Jun 05 /
Life Changing Moments in the USA

by Nancy Nesha, Malaysia ‘08
hosted in Indiana

My first interview in Johor was the starting point of my journey to United States of America. There were about 30 of us applying for the same YES program to USA. I was full of confidence and lots of preparation to face the interview was made. Then after 5 months, after lots of paper work and interviews I ended up going to USA on the 9th January 2008.

We arrived in Washington DC and had three days of orientation. The orientation was great as I learnt many lessons from the sessions which were given during the orientation. After that we were split up all over USA to be sent to our host families. I landed in Indiana where my host family and my local guide were waiting for my arrival.

I begin to recall all the changes that happened in my life on the way to my new home with new family members—my host dad and mom and two cute siblings, a brother ans sister. I was so exhausted and felt so tired for the first few days. My host mom accompanied me to be registered in high school. I was given my locker combination number and my class schedule (subjects that I will be learning). The school staff were very friendly too. I started first period (human development)—the beginning of my life in a typical American High School. My school is basically surrounded by corn fields but on the first day of school, going by bus, I just saw a wide flat space around my school because it was winter.

There were two other exchange students in my high school, one of them was from China and the other was from Brazil. My first week of school had a lot of excitement and surprises. On the weekend, my family had a small party to welcome me. I gave them all the presents from Malaysia like Indian traditional costumes for my dad, my mother and my siblings. I gave them some Indian cookies too. I also cooked chicken curry and some side dishes from Malaysia on the following weekend as my host dad really loves the spicy chicken curry. I have to give thanks to my natural mom, who really had a hard time teaching me chicken curry just a few weeks before my departure! Hehehe……….

I got involved in track and field at the school on 3rd march. Even though I am an athlete back in Malaysia, the practices in my high school are really tiring. I will come back exhausted after each track practice from school. Then, I started going to track meets (track competition between schools etc). I can say through these track meets I met a lot of friends and had a really great time. I got to participate in 800m and 4×400m. I had a great time with my first host family, though it’s challenging livng with a new family and new relationships.

Then, after all the track meets settled, I got involved in a play. I acted in front of hundreds of people. I had a great time when I was in the play. My life in America is way different than in Malaysia. I am not used to hanging out with friends that much in Malaysia but in America, every day I will have something going on. Since we have a usual place that we meet up with each other, we will make plans like going to the movies, kart races, window shopping, eating supper together after school and much more.

Other than spending time with friends, I also spend time with some of my friends’ parents as they are very interested about Malaysia. Because I want them not to forget me and also my country Malaysia, I spend the weekend by cooking foods from Malaysia like spicy nasi goreng and chicken curry. They really loved the food. One of the parents wanted me to publish the chicken curry recipe in a recipe book she used to send recipes. Then they asked me numerous question but I was able to answer all of them.

Then came prom night, where I really enjoyed myself with my first American date. It was my most memorable night in my entire stay in USA. The theme of the prom night was enchanted night, like in a fairy tale movie.

I learned important lessons from all the experiences I had, and I would like to thank AFS Malaysia (Antarabudaya Malaysia), AFS USA, AYA, YES AND USA government for giving me this lifetime opportunity. I learned a lot from this 6 months challenging stay in the US. I am going to miss my life in America a lot when I go back to Malaysia. Thanks again. YES made a difference in my life.