Fangru Liu (17 years old) - China
Hobbies : Travel, Basketball, Family activities, Music (koto), School Activities, Walking.
Dear host family,
It's a great honor for me to go to your fascinating country and get this chance to be a member of your kind family. And I
faithfully hope I could integrate into your family as soon as possible. Now, I'd like to get ball rolling by touching on the
description of myself. I'm a senior high school student in changsha. I decided to take part in this activity because of culture
exchange. As well as this, I enjoy doing lots of sports, and listening to music. Writing lyrics and melodies can be another
hobby of me. Besides, I have a special strong suit, which is playing the Koto, a kind of musical instrument in ancient
China. During this year, I really feel like bringing Chinese style friendliness and passion to your family. And I will share as
much Chinese culture as possible with you. As a foreigner, I sincerely hope you can help me with learning American
culture and history. I respect to your customs, and will assist you with housework that I capable in. From the bottom of my
heart, I appreciate that you were willing to consider hosting me. At the end, I want to say thank you for taking time off to
read my letter. Wish we could spend a nice year together.
Yours sincerely
Fangru Liu
- Letter from her parents
Dear host family members,
As the child's parent, I am grateful to you for giving her this chance to integrate into your family.
She is a benevolent girl. She always saves her living expenses for donating them to poor students or needy families. She
also can be a filial daughter. She usually helps us with some housework, and takes care of our health. As well as this,
optimistic and brave is to her what active and leisurely is to those Olympic athletes, which means she can be really
strong-hearted in the face of difficulties. On top of that, there are something irreplaceable to highlighted here is that she
has an abundant of hobbies, such as playing Koto, singing songs, doing sports and writing poems, especially writing lyrics
and melodies. At school, she does well in each subject, especially in Math and English. She lives in a harmonious and
loving family. Her father, me, is a literate writer and a government officer, and her mother is a kind housewife and a
dedicated accountant. We were happy with her decision to participate in this activity. Wish she could feel the beauty and
civilization of America, and friendly of American family. From the bottom of my heart, wish you could love her. In addition,
we hope she will bring happiness and the new flavor to your family. I really appreciate your kindness. Wish you would
come to China some day.
Yours faithfully
Fangru's parents
Dasheng Shi (17 years old) - China
Hobbies : Cooking, Travel, Basketball, School activities, Computers and Antiques.
Dear host family:
Thank you for considering hosting me. My name is Dison (Shi Dasheng). I’m 16 years old. I was born in March 2 92. I’m
an outgoing, easygoing, humorous, confident and sentimental. Maybe because my horoscope is Pisces, I love pet but
never possessed one. And once I organized an activity to encourage people to known more about antiques. It was video
taped by CCTV channel 10 which focuses on education and science. We went to antique market and learned a lot of
knowledge about jade, seal etc. by communicating with shop owners. The reporter even interviewed my grandpa, who
has a shop in that antique market. Later we shared the knowledge with teachers and classmates in the community. That
was fun! It left me a deep impression. In addition, I like playing basketball. Kobe Brant is my favorite player. I love music,
listening or singing. Pop and Japanese visual rock are my favorite style, for example the music by Bow Wow, Eminem,
Kanye West, Chris Brown). I learned playing the piano when I was a little boy. I passed several examinations and got
certificates.
By the way, you may ask me why I want to go to the USA and what will I do? The reason is experiencing different culture
and communicating with people from different cultures. What’s more I think studying abroad can help me know more
comprehensively about my own country. I have been to USA for summer camp in July 2008 and fall in love with the
culture in there immediately. I have stayed in San Francisco and Los Angles for nearly a month. I visited a high school
and attended their daily classes. I lived in a host family and made friends with them. After I came back to China we kept in
touch all the time by e-mail. I love American music and I love American food. What I love most is American education,
which offers students a lot of activities. At school teachers try their best to make the students enjoy the classes and keep
encouraging students, which makes learning not so stressful. I believe myself can be a successful culture-exchange
ambassador. I’m going to introduce our tradition festivals and customs to you. I want to teach you how to make dumplings
and other Chinese dishes.
This year I hosted the Halloween party. You may say I was the hostess, because I acted as a Japanese cartoon girl! We
dressed up as different cosplay roles, “trick or treat” together, carved the pumpkin lanterns, and finally had a big crazy
dance. As Christmas is coming, we’re busy preparing for the Christmas party at the moment. Of course I’ll be one of the
hosts, but this time as a man. I’m look forward to it! I am sure this time I can enjoy myself again.
Yours sincerely
Dison
- Letter from his parents.
Dear members of the host family,
We appreciate your kindness to accept our son, Shi Dasheng to be a member of your family, and we are sure the year in
the U.S.A will be one of the happiest years in his life.
Shi Dasheng, with a blood type O and Pisces as his horoscope, is an open-minded, kind-hearted, gentle and friendly
young man. He has various dreams, and is active, healthy and caring. Due to his easy-going personality, he has a large
circle of friends, and he is very popular among them.
He has extensive interests. The after-school-activities he enjoys are playing basketball, singing songs, listening to music,
traveling and chatting with friends (sometimes on internet). He is the kind of person who will go all out to the things he is
interested in. Even when he was a little boy he was very keen on taking part in various creational and social activities. He
appeared quite often in school performances and played an active role on basketball court. One of the social activities
proposed and organized by him when he was in elementary school was video taped by Focusing on New Courses, a
program of CCTV-10, which is known as the Science & Education Channel and widely watched by audience in China, and
was broadcast for 30 minutes. The theme of the social activity is Knowing More about the Antique Market and Promoting
People’s Awareness of the Importance of the Antiques. He is the leading role in the program, and successfully persuaded
the reporters to have a interview with his grandparents, who were running a shop in the antique market after their
retirement. Recently he hosted the Halloween Celebrating Party at his school.
Shi Dasheng has interest in Chinese culture and he also loves American culture. He is keen on watching NBA, and is a
big fan of Kobe and Yao Ming. He enjoys the movies on HBO. His favorite TV series are Jerry Seinfeld and Two And A
Half Men. Hamburger and fried chicken are his favorite food. He is fond of modern dancing, too. His loves traveling. He
has been to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tibet. He has also been to Great Britain with his mother. In July
2008, he attended a summer camp organized by his school and went to the U.S.A. He was very popular among the group
and each member of the boarding family loved him. This trip impressed him so deeply and left him an unforgettable
memory. After returning home, Dasheng missed his American friends a lot, and they have been keeping in touch with
each other by e-mails.
Many people say that the Only Child in China is the emperor of the family. But Shi Dasheng would help us with chores at
weekends. The chores he usually does are sweeping and cleaning the floor, tiding his room, setting the table, washing
dishes and cooking (occasionally). By the way, when praised he would be more enthusiastic to do these things.
Both of us have been working for the most successful provincial media – Hunan Gold Eagle Broadcast Service for many
years. We have welcomed friends from America and other countries. We have worked together with people from other
countries, too. We made friends with them, accompanied them sightseeing, treated them with Chinese cuisine and
introduced them to our traditional massage. We believe that close personal communication can improve understanding
and friendship between people from different cultures. We are positive that understanding and friendship mean a lot to
both of us. We sincerely hope that Dasheng will feel at home in your house and live harmoniously with you. We also hope
he can bring your family happiness and different cultural experiences. We have an old saying in China: “A bosom friend
afar brings a distant land near”. We wish our two families will be like one and our two nations will be on friendly terms and
cooperation forever.
We would like to extend our heart-felt thanks again and our sincere invitation to you all to come to Changsha, China.
Yours faithfully
Shi Huageng, Yu Jianping
Tiansi Wang (16 years old) – China
Hobbies : Volleyball, Basketball, Travel, Basketball, Soccer
Dear host family,
Greeting from enthusiastic China! I’m Tiansi Wang, Wang is my family name. I’m 16 now, I am passionate for basketball,
table tennis, swimming. I’m out-going, humerous, and also thoughtful.
There are three people in my family, my dad is a government officer, he works very hard. My mom is an accoutant; she
likes her career very much. I’m a member of the family, both my father and mother love me and care about me. I play
pingpong with my father on weekends to relieve his stress; help mom with housework to ruduce her heary burdens. We
lead a happy and harmonious life.
I have many hobbies, and basketball is my best love, though not an ace at it, I’m practising. Yao Ming is my love, I wish to
be another shining star. I think life in your family would be different and colorful, and I wish I could bring laughters to your
family.
Thank you for considering accepting me.
Yours,
Tiansi
- Letter from his parents
Dear host family,
We are parents of Tiansi Wang. Thank you for your time to read this letter; this is for you to know us more. There are
three people in our family:Tiansi and us.We love our son very much and he loves us too.
We are strict with our son.The most important thing we ask him to do is to be an honest ,brave and pure-hearted boy.
Now our son is 16 years old and we are proud to say that he is a very nice and brave young man.Tiansi is also a diligent
student. He knows knowledge is important for his professional life in the future. So besides fhinishing his school classes,
he attends some children interest classes such as drawing, speech, handwriting, electronic organ, basketball and English.
We encourage him to learn more and practice more. We hope these kind of training class can widen his horizon and he
will enjoy his life.
As a member of our family , Tiansi always help us to do some housework, such as clean the floor, wash dishes and
cooking. Tiansi is in charge of buying commodities such as tissue, oil and milk. Tiansi feel happy when he help us to do
something.
He likes sports very much. He does some sport everyday,if he doesn’t he will feel bad. He is good at billiards, basketball
and swimming. We hope he like sport too, because do some sport can make him health.
If Tiansi can get the chance to be an exchange student, we encourage him to go aboard. We think the totally different
culture will benefit him a lot.
Thank you for considering about accepting Tiansi, and best wishes to all of your family!
Tiansi’s parents
Koen de Bruijn (17 years old) - Netherlands
Hobbies : Basketball, Volleyball, Movies, Biking, Swimming, Golf, Soccer, Computer, Watch TV.
Dear hostfamily,
the reason I’m writing this letter is to introduce myself to you and to look if I fit in your family. I really like to come in a
typical American-family and to participate in your lifestyle.
My name is Koen de Bruijn and I’m 17 years old. I would describe myself as: honest, open, helping and sportive. Here in
Holland I spent my days with going to school, doing my homework, participating in a sport association and having fun with
friends.
My biggest hobby’s are playing basketball and playing volleyball and many other sports. Here I’m participating in a sport,
that can be compared with basketball. Herefor I would like to play basketball in America. Next to playing sports I like to
watch a good movie or working with the computer.
There are 2 major reasons why I want to make a part of your hostfamily:
The first reason is that I want to train my English. Also in Holland many educations are givin in English and I think my
English could use some practice.
The second reason is to spend a year in America, whit all the traditions and special days. I think it would be an experience
I will never forget, which can help me for the rest of my life.
For these reasons I think a hostfamily would fit me perfectly, because I have to speak English all day long and I live with
people who know all the American traditions.
My social situation here in Holland is not much different from an average family here. I got 2 very sweet parents and 1
brother. I used to spend quitte some time with them, but I’m not doubting I won’t do the same with you. My father works 5
(long) days a week as a CFO. My mother doesn’t have a job, but she runs the household. My brother is 18 years old, so
he still goes to school.
I hope to have informed you enough about my situation here in Holland and hopefully I’ll see you soon.
Koen de Bruijn
-Letter from his parents
Dear guest family,
We are happy that you (will) invite our child Koen to your home. We think it will be a great opportunity for him to meet
other people so far away from home (Holland).
Your home is your private part so we think it will be correct to give some backgrounds before a “stranger” walks into your
house.
Koen is 17 years old and he has a brother Rick who is 18 years old.
There parents are 47 and 48 years old and are married for more than 22 years.
Koen is healthy, sportive, loyal, and honest. He doesn’t drink or smoke.
Koen is willing to take part of your family for the period. So it is an opportunity for him to meet other people. For you it will
be also very interesting to take notice of the live of a child and a family from so far away.
We think it is better that Koen lives a normal American life when he is in the US. He is willing to solve his own problems
(before contacting us). But when there are problems we would be happy if you will be so kind to contact us. Of course we
are very curious but we will not contact Koen every day.
We hope that you will take care of our son. And we have the intention to come to the U.S after the school period (May
2009) Maybe it is possible to meet each other.
We wish you all the best and have a good time
Kind regards
Peter and Greet de Bruijn
Nitiane Goncalves (16 years old) - Brazil
Hobbies : Cooking, Travel, Family activities, Visiting relatives, Computers.
Dear host family,
My name is Nitiane Coelho Gonçalves and my nickname is Niti. I was born in Guanhães, a small city in the State of Minas
Gerais which is located in the Southeast of Brazil, near to Rio de Janeiro. I’m 16 years old. My birthday is on June 23. My
mother’s name is Maria Cristina, she is a vet, my father’s name is Afonso, and he is a vet too. I have two brothers, Thiago
who is 10 years old, and Matheus who is 13 years old. We live in a small city named Oliveira where I like to go out with
my friends, go to parties, and go to the cinema. I have a lot of friends of all different ages.
I study at a High-School named Pitagoras Apogeu.
During the week I always wake up early since I have to be at school at 7:00am, and I come back home at 12:30pm. My
family and I always have lunch together; it is some thing very important for my family. In the afternoon I go to a dancing
class twice a week, go to the gym three times a week, and go to my English class at Skill. At night I study. On weekends I
visit my grandparents and go out with my friends, I like traveling swimming, go for a walking with friends, play the
computer and do many others things.
I would like to know the USA and the American culture. I want to study English for my future, because nowadays this
language is very important.
Besides being very easygoing I’m shy sometimes, but I love to make new friends. My parents are both vets but I don’t
know why I’m a little bit afraid of pets. We have a very beautiful Labrador at home but I never play with it. It is not because
I don’t like, It is most because I’m really afraid of it, but I know I will get used to them some day.
I’m looking forward to getting to your country to make new friends, go to school, improve my English and learn about the
American way of life.
I’ve always wanted to live abroad and the USA has always been my first option.
I am a good student and a very responsible girl. I intend to be a journalist or some thing related to that, I love this field.
Well I hope to hear from you soon and I’m sure we will get along well.
Love
Nitiane
- Letter from her parents
Dear host family,
It’s a good pleasure to know that there is a family so far from us that will be able to give our daughter a great opportunity
to know a new and different culture and also will give her affection and love as we do here in our home. We are a family of
5 people. My name is Maria Cristina Resende Coelho and my husband is Afonso Arinos Gonçalves Filho, we both are
veterinarians and we work together with pets in general. We have a small pet shop where we do a little bit of everything,
as taking care of dogs and cats, grooming and selling pet stuff. We have three kids, Nitiane is the oldest one and she is
the only daughter, Matheus is 13 years old and as any other teenager he and she are always making fun of each other,
Thiago is a 10- year- old boy. Thiago and Niti ( this is her nickname) like each other a lot and they are very good friends.
We are always together, me my husband and the kids, we always have lunch and dinner together, and we love to go for a
walking and talk.
We live and work in a small but very nice city. We love this calm life without the stress of transit and violence. We know a
lot of people, we have a lot of relatives and friends. My mother loves their grandchildren a lot and takes care of them with
all the affection of a grandmother. My children are very independents, they go anywhere across the city on foot, they go to
school, to the gym, wherever they want they go walking. Our house is very good and comfortable but not luxurious. We
live in front of a beautiful square with a church, where children play soccer, kites, go cycling, etc.
Nitiane is a beautiful and calm teenager, calm, she always has good maners and she is very helpful. She is very obedient,
responsible and loving. She loves talking with her friends, going to parties and traveling. She is a great student, always
praised by teachers for their attitudes. She loves computer and Internet, where she spends hours chatting, viewing photos
and listening to music. She’s always spends a lot of time getting ready to go out or taking care of her hair, skin, nail. She’s
is a very easygoing girl who loves new experiences, cultural, gastronomic or personal programs. She is a little bit shy, but
when she feels confident with friends or family she loves to talk and laugh.
Despite being vets, and having a beautiful Labrador dog at home and always having several dogs of our customers, Niti is
afraid of dogs and cats. She has always frightens and must learn to live better with these animals.
We travel a little but I would love knowing other countries and different cultures. We are giving her as much support for
this Exchange Program as we can. She wants so much to go and we think it will be a fantastic experience and a moment
of great personal maturity. I pray for God to make sure that everything will be all right for her and that He blesses you,
who will take care of our daughter. Thanks a lot.
Love,
Maria Cristina and Afonso.
Mai Blichfeld-Grosen (16 years old) - Denmark
Hobbies : Movies, Shopping, Art/Painting, Family activities, Photography.
Me and my family
My name is Mai, and I’m 15 years old, but turning 16 at the end of the spring. I grew up on a farm in a little village, near
the three highest hills in little Denmark. My family moved from a flat in the city and out to the farm, 10 days before I was
born, so there would be enough space for all of us. I have a brother Emil and a sister Liv, whom I have a really close
relationship to. Of course we have our little fights ones in a while, but most of the time we just laugh and have a good time
together. My brother Emil is at the age of 20, but turning 21 next summer, and my sister Liv is just turned 18, so I’m the
youngest of the three of us.
I grew up in the country with nature in our back garden, and I really learned to value it. So when my brother and sister and
I was younger we had a lot of space to play on, we have our own forest, where we made a lot of caves, we have about
three fields, and one where there once was running sheep on, I even owned my own sheep, that I named Snow-white. We
also once had a dog, a Border Collie.
My father Leif has been moving around to Greenland and back again, and now Copenhagen, because of his work. He has
a little flat in the centre of Copenhagen and is only home on weekends. When he comes home I really appreciate it.
Even though I’m only 15 years old, I’m really mature of my age. I’m Responsible, independent, I have high social skills
and am emphatic. I find it easy to meet new people, because I connect easily with them. Since I was a little girl, I have
always made a good impression on people, when my family and I were in new surroundings. I find it easy to talk to
people, even though I don’t know them.
School
When I was younger I went to the little village school, about a mile from my home. But through the years, I felt that I didn’t
learn enough from my teachers, so I moved to a private school in a town near my home. It feels like I‘ve been going there
my entire schooling and now when we are about to graduate I feel like I took the right choice, to change school. We use a
big part of the time to make papers, in most of our subjects. We have just ended a big project, about expectations. My
school often takes test so they can se how we’re doing in the different subjects. The normal subject that we have in a
week is: Danish, German, English, mathematics, physics/chemistry, biology, geography, history, religion, social studies
and sports. When I was younger I had subject like swimming, music, visual art, needlecraft, woodwork and home
economics. (housecraft)
Spare time
I really care about my friends and love to be around them, do something together and make memories. We are a little
group of people, that like to get together once in a while. Some times one of us makes dinner, we see a movie, play
games and do stuff we like to do together and have a good time. Every time I’m together with just one of them, I really
appreciate that I’ve met the friends that I have.
My father gave me a camera last fall, because I love to put pictures on the life, what we see, that we experience and
those who we are. I love to put pictures on what we don’t think about, so I create a correction and the whole fact to take
pictures. I really want to be better than just good, so I can use my camera professionally. I love the whole art part, music,
movies, pictures and just that some people emphasized to show something that they have created.
In my daily round I fill smiles, fantasy and play much of my time, because I sometimes take care of the girl next door and
often is surrounded by children. I’m very comfortable with children because children have the best imagination. When I
look after my neighbour, we can find everything under the sun. We can draw, play computer games, watch movies,
dance, jump around, sing and all kind of crazy things. My neighbour girl is at the age of 9 years, but I have looked after
her for a few years now. At that time I have spend with her, I have helped to teach her to read, helped her to let go of her
messy room and created many wonderful moments.
My choice
Last year my father and I were talking about, what options I had after my graduation in primary school. We were talking
about a lot of different things, high school in Denmark, continuing school, but when my father asked me if I would consider
a year on another continent, I new that was a great way to spend a year between the Danish primary school and the
Danish high school.
I have chosen this option, because I know that it’s a challenge to be away from home, away from family and all my friend,
but it will be a challenge that will develop me. I chose this option because, it will be a year full of experience, with meeting
new people, new cultures and new continents. I choice this option because, I have to put a huge responsibility in it, I have
to be in a land where I never have been before, and have to live different and change my everyday life. I chose this option
because, it will develop my English pronunciation and learn to speak the English language correctly. So I chose this
option because, I think it will develop me and I think this journey will make memories for the rest of my life.
I’m really looking forward to this year.
- Letter from her parents
Dear American family.
We are a family of 5 persons, Leif, Mais father, Kirsten Mais mother, Emil(20), Mais big brother , Liv(18), Mais sister and
Mai our youngest daughter.
We live on an old farm, not far from the highest point in Denmark ,Ejer Baunehøj - Møllehøj - 171 m high. We haven’t any
animals on the farm except cats. It is an area of natural beauty, with many hills, woods and lakes, with many good
viewpoints over the local landscape. We love walking and running in the area.
Leif is an engineer and works in the Danish military - in the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization, which
is the specialized materiel centre and logistics authority of the Danish Defence. The organization acquires, maintains,
develops and phases out materiel capacities and ensures provisions in due time for the Danish Defence operations. Leif
is because of his job living in Copenhagen in the working days.
Kirsten is a nurse, working as a district-nurse, taking care of old and young peoples weakness in their own home. I love
my job, it makes a difference that I can provide good nursing, helping people to get well and stay healthy and being able
to manage their own lives .
Whilst we are not members of the Danish church or any other churches, we wouldn’t object to Mai accompanying you to
your church services.
Mai is looking forward to come and live with you. Mai has always been a very bright an open-minded person, she has
always been good at making contact with other people. Mai is a very nice and helpful girl . She likes helping with making
salads and doing cooking. Mai is a very social person , and has great empathy for other people. Mai has a very positive
way of thinking.
Mai is not pursuing any particular sports activities, however this winter she is going skiing together with her schoolfriends.
Mai is a very creative person, when she was younger she loved create beautiful flower arrangements. Today it is mostly
photos and making pictures that interests her. Mai is very hardworking and conscientious at school and she takes care of
her homework herself.
We appreciate that you will open your home for our daughter. We think that her living together with an American family is
a very good way for her to get to know the American culture and language. Mai is looking forward to improving her
English.
We look forward to hearing from you. You can get our emails and we will try to install Skype again so that you can call us.
Kind Regards from
Leif and Kirsten
Julia Schwabe-Werner (15 years old) - Germany
Hobbies : Camping and Swimming.
Dear host family,
My name is Julia Schwabe-Werner and I am now 15 years old. For 2 month I decided to go a year abroad, I decided to go
to the USA, because I am really interested in the American way of life. I want to go to the region east, because I am really
interested in it, too.
I live with my parents and my younger sister Sara in Düsseldorf. My father works as a sales manager by Mercedes Benz
and my mom is a housewife.
My sister Sara is only ten and goes to the Max-Plank-Gymnasium. I am in year ten of the Max-Plank-Gymnasium and
have learning English since Year 5. My favorite subjects are French, English and Sport. My hobbies are singing, dancing,
meeting friends and play the piano. I‘ve been learning piano for 3 years now. On my weekends I often meet my friends.
My whole life turns around music and my family. I love it to sing, because with it you can describe your emotions. My
favorite singers are Leona Lewis and Whitney Houston. My family is so important for me, because if I am sad or
something I can go to them. Last summer I was in Italy with my aunt my uncle and my two cousins Phillip and Katharina.
Katharina and I are like sisters. We can tell everything and we love it to be together.
I’ve always lived in Düsseldorf and only two years (from 2006 to 2008) in Hamburg. These two years were, I think, the
best years of my live. First I was really afraid to move in a strange city, but on my first school day all the anxiety flow
away. It was a really good experience to get to know new persons. Since then I love it to get to know new contacts.
I think in a strange situation I am first really shy but after a few hours I am really open to all. I think my strengths are that I
really can handle with little kids, I love it. In year 9 I did a social practise at school. In my free time I do social work in a
church.
I am looking forward to see you in the next year.
Yours faithfully
Julia Schwabe-Werner
- Letter from her parents
Dear host family,
first of all we would like to thank you very much that you are going to host our daughter Julia in your house and that she
will be able to share your family-life for 10 month with you.
Now I’m telling something about our family:
My husband Dietmar was born on the 29th of August in 1961. He works as a senior sales-manager at Daimler. My name
is Sabine and I was born on the 2nd of September in 1964. Since I have my children I stayed at home except for one year
I had a part-time job. At this time we had an aupair girl from Russia.
We have two children. Julia is the oldest one and was born on the 29th of July in 1993. At the moment she is visiting the
10th class of the high school. Her younger sister Sara was born on the 18th of December in 1997. She is now visiting the
5th class of the junior high school. Most of the time the two sisters have a good relationship with all up’s and downs like in
every family.
Now I’m telling you something about Julia:
Julia is an independent, uncomplicated, friendly and responsible teenager, who easily gets in contact with other people.
The past two years we needed to live in Hamburg and she found a lot of friends there. She also loves to be together with
the whole family, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. Julia is a little bit pampered but she is used to help at home.
She tidies up her own room and she needs to clean her own bathroom. She spends a lot of time in her room, does her
homework, chats with her friends or watches TV. Once a week Julia goes to a music-academy, where she takes lessons
in Piano as well as in singing. Also once a week she goes to a church group where she is looking after girls and boys from
8 to 12 years. Since Julia was 5 years old she has taken lessons in ballet. In Hamburg she sang in two pop-choirs.
One of the rules at home is that we always want to know where Julia is, which people she meets and that she has to be
home in time which is no problem for her. She often brings her friends at home. We can rely on her otherwise we never
would have allowed her to go abroad.
We are very glad for Julia that she will have the chance to visit the USA for 10 month and to learn about your country and
its people. It will be hard for us to let her go for such a long time but this is a big chance for her future.
We wish you a great time with Julia.
Yours sincerely,
Sabine Schwabe-Werner
An Thai (16 years old) - Vietnam
Hobbies : Travel, Basketball, Music, Soccer, Computers, Swimming and Dancing.
Dear host family, My nameis An, I’m 16 age and I’m going to stay with you for about 1 year in America. I’m writing this
letter to help my host family know a little about me before I get there. You will easily recognize me who has a red full lips
and always wear glasses. I’m not tall, just about 5 feet and I have a well built body! Short hair, T-shirt with jeans or shorts
is my style. I don’t care about the fashion much, keep wearing what I like but it would be not out of fashion, just suitable
for where I go and what I do! I’m an easy-going boy with a sense of humor. I like to smile, it helps me to get out of
sadness and makes life more fun!!! I believe music is the best medicine to kill stress. It helps us to express, say out our
feelings indirectly. Beside that, computer game is also a good way to relax when I have free time. The next thing I want to
mention about is sport. I’m a kind of person that always want to play sports. I can play soccer, basketball, swimming,
badminton and know a little about volleyball. It’s the best way to improve my health and my physical. Furthermore, I love
traveling, I always want to visit many interesting places in the world !! I have many hobbies but I do best with dancing. I
participate in a dace group in my school and I have received some awards from school. It’s help me to be more confident
in performing. These awards show that I have potential in group dancing!! When I live in America, I expect that I will have
more knowledge about life, about how people work, how people study, so on. And the people who will help me the most to
gain those knowledge is my host family. I except they will have time going something together like playing sport, going
camping, etc ? So that, we will understand each other more clearly. I think it would be better if my host family has a
teenager. It’s easier for me to share feeling, to ask some questions and get advices. Busy is the best word to describe my
school days. I spent the whole day at school. I must get up at 6 A.M to prepare everything. Someday, my father takes me
to my school, someday I ride bicycle. I arrive home at 9 P.M, sometimes 10 P.M, have dinner, take a bath then continue
studying if there is too much homework. I only have morning free of school to learn or do something in private. So,
weekend is the best time of the week. My free time is used for helping my parents, learning computer, if not, I can go out
with my friends to watch movie, drink fruit juice, play computer game or sport. Now I want to share with my host family
about my deep memorable experience. When I was in grade eight, I was told about the Physics test 1 week before I did it
but I probably ignored it. I thought there would be enough time for me to prepare. So, in that week, I just watched TV,
listened to music and I did totally forget about the test. Then, the result was. I didn’t have time for preparing. I fail !!! I was
really disappointed. If I had taken full advantage of time well, I could have finished the test successfully. I know that, you
should do what you can do as soon as possible, don’t delay, no one knows what will happen to you next day, next hour or
next minute. It’s time to say about my family. My family has 4 member, my parents, my older sister and me. We all stay
together in a five-storey house which is located in a crowded street where there are school, bookstore, supermarket,
church, etc.. I have place of entertainment in my house, where everyone can dance, watch movie or sing. My father is an
engineer, he knows almost everything about electric, computer, a little motorbike. He can repair TV, computer and even a
bike or a motorbike. Cooking is my mother’s skill. She always takes care of me, give me the best advice to solve my
problems. My sister, a difficult girl, it’s hard to satisfy her. She works as a receptionist at a famous English language
training center named International Language Academic. She usually has busy days, so sometimes she becomes a bad ?
temperature one, sometimes she’s easy. Whatever, I’m always proud of them, they have supported me to better my life! I
have some responsibilities at home. I must keep my room clean and my clothes neatly. Then, help my mother to wash
clothes, wash dishes, etc? Sometimes, I’m tired with those things but it makes me feel that I’m not useless. Coming to
America, I believe I will study better because I will be free to express my ideas without the control of the teacher. I
addition, I can get more experience for my life and can stand on my own feet. With all my experience in American, I will
grow up to become an independent person. So my family will not worry to much about me. And my country will have a
successful man to help them out of poverty. When I’, in America, I’ll share my understanding of Vietnamese Culture as
well as learning American Culture. And I also participate in my host family’s activities, I’ll do anything I can to show that I
am not their burden. Hope to see you soon, Love An
- Letter from his parents
Dear Host Family, I am father of An Thai. My son is a very polite boy with high respect for the elderly. He is very active in
learning many aspects of life, including English and American culture. I want him to grow up as a well-rounded person.
The opportunity to participate in the student exchange program will full-fill a major part of the growing up process. An Thai
is a very out-going boy so he will be excited to interact with other teenagers and new friends. My career involves with new
technologies in electrics, electronics and computers. My son inherits some or may be all of my abilities so he is very
technical oriented. He likes to put his hands on many audio-video equipment as well as computer software and hardware.
He is learning Photoshop now and hopefully he can get up to the professional level soon??? One thing that An will
certainly need to overcome is his shyness. We believe the new environment and the friendly atmosphere will help. My
wife and me have a high hope for An and put a lot of supports to help our son in every steps for success. You can imagine
how hard for the parents in a third world country to put their son to study abroad. We do hope that your family, the host
family would see An’s potentials and give us some help too. We are surely appreciate all the supports from you Best
regards. Thanh Thai & Nguyet Pham