Families

The family hosted 11-year-old Eri Kimura from San Mateo, Mexico. Kimura was a little shy at first but within a few days she began to open up and show her great personality. The girls quickly learned that they both loved to shop, laugh, travel and they were both good students. The Nuppola’s enjoyed introducing Kimura to new things like visiting a flea market and going go-kart racing. They also loved seeing how excited Kimura was when visiting the local dollar store. “She went crazy buying gifts for her family,” said Nuppola.

Kimura also introduced the Nuppola family to new things such as Mexican food. “Eri made a dinner all by herself. It was a bean taco dish that tasted really good and a new dessert that my whole family really enjoyed,” said Nuppola.

Mainly, it seems, the girls enjoyed spending time with each other. “We all enjoyed hanging out together at night and looking at pictures of each others’ families, telling stories, playing games, eating….we laughed constantly,” shared Nuppola. This helped with keeping 11- year-old Eri Kimura busy and happy as she occasionally became homesick. “Considering her age, she did amazing. She was able to communicate with her family via email,” explained Nuppola.

Meeting and making new friends from another part of the world also helps break down stereotypes and educates us in ways books or the internet can’t. Nuppola thought, as many do, that everyone in Mexico was rather poor. “But I have learned differently,” said Nuppola. She also discovered how fortunate we are in Canada. “I learned that Eri had to be driven to school in Mexico as it isn’t safe for her to walk. She thought it was great that we could walk to school in Brooklin,” explained Nuppola.
After Kimura’s departure the Nuppola family was in for a surprise. Upon returning home after a ‘tearful goodbye to a very special friend’ they discovered little notes around the house. One was in the bathroom sink saying “I’ll miss you guys”, another was in Nuppola’s bedroom with a Mexican hat saying “You’re a good friend” and another on the toilet paper roll saying “Gotch ya—have a great day”. They were everywhere. “It made my mother cry and I chuckled,” said Nuppola.

Nuppola learned a lot about herself in the 2 short weeks of hosting. She realized that she would have been a good ‘big sister’ as she really enjoyed spending time with Kimura and sharing activities and new experiences together. She also learned that her initial concern about not being able to communicate was not necessary. “I think having Eri visit us has shown me that it is possible to communicate with someone of a different language if you just have the desire to do so. There are many ways to communicate — not just with words,” explained Nuppola.

The girls continue to stay in touch with regular MSN chats. The Kimura family has extended an open invitation for the Nuppola’s to visit them in Mexico. Nuppola feels that she will one day venture to Mexico as she would like to meet the rest of the family. She would also love it if Kimura visited them again in Brooklin. This time, she won’t worry about sharing a bathroom. “It’s a small price to pay,” said Nuppola.

We would like to share the special friendship connections made between our visiting students and their host brothers or sisters. We hope that these young people learn from each other and take their experiences with them throughout their lives.

Meet the Dekkers

My name is Susan and along with my husband John and 3 daughters Marina (15), Taya (12) and Halli (10), we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our 4th daughter….a student from Mexico. This will be our family’s 3rd time hosting young students from Mexico during 2 short weeks. Our biggest challenge will be deciding whose room the student shares.

Who’s getting the Mexican?! All three of my daughters are fighting over whose room will be shared with their new friend. They are all excited about hosting! It was over 3 years ago that we first decided to give it a try as John and I thought hosting would be a good experience for our children to learn about another country first-hand. We also believed it would be a wonderful opportunity to show someone from another country what Canadian life is like. To live like a Canadian instead of like a tourist in a hotel room.

We include the students as much as possible in our lives. They become part of our family and do everything with us from joining one of my daughters in Girl Guides to venturing out on ice skates for the first time. Whatever we do, they do! We want the student to be part of the family so they are treated like another daughter. I like their families back home to know that we will take good care of their daughter. I’d want the same thing for my girls if they were travelling to another country.

The first thing I will most likely do when the student arrives is send her to the backyard to build a snowman! We get a kick out of seeing the expressions on their young faces when seeing snow for the first time. I love to watch them and always get them out building a snowman. It’s a lot of fun and I’ll take their picture to email their parents back home. Welcome to Canada!

It didn’t take us long to see how easily these international students adapt to our Canadian lifestyle, no matter what time of year they visit. At first, I was a little unsure what to feed a Mexican guest. Other than Taco Bell, what do I know about Mexican food? However, I was surprised how ‘Americanized’ they were. All they wanted when they arrived was pizza and spaghetti. One of my Mexican students did treat the family to an authentic Mexican meal one evening. It was so good that when another student was due to arrive, her family asked us if there was anything they’d like their daughter to bring with her from Mexico. I had kept the label of one of the cans and was able to email a copy to the family. We enjoyed another traditional Mexican dish with our next student!

Besides hosting students from Mexico, we’ve also hosted students from Columbia, Spain and France. Surprisingly, we never had any language barriers. Sometimes, they would get stuck on a word and would use an online or hand-held translator but mostly they managed by pointing to things, hand gesturing or by drawing. Language was never an obstacle because all of the students had some English knowledge and a strong desire to try to speak it. Our family was impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to learn and be a part of a Canadian family.

The most difficult part of hosting is saying good-bye, it’s not easy. Luckily for us and the many students we have hosted and will continue to host, we will always have memories, email and pictures with the snowman.

Red Leaf is expanding to Alberta! Host families are needed for French and Spanish students in Edmonton, Red Deer and vicinity.

These teens will be doing a Total Immersion program in July and August 2009.

Please contact mlowen@red-leaf.com for more information or click the Forward to a Friend button above to send this to anyone you know who may be interested.