Konichiwa Means "Hello"

Our family has grown by two.

Two Japanese girls came to live with us for the next 10 days. They get to travel all over Utah and practice their English skills and we get to make some new friends.

I scared one half to death this morning. I gently shook her to wake her up and she leaped up and began yelling in Japanese (it was probably cursing, but who could blame her? I am pretty scary in my glasses). We had a good laugh about it on the way to school.

This is the third time we've had Japanese students stay with us. We've also had students from Germany, Korea, and France. It's become a "thing" with our family; we like international people and I'd like to think we're getting better at being a host family.

Our first student, Alice, came from France when Josh was only 12. Alice was 16. She came to live with us for 9 months - straight - poor girl. Like a first child, she had to break us in as parents of an international student and parents of a teenager. She was very patient with us, for which I am grateful. The more students we host, the more I realize what a gem Alice was. I remember her first couple of weeks with us. The language thing was hard! She was trying to make something in the kitchen and she needed a....a.....it took 10 minutes to figure out "frying pan."

Believe it or not, having strangers in my home is a stretch for me. My first inclination is to be shy and I have to force myself to reach out. My home is my haven where I feel safe and can relax, but having folks there requires me to keep up the outgoing-ness. Sometimes I feel like I have the energy to do that and sometimes I don't. This time, I was thinking "no," but then Jenna said, "Mom, aren't we going to have a Japanese student? I like it when they're here; it forces me to keep my room clean." Who can argue with that logic? I signed us up.

The best thing about hosting students is the impact on my kids. I was talking to my dad last year about our student and my dad said, "You know, Kris, one of the neat things about your kids is that they just love everyone. People of all different races and cultures come into your home and there is no prejudice there. Your kids like them and welcome them in."

It is a relief to know that the sacrifice of my home turf is resulting in kids for whom race, color, language, and religion are not a stumbling block.

For that, and clean bedrooms, I will continue to be a host parent.

Our Japanese student introducing herself at the school assembly.