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I have been lucky enough to have spent nearly a whole year studying
as a Foreign Exchange student in America. I lived in Illinois
State. My hometown name’s was Odin, which was a kind of small town
with not too many people. I loved living there as lots of people
were so nice to me and everyone would help me if I wanted to learn
or practice my English.
When I
first found out that I was going to go to America I so excited. I
asked myself lots of questions like - How am I gonna get on with my
host family and what kind of family will they be like? And how about
my school, how I will I get on with them? I was very nervous about
everything at first but I still wanted to go over there to gain new
experiences and see and do things that I’d never done before.
Anyway, when I got over there, I felt like this land is so awesome
and I felt like I want to become an American person. (LOL that’s
kind of stupid though!). I had a very good ‘host’ family. I thought
that I was a lucky girl to get such a good family. They were so
cool towards me and they always took good care of me. Anyway, I am
going to now introduce my family. I’ll start with my dad; He is a
truck driver and his name is Vernon Deadmond.
He’s a
very nice guy and a great dad. He usually told me things about
America that I never knew and it was good to learn a little American
history from him. My mom is a secretary and her name is Janna. She
is a lovely lady and I’m so lucky that she became my second mom. She
took care of me all the time and was a great mom. She always helped
me with my homework and taught me English words that I didn’t know.
Next is Brian. He was my brother. He too helped me many times when I
lived there. We were the same grade and sometimes I copied his
homework but not too often tho. Brian and I always fought together
but we did have a lot of fun from that (LOL).
He plays
baseball and basketball and he does very well in those sports.
Lastly, it’s my sister. Her name is Keeli, she is in the 8th
grade and she’s a very smart girl. I usually helped her to cook and
set the table. My grandparents were very nice and neat. Their food
was great and I loved it when I could eat their food. My
grandmother is a very good cook. She is pretty old but I think she
is still pretty. Granddad is a big old guy but he is still strong
and was nice to me.
I loved to
hang around with my family and my grandparents. And the last member
of the family is someone very special to me. His name is “Spirit”
and he was a cute little puppy. I miss you Spirit!
My family
and I often went horseback riding. Before I went to the States, I
had no clue about horses and I’d never ridden a horse before. It was
a great experience for me. I now love horses because I think they
are amazing and cute animals. I often hung out with my mom and Keeli
on Saturday. We sometimes went shopping at Centralia, a big
department store. On Sunday mornings and evenings, my family and I
always went to church.
Now I am
going to write a little about my school my friends and my teacher.
My schools’ name is Odin High School. I was a sophomore. My
favorite class was Geometry because my teacher was so cool and he is
a nice guy. I called him “Mr.cookie” because he liked to eat cookies
in school. If ever I had a problem with my homework, my project or I
just don’t understand something my friends and my teachers would
always be there to help me. I so close to my friends. My best friend
is Rachel Riehm. She is so cool and I loved to hang out with her.
She is so funny and is good fun to be with. We were always shopping
at the big mall and enjoying ourselves. But I think it’s weird
though because I never had any classes with her yet she was my best
friend. Maybe it’s because her brother is cute. (LOL). Actually, I
had lots of friends such as Kristen, Tiffany, Shelly, Jacob, Dinisha,
Illisha and others.
I really
miss them because I know that I loved them so much. While I was
living there, I went to a homecoming party. It was my first party,
and after that I went to a prom. I was dancing with my guy friends
and then we all went to Wal-Mart before I went back to my house.
Odin High
School is a kind of small school and I was the only exchange
student. It did make me feel a little lonely a couple of times but I
think it was better for me in the long run.
Of course,
America and Thailand have many differences but I can’t tell you
which country I like most? Thailand is my country and America is so
different I really would love to live over there for a while.
Anyway, on my last night in America, (those 10 months really flew
by!) my friends and I watched a movie called ‘White Chick’. It was a
good movie and once it had finished all of us just sat and talked.
We talked about everything, our school, our friends, what we had
done together etc etc. I cried many times that last night in America
and I don’t think that I have ever felt sadder in my life.
The following morning, my sister
woke me up and Brian (my host brother) and I went for one last horse
ride around the house. We then ate breakfast, a big American
breakfast. It filled me up. Before we left the house, I went to say
goodbye to my ‘host’ grand-parents and of course ‘Spirit’ the
beautiful puppy. After that my ‘family’ drove me around St.Louis (a
big city) and then onto the airport. I checked in for the flight and
said goodbye to Brian, Keeli and Rachael. As I was hugging them I
was crying so much that I didn’t want to leave. I did give Brian $20
as it was his birthday and then reluctantly I went with my parents
as they walked me to the gate. As I left to board the airplane, we
gave each other one last hug, accompanied by lots of tears. My
parents said some things that I will never forget .. my father said
‘I love you and have a nice trip’ and my mom, she said ‘I love you
daughter and have a good trip home’. I then boarded the aircraft and
cried even more. (I cry to much!)
It
was a very long flight but I soon found myself back home in Thailand
with my friends and family, all of whom I had not seen for over 10
months. It was strange at first as everything was different. The
heat, the smells, the traffic, the voices etc etc. I’ve now been
back about three weeks and I still miss America and all the lovely
people I met during my stay there. Even now, when I look at photos
of my time there, I burst into tears. Thank you all for everything.
It
feels like someone is breaking my heart. Yeah right someone might
think that I’m stupid or a crazy girl but it is so hard to put in
writing show my emotions feelings. If you can’t understand how I
feel, I don’t think you have ever experienced what I did. I have a
lot of very good experiences and my memories will last for ever. I
learnt a lot of things while I was in America and had so much fun
with the American people. They taught me how to love, to have
feelings for others and they seemed to fully understand all of the
emotional turmoil I was going through. I am hoping that one day I
will be able to make a return visit and/or maybe my ‘host’ families
can come here to Thailand to visit me and my natural family.
My
love to you all … Mom, Dad, Brian, Keeli, Rachael, Kristen, Jacob,
Dinisha, Illisha,Tiffany, Grandma, Grandpa, Spirit and anybody that
I have missed. Thank you so much for making my time in the States
one of the best periods of my life. |
