桃園縣私立治平高中 羅宏祐
I have longed for visiting America since I was a kid. Fortunately, I got a chance to be an exchange student to the U.S. My host family live in Kansas, which was exactly how I pictured America: Boundless land, farms, barns, and cowboys. I just felt so blessed to be there and couldn’t wait to start the life there.
The school that I attended was a Christian school. Every one there was so dedicated to God. Although I was not a Christian, I still felt happy to hear them talking about God and learn stuff about the Bible. I also went to church two times a week with my host family.
I had one host sister and two host brothers. They were all in elementary school. They were so adorable and kind to me that I really liked to hang out with them. I played games, watched TV, and played sports with them. I really loved the way that Americans recreate themselves. It’s much different with how we do it in Taiwan. I went camping with my host family a lot. We drove our RV to a lake and stay overnight. We grilled out, played football, and went fishing. My host father loved fishing and he brought me with him a lot. Thus, I had learned something about fishing. My host grandfather had a boat, so we sailed out to the lake and fish on weekends. Life there was just so chilling and relieving!
I joined the basketball team from which I really had got some wonderful memories. When I went to the tryout, I was worried if I couldn’t make it. Luckily, I finally did. I had to wake up at five every morning to catch the practice. I was thankful for my host father because he took me to the practice every morning! We traveled a lot to different cities, even different states, to play with other school. Sometimes we have to stay overnight in a hotel, and we loved it because we could have a day off the school and hang out together. I missed those days so bad!
I also liked the trip with ASSE to NYC and Washington D.C. It was a great time and we had lots of fun. I met knew friends all over the world such as Russian, German, French…etc. Furthermore, NYC really impressed us and we liked it so much.
Besides me, there were some more international students in my school as well and it was nice to meet them. We exchange our own culture with each other and the local students. The funny thing was that the first word we learned from each other’s language were some cuss words.
The whole year I stayed in the U.S. was a great memory and I will never forget. I do learn something from it and I just feel so blessed to have the chance to be an exchange student. Thank my parents and my sister. You guys make my dream come true and you are always the best. I also want to thank ASSE for offering me the chance. The experience and memory are like seeds, already growing in my mind.
