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This is the cabin where we stayed for 3 days in the Smoky Mountains. From left to right: Thomas Ruschemeier from Germany; Kata from Hungry; Dario Nakamura from Brazil; Elvin Pogue, our host father (I live together with Thomas); Kim, our local coordinator and Kata's host mother; Clorissa, Kim's daughter. |
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park. From left to right: Thomas Ruschemeier from Germany; Dario Nakamura from Brazil and Kata from Hungry. |
When I arrived here I was like, "Wow, what am I doing here?" It was like a cultural shock. I'm living in Beech Creek, Kentucky. It's a very small city with only hundreds of people. I came from a city in Brazil with about 600,000 people. It is not that big but we have buildings, shopping centers, etc. All of those places are near our house. It's different from here in Beech Creek. If you want to go shopping you have to drive for about 50 minutes.
I'm here to live a new life, new culture and I'm almost there! Some things made me mad. They think Brazil is a big jungle with snakes everywhere. They think that we don't have cars, airplanes, buildings, gum, ice cream, etc. They asked me if I came here by airplane. I think they think that Brazilian people live in trees, naked, with snakes and monkeys around the house, eat with hands and that our transportation is a boat.
Sometimes I think, "What am I doing here?" Sometimes I want to go back to Brazil, but sometimes I don't. I was really homesick on October 11th. It was my birthday, my first birthday without my family. One thing made me feel better. I saw my first snowflake on my birthday. I was on the top of the mountains and it started to rain with little snowflakes. I'm so excited. The winter is coming. I want to see snow, make a snowman, take pictures, etc.
Dario Nakamura
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We
spent two days at Dolly Wood. We were in a kind of splash boat where
we got wet and I got cold. Look, my hair is completely wet. From left to right: Unknown girl and Dario Nakamura from Brazil. |
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Birthday Cake that Shoney's Restaurant gave me. From left to right: Dario Nakamura from Brazil. |
Bowled over in Ohio!
We began our December 3rd activity by bowling in Ohio. Most of the AYA students had never bowled before, so it was great to have some help and advice from their host families. There was a lot of excitement and cheering for the occasional strike and spare. Our scores weren't high, but the fun of getting together for laughter and friendship was off the scale. Afterwards we adjourned to the Ground Round restaurant for a bite to eat. Having made arrangements ahead of time, the management was able to provide us with a long table and we could continue our conversations. My Christmas gift to each of the host families was a framed picture of their AYA student they could also use as a Christmas tree ornament. All of the AYA students received a framed picture I had taken of them with their host families earlier in the Fall. As we left everyone wished each other happy holidays and I reminded the students to practice their cooking skills for our International Dinner in early March.
Elaine,
LC Ohio
AYA Students Help with Columbia Shuttle Recovery Effort
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