Some Tips for Those Who Livie with Host Family

owenriderUID: 3472292

Hi everybody!        

As a high school student in America, I want give you guys some suggestion about how to get alone with host families, and at the same time reserve your rights for being who you are.  
        To begin with, before we step into American school, the first thing is to find a suitable host family. The common notion, as you thought, for “family” must be: a harmonious community. However, there is inexhaustible effort behind the harmony of every good community.
        I need to point out that host families, as individuals who decide to have one or several foreigner students, are not seeking for money or simply want to make their house be a hotel. With distinct backgrounds, their reasons vary. Some may hope that the students who come to their home can be good models for their kids, as well as media bringing diversity into their home. Most of the American families, as I have known, maybe have a blur understanding of Chinese culture, either right or not, in some degree through their research or life experience, but as it is not usually the case for them to automatically accept how you are going to behave as a new member in their house. Thus you need to spare time to communicate with them. You need remember communication is not a one-way-message delivering or order, but a mutual connection, more likes negotiation. What you request and expect may not be the satisfactory outcome to you, but there is still space for you to adjust and improve the way you convey information and make further understandings. Try to be smart and disposed to discover host families’ characteristics. A lot of time, you have to step out of your comfort zone and change part of the way, which is out of the families’ limit, but in which you live, to achieve the harmony within families. You still need to remember that you reserve all the rights of being a human and for who you are, though from time to time you have to alter for the families. When you realize your host families start to get tired of your behavior, which seems imprudent to them, but necessary for who you are, there are obvious two options for you: either take action as soon as possible to improve yourself in their aspect, or take your courage to speak with your area-coordinators and apply for changing host family (because once again different host families vary in background, what they value might not be what you think as the soundness of life or a proper way toward success. Believe who you are, and do not hesitate or be afraid to protect your rights.) What way you choose is your right, BUT before doing either of the options, please RETROSPECT both you and the family for what is the origin of the conflict. Do NOT push all the responsibilities to your host families, in that it is a way for you, living by yourselves thousands of miles from home, to grow and become more mature.
        Still there is a lot of ways for you to discover about how to live in a harmonious life with American families. I would like to hear about your opinion and experience. Please leave a comment, if you want, and also feel free to ask me questions; I will try my best to response.  

P.S.

Don't have much time to revise. If there are some grammatical errors, please pardon me....

I wish everyone can have a great time in America.

BE BRAVE