My Host Family

A lot of great memories and experiences have occurred over the past five weeks, and I have loved every minute of it. My favorite part was meeting some of the best all around people I have ever got the chance to meet in my life, my German family.

This family is kind, brave, and pure hearted. Ever since the day I arrived on their doorstep at 2:45 in the morning (a day late), they have welcomed me into their home as one of their own. As the days went by, we grew closer and got to know each other better. My host dad, Mario, plays guitar and is lead singer in a hobby band, which happened to play at the AIB party one saturday. I have been playing guitar for a little over a year now and when I got to their house there was a guitar waiting for me in my room. Mario even retrung the guitar left handed for me so that I coule play it. Every morning I would come down ready to go to class and their would be one or two sandwiches and fresh fruit. I was the only one that I know of who got lunch from his/her host family as well. This is just one of the many things that made me realize that their level of caring and kindness was unique.

These are not the only characteristics that Mario and Christina possess however, they are also some of the bravest people that I have ever met. Mario told me the story of their escape from East Germany. Around August of September of 1989, they had overheard on the radio that Hungary was going to open its borders for the East Germans for just a short period of time. Mario said that him and Christina did not hesitate and thought that this could be their one opportunity to escape oppression. They packed two bags and left their house heading for the border and freedom. They fled because Christina was pregnant and they did not want to raise a family under Communism, so they risked their lives for this. After successfully escaping they fled straight to Bonn, because Christina had family there and they have been there ever since. I have a tremendous respect for them.

While I was away for those two weeks, I missed Bonn and my host family very much. When I got back, I was pleasantly suprised that Yolanda was back as well (she is my 11 year old host sister that I wasn't going to get to see again because she had summer camp). When I arrived back at their home, I was talking to Mario and Christina in the kitchen when Mario told me that Yolanda had told them that she had missed me very much while we were away. Then I turned around to put my things in my room and Yolanda was standing right behind me. She jumped right into my arms and told me that she had missed me very much. That was a moment that I will not forget, it meant an incredible amount to me.

Leaving Bonn was emotional for me, because I had felt so close to my host family and I knew that it was going to be a long time before I got to see them again... But the rest of the trip should be a blast!

Roger

--This post is for the week we left Bonn.