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Making the World a Home

Ind Ayusa R Singh Hfam Pic With Article

By Reetika Singh (YES 2019-20, India, hosted with AYUSA in Clifton, VA)

They say home is where the heart is, but it is difficult to say the same when we talk about adjusting to a new country as a cultural ambassador! But I think that is what is so beautiful about host families. 

I’ve been in the United States for a little over a month, living with a family who is so unique in every way. I never thought about how big of a part host families play in the exchange experience. I started my exchange year with the thought that I will learn so much about America, about its culture and people; but what is so incredible is that I’m getting to learn so much more. I’m not only learning about America but I’m also learning so much about my own country. It feels surreal finally getting to experience it, and this would not have been the same without my host parents.

To my host father who is teaching me so much about America, and not just the knowledge he shares about what makes America so different, but also why those factors exist.  I feel this is so important to learn; to fill out the grey spaces that exist in cultures, for which exchange students like us seek to learn and try to erase. And my host mother who is indeed so much of a mother to me, from cooking Indian food with me and digging deeper into the American way of life, to the tiniest things like helping me with my American pronunciation! It’s so heartwarming how alien this place could feel like, but how this family could make it so much of a home for me.


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