrible Towel, anyway?!) would be made up for with my superior charades skills… Needless to say, my host mom was laughing so hard when I jumped up and started waving around the Terrible Towel like a true Steelers football fan. She must have liked the gifts because she giggled and grabbed my arm, and we went for a walk to the metro station so that I would be able to know where to go to commute to school each day (Russian transportation requires another post… stay tuned…). We laughed the whole time, bonding over the stories we shared as we passed a McDonald’s restaurant (you can’t escape it…) and other familiar businesses. To my happy surprise, I realized I even knew enough Russian to crack a few jokes and to help break the ice.

Троицкий собор – Troitsky sobor (Trinity Cathedral) I am lucky to have a long, scenic walk home from the metro station every day. Oh, and this photo was taken at about 10 at night!

Eat Fresh!

As it turns out, we are all people who smile and laugh and cry and understand – no matter where we come from or what language we speak – and I am so blessed to be understanding the Russian culture and appreciating more every single day that I spend abroad.

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia

My Kind of Town

Descanso

Last week I had a break after completing our midterms. It felt like a spring break because in my mind I’m in the mode of spring. But in Buenos Aires in May, the winds are picking up leaves, rains have come, and autumn is bringing colder air. On Facebook, I see tulips blooming at Penn State and my friends finishing up their finals, while I just completed midterms! I still do not know when my local university course’s final exam will be; they say sometime in the first half of July.

Nevertheless, I cannot believe I am already halfway through my semester abroad! I am so happy I choose to come to South America, although adjusting to the opposite of seasons still confuses me and I will return to the US in late summer. Studying in Buenos Aires, I have been able to really get to know one city, one culture. I feel that even after being in this city for five months, there will be things I still wish to see. Every week, there is something new that I plan to visit or do: whether it be another fair of artisans, a bar popular with the locals, or a tango show.

Because it is impossible to exhaust the long list of things to do in BA, I love staying here every weekend and am excited to return when I do travel elsewhere in the country. So when my mom decided to visit me over my break, I had a huge list of things to show her in this city. For the week we were here, we went all over the city. No one in her hotel spoke English, and most restaurants don’t speak English. Some offer menus in English with funny translations. For example, once I saw a menu that translated jamón (ham) as jam. For me, I know Spanish speakers pronounce the letter j like the letter h in English, so jam sounds like ham. But to an English speaker, like my mom, jam is something very different from ham. So in this context, I was able to show my mom the fruits of all my years studying Spanish.

My mom and I at a restaurant.

Traveling around the city, my mom experienced the adventure of the colectivo, the bus here in BA. We successfully hailed buses from unmarked bus stops and arrived safely at our destinations. We went to a lot of museums: the MALBA, Bellas Artes, Museo Bicentenario, Museo Etnológico, and Evita. Many museums do not have English translations, and I was able to translate the descriptions and add what I had learned from my history class about particular periods in Argentine history.

Visit to Juan B. Ambrosetti Museo Etnológico

A work by Eugenio Cuttica, an Argentine artist in Museo Bellas Artes.

We had a wonderful time. My mom saw my home stay and my favorite tea shop, and we ate Argentine food, like a fugazzeta (a thick crust pizza with cheese and onions), and drank Malbec wine. My host family here also went out to dinner with my mom, my house mate, my house mate’s family, and myself. Although the language barrier sometimes seemed overwhelming, it was very special to share a delicious meal together and enjoy everyone’s company.

I loved sharing this wonderful city with my mother. The more time I spend here, the more grateful I am that I made the decision to study here in this city, in South America. I always thought I would study abroad in Spain, but as advisers talked to me about choosing a place, the more I became disenchanted with going there. Through this experience, I really wanted to become familiar with a particular culture and immerse myself in Spanish. Buenos Aires has been the perfect place to accomplish both of these goals. I still want to go to Spain in the future but am so happy that I chose to study abroad in Argentina.

Exploring new cities

This weekend, I am going to Bariloche with one of my classes. It is an anthropology course about Patagonia. So we have learned about the first conquerors and explorers’ perspectives of Patagonia, Argentine explorers and scientists’ ideas about the region, along with current perceptions of Patagonia, indigenous peoples and their cultures. Through this trip, we get to travel there and see what we have learned firsthand. In Bariloche, we will see the touristy parts like Nahuel Huapi National Park, as well as the more subtle political and social issues within the city. For example, we will travel to a poorer neighborhood of the city and visit a school in this neighborhood.

At the end of the month, I am traveling to the northwest of Argentina to Salta. I am excited for this trip because this region, unlike the rest of Argentina, was once ruled by the Incans and still retains these Incan cultural influences. But even on this trip, I will continue to practice my Spanish and have the opportunity to get to know another part of Argentine culture.

Location: Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Home stays: Making it work

Living with a host family, in my opinion, is the best way to learn just about everything while studying abroad. It is like starting life over from the beginning. I highly recommend it to those who are truly interested in and curious about the people and the culture of a place. Language learning can be done anywhere if you are in a home stay or dorm, but I think a home stay is much more intimate and you get people who have higher regard for you whereas friends can be too busy or what have you.

Knowing all this, however, does not take away from the fact that you are living with strangers who don’t even speak your language on all possible levels. It’s very easy to just shut yourself in your room, only come out for meals and stick to yes and no questions. It’s scary, you don’t know the family’s routine or temperament yet, you might be jet-lagged and/or think your language skills are not up to par. If you are like me, you’re going to feel like you made a mistake and bit off more than you can chew. Do not fear, citizen. I come with some advice that can help move things along until you become a member of the family.

1. Don’t hide in your room.
My new family is actually pretty busy so I am in my room more than my previous family, but when they are around, I try to be in the main area which is the dining room. Even if I am just watching tv while they scurry about, at least I am in the open. I think this is the biggest point because they want to see you and get to know you just as much as you do them. It’s a two way street and that is easy to forget for us students. Sometimes I bring down my homework or something to keep busy. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Make your interests known.

If you brought a laptop, take it around with you to the main area. If you entertain yourself in plain sight, they will take the bait and approach you. If you’re like me and interested in Japanese pop culture and media (or whatever media of your target land), it will be a piece of cake to get the party going.

3. When they ask about you, you can return the question.
This is too obvious for words, but when I am in shy-mode I shut down. I find myself answering questions as economically as possible and then going back to whatever I was doing. “And you?” is really easy, so take a deep breath and spit it out.

4. SMILE

Even when things aren’t that funny or if you have nothing else to say, just smile. A smile puts everyone, including the user, at ease. When your words are not as powerful as you need them to be, your actions really pick up a lot of the slack whether you like it or not. Don’t let your host family misunderstand your emotions.

Of course this isn’t all, but these are things I tend to struggle with. It all sounds really simple and obvious in black and white, but I know I can’t be the only person who has defied these. Being shy and ambitious at the same time can be a dangerous formula that cancels everything out, so I hope that these tips can help my fellow Shambitious people out there better adapt to their new lives. It’s been four days so far and I think we’re getting there.

Location: kuwana-shi, mie-ken, Japan

明けましておめでとうございます

A little late, but Happy New Year everyone! My postcards have started reaching the west, so I should probably update the internet as well on the opening of 2012 in Japan.
Although Christmas can almost be considered a normal day for Japanese folk, New Years is a complete 180 degree turn. It is the biggest holiday and a time for family and tradition, not partying and midnight smooches.
The holiday starts with December 30th. Many families and shrines do a big clean (direct translation from 大掃除)a which is kind of like spring cleaning. It makes a lot of sense, actually, to bring in the New Year with a clean home. Cleansing is a big part of Shinto, one of Japan’s principle religions and where a lot of traditions originate.
December 31st, New Years Eve, we watched a four hour long concert special hosted by popular boy band Arashi. During the later half, we had 年越しそば or End-of-the-Year Soba. Soba symbolizes longevity~!
Strangely, the concert ended at around 11:45. For the next fifteen minutes, we watched the news’ live converage from the biggest shrine in town. People were cleansing themselves by standing under freezing waterfalls, queuing in front to be the first to pray and there were only gongs ringing through the night. It was rather bleak and needless to say, there was no countdown. As I watched the second hand tick past the 12, I couldn’t help but think “America does it better.” Though I understand and admire the ceremonial aspects, it was too anticlimactic for me. Apparently other channels had a more exciting feel, but we only had basic cable to work with, so…
January 1st, New Years day, Lera came over. With my host family, we went to the shrine down the street to pray. Since we opted out of the extreme water fall option, we cleansed only our hands (so cold!) and then prayed at the front after waiting in line.

We had a beautiful traditional lunch made by my host mother. This includes the mochi soup (bottom) which is a must-have celebratory food item. This was all a bit much for most of us, but we did ask for seconds on the soup because mochi is just gooey and yummy.

My host parents also gave us otoshidama (お年玉) which is a cute little envelope with money in it. 1,000¥ each (almost $13). That’s a tradition I could get used to!

All in all, I would say New Years is definitely one of those things you have to experience in Japan. It is just really peaceful and delicious.

And now the sad realization has settled in that I have reached the halfway mark and time is decreasing. For those who noticed my location is different than usual, I will explain why soon!

Location: kuwana-shi, mie-ken, Japan

家族　Family

I don`t know how, but I ended up with the ultimate host family for me. I didn`t really have any expectations for what they would be like since I was too busy thinking about learning Japanese and how to pay for this whole experience, but we fit together like a puzzle.
In part, I think it is because we are worldly people. They`ve traveled many places and have studied English and I apparently have interest in Japan and other languages as well. We are curious about each other that there is an equal amount of give and take and thus less room for miscommunication.
I feel like they go beyond the assumed requirements for a host family, especially from what I hear from others. For example, they make me lunch, which I`m supposed to take care of myself. This Sunday as well, we are going to a tea event with their friends and making a day of it. There are also more opportunities to meet their friends and go to different places away from Nagoya. They could just show me around the town and give me regional specific information, but they want to show me Japan, the big picture.
It seems that the horror stories of host families stand out the most, so I hope that my experience proves that it can work.

Location: Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi, Japan

Welcome to Mexico!

Wow. So, my first weekend+ has come and gone in Puebla, and I feel like I’ve been here forever! Thursday’s travels went smoothly, but to get from Bethlehem to Puebla seemed to take ages. At this point, I don’t even know where to begin, so I’m just going to roll with a quick overview of a few of the most notable/ my favorite things so far.

The city itself. Yeah. I’m a bit of a history nerd, so, while I don’t know too much about the history of Puebla yet (and my Spanish and memory capacity aren’t too grand either), I absolutely LOVE the buildings. The old, the new, the colors, the styles. This city reminds me aesthetically of Spain, but it has a whole different feel to it. I love it. This is not the palm-lined, beachy Mexico of the movies or tourist trade; it’s not the violent, gritty Mexico that the news so loves. It’s just a real place with real personality.

My family/ house. I feel so spoiled here. I’ve got my own room, a bathroom to myself, and there’s Wi-Fi! I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with them, and this weekend they took me to see a lot of the sights of Puebla! My Mom is so doting and caring; she’s constantly trying to feed me delicious food, which can be a catch-22 because the more I eat, the fuller I feel, and therefore the less I can eat. My Dad is very funny. He’s always trying to sneak English into the conversation so he can practice, too, and I love listening to him talk about the history of Mexico. My brother and sister are both great; they’re both very witty but also both very friendly and patient. Oh- and Benny the Chihuahua? Adorable!

I also enjoy (sort of) the fact that I am terrible at conversing in Spanish but it’s okay! Most of the time I just sit and listen to my family as they talk to one another, and I feel like I have a general idea of what’s going on. But then, of course, they’ll ask me something, and I’ll sit there like a complete idiot, trying to stammer out something- anything- that makes sense. I have the vocabulary of a four-year-old right now, but I feel like things are starting to register a lot more quickly even after just 4 days. I’m sure it will improve, but I wish it would improve faster.

We had Orientation at La Universidad Iberoamericana de Puebla today; it’s a lovely campus! A LOT smaller than Penn State, but it has plenty of lovely places to relax or study and lots to offer. I’ll be sure to take some photos and talk about it more soon; even though we had homework tonight, classes officially start tomorrow. I keep forgetting that I actually have to do work, but I’m sure with my lineup of classes, it will be interesting to keep up with!

Nos vemos! (PS: Photos, in order, are of: a street in downtown Puebla, The Cathedral of Puebla, another church– the name escapes mem sorry– next to the hotel we stayed at (and whose roof I was on), a view of Puebla from the highest point in the city, a Mejica dance in a park, a market close to the Bario de Artistas downtown)

Location: Puebla, Mexico

First Week in Japan!

It’s been about 4 days since my arrival. It’s been a very tiring and long 4 days. It might be the jetlag.The first thing that I noticed was that it is HOT here. I really hope it cools down soon!

On the first night, the epals showed us around and we went to eat dinner at a restaurant called Coco’s Restaurant. I ordered Curry Rice, and it was pretty good! A little expensive, but good nonetheless! The epals were really nice about helping us and it made things a lot easier. After that, we went to a place called Sega Club, which was full of games. We ended up doing purikura which is like a photo booth but a lot fancier. It was really fun! It was getting late after that so most of us went back to Hotel Spring and called it a day.

One thing that surprised me that day was the hotel room, especially the bathroom! The room is small and I could not find a way to turn on the lights. I also struggled with how the bathroom works! I eventually figured it out, but it was still quite an adventure.

The second day was the first day of orientation. It was filled with information sessions but we eventually had time to do our own things. I think we were able to get a phone that day as well.

Alright lets move on to Friday before I bore you with more words. Friday was the day I met my host mother! I was so scared and nervous like many others! We were communicating with some Japanese here and some English there. We were (somehow) able to understand each other (for the most part.) She took me home by train (which was VERY confusing. I’m bound to get lost some time in the future.) And she made me dinner. She asked me a few questions about my family and I was able to answer…most of her questions. I felt a bit home sick that night. Today, one of the sons came over with his wife and daughter. I felt a little bit at ease after that because he was able to communicate in English with me and I kind of stopped feeling so lonely and uneasy…somehow. They are really nice people. Hopefully, I will fully adjust and feel more at home.

I shall end this entry with a picture.

Location: Chiba, Japan

T-minus 18 Days!

We leave in 18 days! I am so excited! I cannot wait to get to know my host family and see how a normal day runs for them. I am sure it will take awhile getting used to taking siestas seeing as I do not ever take naps or spend time just resting. My host family has a mom and a dad, a fourteen, thirteen and three year old. I am also excited to get to know the other students who are also traveling to Guanajuato through Penn State-whether they be from the Altoona campus or UP. We have all done some research on Guanajuato, Mexico and have learned a little bit about what to expect of the cultural differences between PA and there. I am also excited to start our classes and practice my spanish with other psu students as well as practice it with native spanish speakers. I am taking two Spanish classse while in Mexico to finish my minor. I am also eager to trade in these frio days in state college for the sweltering sun of Mexico. We will see after I am drenched in sweat from a 5 minute leisurely walk how much I really like the sun though. I better pack some spf 500 because I know I am going to burnn. So, I hope that you will come with me as I experience life in Mexico and follow me on my journeys! I know that I am going to miss many of you, so your comments and words of encouragement will be much appreciated!

Location: Boucke builidng University Park, PA

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