Editor's note: Osama "Honey" Rind, AFS-YES exchange student from Pakistan at Monroe High School during the 2011-12 school year, describes her exchange experiences and thanks her host families. Honey's host mother, Debra Thompson, has hosted eight AFS Exchange students from Sweden, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Denmark and Pakistan since 1999.
When I stepped on the land of America, I was full of hopes and excited to see the beautiful land of America and to experience the things I had been hearing about this place since I was born, both positive and negative. This was the time to learn about a new culture. Life is full of experiences. There is always a sun after a dark night. Every sun is a hope to get up and try something new and do something great. I was proud of myself when I was able to make some really bold decisions in my life and move on. America taught me so many things; one of them is being yourself.
I like the way God does miracles. I was staying at my coordinator's house in Argyle for almost 15 days in December of 2011. Her house is in the country and you can see beautiful scenery from all the windows. It is on the top of a hill where you can see the sunrise and sunset. Due to the mild winter, Wisconsin didn't really get a lot of snow this last year, not even for Christmas. On Monday, Dec. 12, my coordinator told me that there was a family in Monroe who was interested in hosting me but wanted to meet me first. I, along with my other exchange friends in Monroe, had dinner with my potential host mom, Deb Thompson, at her house. We had a great dinner. We talked about our music tastes and Deb said she liked instrumental music. After dinner she brought us Kisses chocolates for dessert. How did she know that there is a chocolate monster right here? And Kisses My eyes brightened up. I tried two of each flavor. Deb gave me a pack of cherry kisses. We had a conversation about our daily routines on the way back to Argyle and learned that we both are not morning persons.
Friday morning, I learned that I would move to Deb's house on Sunday. I was all pumped, excited, and grateful. The sad part was that I had to leave my coordinator's house and there was still something uncompleted, something I still had to experience from this country-hill-top-house before I left. "Please God. Do it," I said in my heart. I was all packed on Saturday night (my last night there). I woke up early in the morning. I had this really bright light in my room. I thought, the sun cannot be bright like this. I rubbed my eyes. I got up from my bed and looked out of my window. It did happen. Without any weather forecast, it did snow. Now all I could see was this white beautiful carpet all on that hill. The red barn was so visible in this all white scenery. All I could say was that now I was good to go to my new host family.
Deb Thompson's house was really flexible. If I followed the house rules, I was good. Coming from a culture which has always been very reserved and strict about rules, this was easy for me. It was very hard for me to call Deb by her first name, so I went by "Mom" and I felt more comfortable talking to her. Relationships always take some time. Ours did too. We had really cool talks at the kitchen table. We also had our own personal time whenever we wanted to. I remember my Christmas with Deb and her family. We drove up to Wisconsin Rapids, which is Grandma's house and I was introduced to all the family members. I also met my host brother, Ben, who came up from Chicago. Ben and I had something in common, too. We both were business freaks and big city people. I got along with Mom's family really well. In fact, Deb's brothers were willing to teach me how to drive a car but due to AFS rules, my mom and I didn't want to take the risk of getting caught and sent back home.
If I start telling stories of my exchange year, I might take space in this whole newspaper and still I will have some more stories left. All I can say is that I miss everything I did with my host mom. I remember she would wake up early to give me those yummy cinnamon rolls when I would go on trips with school and I had to leave early in the morning. Thank you for everything, Mom. I remember going to Chicago to a concert downtown. Thanks for that. Chicago is lovely.
I will definitely miss Valentine's Day with Deb. I woke up early in the morning and I found a gift with an envelope on the kitchen table and a "Happy Valentine's Day" note. I got Kisses chocolates and a gift card for a shop I loved in downtown Monroe.
I spent the best days of my life in Monroe. To my surprise I loved the whole experience. Before my exchange year, I could never picture myself living in a town so small and getting used to its beauty. When my host mom went to Hawaii for spring vacation, I stayed with a family friend of ours, the Dennis and Sandra Nelson family. That was a great part of my exchange year. I was lucky to have siblings for a week and lived it up to my best. Easter with them was awesome. I miss them, too. Thanks for hosting me.
This journey did come to an end. I am still very grateful to Mom for such an awesome graduation party. She was getting ready for it for almost a month. I loved the cake and my picture on it. I miss my graduation/going away party. I am thankful to the people who came and made my day beautiful.
I am very thankful to all of the people who made my exchange year awesome including my coordinator, Marjorie Bigelow; my liaison, Jan Johnson; Lisa Hendrickson, an inspiration; and, obviously, my host mom, Deb Thompson. I miss my school, I miss snow and I miss my friends. Monroe is my second home and Pakistan is now the second home for the people close to me in Monroe. I am glad I spent this great year with an awesome group of people. Whoever hasn't experienced going on an exchange or being a host family has missed a lot.
"Exchange is not a year in a life; it's a Life in a year"
When I stepped on the land of America, I was full of hopes and excited to see the beautiful land of America and to experience the things I had been hearing about this place since I was born, both positive and negative. This was the time to learn about a new culture. Life is full of experiences. There is always a sun after a dark night. Every sun is a hope to get up and try something new and do something great. I was proud of myself when I was able to make some really bold decisions in my life and move on. America taught me so many things; one of them is being yourself.
I like the way God does miracles. I was staying at my coordinator's house in Argyle for almost 15 days in December of 2011. Her house is in the country and you can see beautiful scenery from all the windows. It is on the top of a hill where you can see the sunrise and sunset. Due to the mild winter, Wisconsin didn't really get a lot of snow this last year, not even for Christmas. On Monday, Dec. 12, my coordinator told me that there was a family in Monroe who was interested in hosting me but wanted to meet me first. I, along with my other exchange friends in Monroe, had dinner with my potential host mom, Deb Thompson, at her house. We had a great dinner. We talked about our music tastes and Deb said she liked instrumental music. After dinner she brought us Kisses chocolates for dessert. How did she know that there is a chocolate monster right here? And Kisses My eyes brightened up. I tried two of each flavor. Deb gave me a pack of cherry kisses. We had a conversation about our daily routines on the way back to Argyle and learned that we both are not morning persons.
Friday morning, I learned that I would move to Deb's house on Sunday. I was all pumped, excited, and grateful. The sad part was that I had to leave my coordinator's house and there was still something uncompleted, something I still had to experience from this country-hill-top-house before I left. "Please God. Do it," I said in my heart. I was all packed on Saturday night (my last night there). I woke up early in the morning. I had this really bright light in my room. I thought, the sun cannot be bright like this. I rubbed my eyes. I got up from my bed and looked out of my window. It did happen. Without any weather forecast, it did snow. Now all I could see was this white beautiful carpet all on that hill. The red barn was so visible in this all white scenery. All I could say was that now I was good to go to my new host family.
Deb Thompson's house was really flexible. If I followed the house rules, I was good. Coming from a culture which has always been very reserved and strict about rules, this was easy for me. It was very hard for me to call Deb by her first name, so I went by "Mom" and I felt more comfortable talking to her. Relationships always take some time. Ours did too. We had really cool talks at the kitchen table. We also had our own personal time whenever we wanted to. I remember my Christmas with Deb and her family. We drove up to Wisconsin Rapids, which is Grandma's house and I was introduced to all the family members. I also met my host brother, Ben, who came up from Chicago. Ben and I had something in common, too. We both were business freaks and big city people. I got along with Mom's family really well. In fact, Deb's brothers were willing to teach me how to drive a car but due to AFS rules, my mom and I didn't want to take the risk of getting caught and sent back home.
If I start telling stories of my exchange year, I might take space in this whole newspaper and still I will have some more stories left. All I can say is that I miss everything I did with my host mom. I remember she would wake up early to give me those yummy cinnamon rolls when I would go on trips with school and I had to leave early in the morning. Thank you for everything, Mom. I remember going to Chicago to a concert downtown. Thanks for that. Chicago is lovely.
I will definitely miss Valentine's Day with Deb. I woke up early in the morning and I found a gift with an envelope on the kitchen table and a "Happy Valentine's Day" note. I got Kisses chocolates and a gift card for a shop I loved in downtown Monroe.
I spent the best days of my life in Monroe. To my surprise I loved the whole experience. Before my exchange year, I could never picture myself living in a town so small and getting used to its beauty. When my host mom went to Hawaii for spring vacation, I stayed with a family friend of ours, the Dennis and Sandra Nelson family. That was a great part of my exchange year. I was lucky to have siblings for a week and lived it up to my best. Easter with them was awesome. I miss them, too. Thanks for hosting me.
This journey did come to an end. I am still very grateful to Mom for such an awesome graduation party. She was getting ready for it for almost a month. I loved the cake and my picture on it. I miss my graduation/going away party. I am thankful to the people who came and made my day beautiful.
I am very thankful to all of the people who made my exchange year awesome including my coordinator, Marjorie Bigelow; my liaison, Jan Johnson; Lisa Hendrickson, an inspiration; and, obviously, my host mom, Deb Thompson. I miss my school, I miss snow and I miss my friends. Monroe is my second home and Pakistan is now the second home for the people close to me in Monroe. I am glad I spent this great year with an awesome group of people. Whoever hasn't experienced going on an exchange or being a host family has missed a lot.
"Exchange is not a year in a life; it's a Life in a year"