My name is Emmily and I am a high school Exchange Student from Germany. My organization is AFS and the wonderful family that hosted me this year is the Mole family. As I think about heading home at the end of June, I want to thank my entire host family for everything they’ve done for me over the last year.
Thank you Nate for being the older brother who showed me around the school, who gave me rides so many times, and who would always listen to me. Thank you Andrew for helping me learn how to downhill-ski, for midnight-talks about life, and for not killing me on a grumpy morning. Thank you Matthew for sharing your awesome music with me, for calming everyone down when necessary, and for just being who you are. Thank you Libby for spending the first couple months at this house, making us all laugh every day, and giving me the confidence to be who I am. You are amazing! Thank you Kate for being my awesome second mom, for cooking the best food in the world, and of course for not liking fish with me! Girls rule! And thank you Ted for helping me with Physics, homesickness, and all those little teenager problems. I will miss the long talks with you!
I wanted to study in the US this year to gain independence, confidence in myself, better language skills and a broader view on the world. Now, that the year is over I know for sure that I have gained all these things – and more! This year gave me a second family, a lot of wonderful and loving friends, and a general idea of what I want my life to be about. And all of this could not have been possible without my family!
Thank you, Mole family! I love and will miss you tons.
If you are interested in learning more about hosting AFS Exchange student like me this fall, visit afsusa.org/hostfamily or see our AFS Alaska webpage at http://www.afsusa.org/alaska/.