Our exchange student is leaving tomorrow. Early. [View All]

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

For the third host family. Two months earlier than anticipated. There was nothing else I could have done or my parents could have done to make it work. Sometimes there are people who are so totally self-absorbed that they cannot see what others around them are trying to do to make things better. That is what happened with our girl. Since the beginning of her stay here, she has not wanted to be with our family, for no other reason than we are not the high-end "nouveau riche" so to speak. Even though we have provided her EVERYTHING and more, including her own room and own COMPUTER, along with support and transportation, and even some hugs and TLC... she has not been at all receptive to our warmth. She is leaving for the third host family, a highly wealthy and fairly conservative family with two daughters who love to go shopping. They have a ridiculously large house with a pool, hot tub, and a big game room. This is obviously what she needs to feel happy.

When I accepted the offer to have an exchange sister in April, I did not imagine anything like this at all. From the time she has been in the US she has insulted everything about it. Instead of teaching us more about herself, she has made us feel worthless. I worked tirelessly throughout September to make sure her room was painted, cleaned, and our spare computer working and virus free. I made sure we had her favourite foods in the house and her favourite music playing in the stereo. For Christmas, I made her presents by hand and from the heart. I asked my German DU friends to help me with sending care packages from her own country. My brother and I even went out of our way to bring her to a party an hour and a half away from our house, because she'd been missing drinking and partying. We could have gotten in HUGE trouble for that, so we made sure the party was far from the reaches of Rotary International! There was nothing more that could be done. Sometimes you have to realize that in life there are people who remain ungrateful no matter what is given to them.

Pretty much the feeling I have now is of worthlessness and embarassment. Worthless because I feel like nothing has changed. Embarrassed because I feel that her decision to leave reflects negatively on my family and I as people. I feel as though I gave so much and got so little out of the experience. If I were to try this experience again, I'd be very wary, probably only take in somebody I could talk to in their native language (Spanish or Italian, maybe even French) and English to make the transition easier, and most definitely would not choose to live with a girl. Girls are obviously not easier to deal with than boys. Having a brother was easy. Having a girl in the house was not at all easy.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the countless DUers like flamingyouth and karenina who went out of their way to make packages or send cards to help her feel more at ease with being in the US. Thank you so so so much, you did all you could to help me out and I appreciate it so much.

<3 Maggie