Culture Shock

On Friday, August 15th, my family gained another member. I became a mother of three instead of two. Thing is, I didn't give birth to this one, nor have I raised this one since 9 years old. No, this one came to us being 16 and this being the first time he has ever set foot on American soil. I now have three boys, two 16 and one 4. Yes, that is right, I have two 16 year old boys. (shoot me now!)

Last spring, Kyle's Spanish teacher sent an email to us telling us about a program called AFS (American Field Service). I had never heard of AFS, but I knew what they did. They are an Exchange Student program that is Global. Now, when I was in high school, my Spanish teacher gave me a letter to take home (long before the age of mass emailing), and when I read it, I was instantly interested. My parents shared the same enthusiasm, and the Spring of my Sophomore and Junior years we hosted two Argentinian girls in our home. Back then, they came on their summer break and were with us a total of three months. Not so anymore, or at least not with AFS.

I showed the email first to my husband. He had never done anything like that before, so he was a little hesitant to even entertain the idea. As time when on, I shared the memories I had of Cecy and Carolina. How different they were not only from us, but from each other. How we learned different things from each of them, and how much of an experience it was for the student as well as our whole family. My mom loved the girls, she took so easily to mothering another child, simply because there were always extra kids in our house anyway and most called her Mom, too. Dad, he on the other hand, was much different. He learned things, sure, but he made sure both girls left knowing Football wasn't Soccer. To this day, he still can't pronounce Buenos Aires right, sounds more like Bonus Airs, but the man still thinks the word "car" is in Chicago.

After much discussion and thought, we approached our teenager, Kyle with the idea. Take into consideration, Kyle grew up an Air Force brat, and has lived in more countries than I can hope to ever see. He thought it would be cool, but I knew he had no idea what he was really getting into. For some reason he, like most every teenager in the US, thinks that their way is the right way, and everyone strives to be as "American" as possible.

Well, Friday we arrived at the Green Hills church where the students spend their first night in America. As we drove up, we saw standing on the sidewalk, the boy we had found on Myspace and been emailing for the past month. He was smiling ear to ear recognizing us as soon as we got out of the car. In an awkward greeting, I managed to hug him, Kyle did too, Tony shook his hand and Jonathon, the 4 year old, finally managed to say what he had practiced for a month, which was Guten Tag. We gathered his things, posed for a photo, and packed him into the car with us.

The first few minutes at home were spent trying to figure out just how much he understood us. He understands way more than I expected, and his English, while a little hesitant and broken, is actually better than I would have guessed. The more confident he gets, the better it will be, because he is better than he thinks he is. Oh, did I forget, his name is Emil and he is from Austria.

The first evening, since we picked him up at 4, we decided to take the family to Pizza Hut (Emil's favorite food) for dinner. He saw for the first time, and used, a soda fountain. He learned we serve in no certain order, since they serve the father first, and that we are pretty relaxed eaters. It was different for him, and as he would bend toward his plate to pick up his food, he would dart his eyes around to make sure he did it right as to not be embarrassed.

New challenges come everyday, but we hit them head-on and learn his way as we teach our way. He started school Monday the 18th. He started Marching Band on the 16th. He is getting into the groove, with a few stumbles and quirks along the way. I think it is going to be a real learning experience for all of us, but a good thing for everyone. He will be here through June, so there is plenty of time to learn and plenty of opportunities to see new things. As for now, the Culture Shock isn't too bad. I think we will all be one big happy family.