Many times I hear people call our school, a 'home away from home'. With sports and school activities, it is not unheard of to spend more time at school than at home. Friends, teachers, and coaches, are all like a second family. We go to them when we have problems, to spend memorable times together, or even when you are in need of a simple cheering up. I know I have created like a second family. As I think about it, I find it pretty cool that many students have a second family not only here, but across the world.
Today in chapel, three seniors spoke to us about their experience studying abroad for an entire year in either France or China. The pictures and short presentations all seemed to have the same overlapping focus, their host families. Each would call them their family/adopted family, calling them mom and dad. I just couldn't believe how much the host families bonded with the seniors. It went from complete strangers to mom and dad. It goes to show how open and welcoming those families were to take in a student from a different country for a whole year. What brought them together I guess was the love for the culture, people, and language.
One of the girls who spoke, mentioned how amongst the new experiences, she had a longing for Hawaii and her family. That's totally reasonable, because after all, she was away for an entire year. Away from friends and family, and away from home. Soon that all changed, she made lifetime friends and had another family, and China was her home. Now that she is back in Hawaii, she misses China and her other family.
Seeing how every single one of those seniors were able to bond and become a part of another family in another country, it gives me some confidence that I will be alright when I go off to college. Who knows, maybe I will do just fine.
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I listened to that chapel today too. Isn't it awesome and brave of the now seniors to go to a foreign country and learn to speak practically fluently? I think that would be the ultimate experience. The thing is, you miss out when you're away. Junior year is when the hardest classes are supposedly taken, when the Juniors collaborate for carnival, junior function, and on and on... But then again, there are pros to it too. For one thing, its pretty sure you'll ace the AP exam for that lanuage. :) Christine, you will do fine. Don't worry about it.
Punahou? A home away from home? I'd like to say otherwise. But when I think about it, I agree with you.
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