Meet My Host Family!

One of the unique perks about the Fulbright Korea program is the fact that grantees stay with Korean homestays.  For me, this was definitely one of main selling points that led me to apply last October.  What better way to learn about Korean culture firsthand and practice my rudimentary language skills?  But it also was one of the things that I was most worried about.  One's living arrangements can truly make or break one's grant year.  The night before Departure Day, we received a little slip of paper with brief information about our homestays.  I was absolutely thrilled when I learned that there were 3 host children in my family and their apartment was located smack dab in the middle of downtown Daejeon.

Once I arrived at their apartment, I was greeted with warm, friendly smiles and another bouquet of flowers.  I was immediately taken aback by how good their English was.  This was surely something I wasn't expecting, as I heard from many former Fulbrights that their host parents' spoke little to no English.  I later found out that my host family lived in New Zealand from 2004-2006, which explains their high English level, as well as the random koala bear trinkets scattered around the house.  My host parents are very similar in age to my parents back home.  They are such kind and generous people.  Here's a photo of me with my host mother.  I regret that I don't have a photo of my host dad yet.  He's rarely home and when he is, it's usually past my bedtime.  But I will try to change that soon.

 

My host mother used to work as an art and English elementary school teacher.  But she quit her job two years ago to be a full-time housewife.  It is still unclear what exactly my host father does for a living.  According to Google Translate, he does something with Korean transportation and highways.  Additional tidbits of information has led me to believe that he's a civil engineer who specifically designs highways.  But I can't be sure.  All I know is that he's always working and seems to provide a cushy lifestyle for his family.  My host dad's English is probably the poorest of the bunch.  But he always lights up when he sees me playing card games with his children and making them laugh.  Oh and did I mention that my host family has the same last name as me?!  I found it quite amusing.  But then again, the five most common Korean surnames probably account for 90% of the population.

My host mother is a superhero of sorts.  She has three-hour guitar lessons twice a week, dance lessons twice a week, and wakes up at 5am to swim every day.  She also is a former Daejeon swimming champion, an epic gardener, and enjoys golfing in her spare time.  Most impressive is the fact that she has won awards for her cooking.  I mean seriously, how could this get any better?!  Her cooking is super duper delicicious.  I'll prob gain 30 lbs this upcoming year at the rate im going.  So far, she has cooked me Korean, Chinese, and Western food, and we have yet to repeat a meal or side-dish twice.  Yea, I'm living the good life here in Daejeon.  Here's another beautiful photo of us.  I showed my host family how to take distorted photos on my laptop using Photo Booth.  They (and I) thought it was the most hilarious thing.

My host siblings are very sweet to me.  The eldest daughter, named 지은 (Jee-eun), is a first-year college student at a local university in Daejeon.  She lives at home and is studying to become an English teacher, so it's no surprise that her English level is very high.  She helps her mother a lot around the house by cooking and cleaning.  She is usually the one that I go to when I have questions about Korean words, weekend plans, or what I'm eating.  She's always patient with me and in return, she asks me lots of questions about American pop culture and English idioms.  I hope that we'll become close and she'll introduce me to her Korean friends.  She and her younger sister look so much alike.  It's only recently that I've been able to tell them apart.

The second daughter, named 수진 (Soo-Jeen), is a first-year student at my high school.  I'll even be teaching her this year!  She's probably the most sociable and friendly one of the bunch.  That poor girl is at school until nearly 11pm every night but whenever I see her, she keeps me company and asks me about my day.  She has been such a big help to me at school.  She deciphers my teaching schedule, helps me find my classrooms, and introduces me to other teachers.  I don't know what I'd do without her.  One day, she hopes to be a wedding dress designer or event planner for weddings.  Today, we exchanged fashion magazines from our respective countries.  Perhaps I can figure out a way to stream "Say Yes to the Dress" on my laptop for further bonding purposes.

My youngest host sibling is a boy named 준수 (Joon-Soo).  But he commonly goes by his English name: Daniel, which has proven rather confusing for everyone, myself included.  I keep thinking that my host mother is calling my name, when she's really trying to get her son's attention.  He's in his first year of middle school.  He's a little shy and reserved but I'm trying to get through to him.  On my second day here, we bonded over baseball and spent the afternoon watching a ball game on TV.  Korean baseball is actually quite hilarious because the players make so many silly errors.  Like every boy his age, he can usually be found in front of the computer playing video games.

Here's a couple more pictures that we took together using Photo Booth.  This activity kept the kids amused for over an hour.  Now only if it'd be that easy to keep my students engaged and entertained.

 

 

On Sunday, the host family (minus dad) surprised me by taking me to the nearby amusement park, Kumdori Land.  It only took a 15 minute drive to get there.  On the way, Daniel asked me if I had ever heard of Kingda Ka, which he explained is in America and the tallest roller-coaster in the world.  He was so excited when I informed him that I had not only heard of it, but ridden it multiple times, since it's only 40 minutes from my home.  As soon as I arrived, a wave of nostalgia swept over me and I felt like I was a child again.  Here are photos of the entrance way and a normal photo of me with my host siblings.  Can you tell who the foreigner is?!

I can't even begin to express how fun the day was.  We giddily hopped on every ride, usually more than once, and spent the afternoon laughing, eating ice cream, and bonding.  The host kids kept apologizing for the "really long" 10 minute lines.  I assured them that it was perfectly fine and that in America, those lines would be at least five times as long!  We especially enjoyed the roller-coaster and swinging pendulum ride.  Below are some photos of our trip.  Pay special attention to the intense bumper cars action and smart Daniel, who whipped out an umbrella during the log-flume ride!

Recently, I discovered that there were three families vying for the chance to host me.  Since they were equally qualified, this decision was settled by an all-out rock, paper, scissors competition between the students.  I definitely need to thank 수진 and her impeccable r, p, s skills for hooking me up with a fantastic homestay.  It's only been few days since I've met my host family.  But I can say, with reasonable certainty, that I am going to be very happy here.  Yesterday, I told my host mother that I felt so lucky to be living with such a wonderful family.  I nearly lost it when she grabbed my hand and responded, "No, Danielle. We are the lucky ones."