I can say my first day in the U.S. was one of the most interesting moments of my life. I didn’t sleep that night. Not because I was excited, but because I was convinced that my host family wanted to kidnap me.
Imagine stepping into a house you have never been to and greeting people you have never even made eye contact with and being told that for the next ten months, this will be your house. As they show your room saying, “Make yourself at home,” your brain says, “That’s it. This is how horror movies start.”
To make things worse, my genius idea at 2 A.M. was to scroll through scary stories about exchange students who were locked outside of her house after curfew or were being monitored by their host family, including her PHONE. Now I was sure that my host family was plotting something. Probably how to make me clean the house for ten months.
Fast forward a few months, and guess what? Same house. Same people. Preparing ourselves for my very first Christmas in my host grandparents’ house. Turns out no one was kidnapping me. No secret plans. No horror movie endings. Just a family that somehow put up with my awkwardness and broken English.
Looking back, choosing to be an exchange student is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I came here thinking I would simply survive ten months. Instead, I found a second home. I will be forever grateful to my host family, who welcomed me and helped me to turn my fears into some of the best experiences of my life.
