This past weekend I went on a homestay. During the six month period I am here the exchange program I came with, Butler, offers one weekend excursion per month. This months was the homestay and day trip to windsor castle during homestay weekend. Friday evening our group left London for Surrey, just south of London. We all knew the names of our families and if the families had kids and pets. I didn't really think much into the homestay or get nervous, until we pulled into the parking lot to meet our families! I guess since I know so many people who have done homestays or people who have actually stayed with our family it didn't occur to me that they may have been nervous too to me their families! Kudos to everyone who has ever done a homestay for a period of time or even had the nerve to sign up for one!!! As we were getting ready to get off the bus I really began to freak out as I realized I was leaving all my friends and I was at the mercy of some random family for the next three days! When I got off the bus the director of the program introduced me to my host dad for the weekend and he took me to the car. I put my stuff in the back of the car and tried to get into the drivers seat..haha..whoops!
After a short drive to my home for the weekend I met my host mom and host 16 year-old sister. This was a very awkward moment (especially since I could hardly understand a word they were saying because their accents were soo thick, it was basically like a different language)!!! What was I suppose to do??? What room was I suppose to sit in??? Was I suppose to help prepare dinner???? After a little of the awkwardness wore off we all sat down to a very non-traditional british dinner of pizza, salads, and cokes. After dinner we all sat in the "lounge" as my host dad flipped through popular british tv shows on the "telly" and we sat and drank tea and ate lots of good chocolate.
On saturday my family took me to meet the butler group and we all traveled to windsor castle together. The town was so quaint! I felt like I was in a movie as we walked down the cobblestone roads with the castle sitting in the distance. Some of us also ventured over the Thames to Eton College (where the princes and a lot of really smart and rich people go to high school). Even with it being a saturday we were able to see some school boys running around in their very tradition uniforms of suits with coattails and shirts with big collars. We were able to walk through windsor castle and see the state rooms, doll house, st. georges chapel, changing of the guard, and a few other things.
Saturday night I returned home to my hostfamily and my mom made homemade curry and a few other things. It was delicious! We then all sat around again and watched crazy british tv and ate chocolate. Sunday we had a traditional roast dinner with yorkshire pudding..mmmm :)
All in all I would say the family visit was a great experience and I am very glad I had the chance to stay with a real british family. I know my experience wouldn't even compare with someone who would live with a family for an entire term but it was still great to get a taste of real british culture!
I added new pictures under London II and under Windsor and Surrey. Check them out!
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