My New Family (In China)

I had a great meal when I visited my sponsor family

Last Sunday I got to visit my Chinese family for the first time. I had met the mother the previous weekend. But this was the first time I went to their house and met the father and son. Unfortunately, they don’t live too close to my school. Me and another classmate/friend took the bus to get to there. It’s about a 30-40 minute ride depending on traffic. We actually got lost the first time. We went two bus stops too far and had to find our way back. Its rather tricky trying to figure out which stop is the correct one to get off at when everything is in Chinese.

But eventually we met up with the mother outside her apartment building. They live in large apartment complex. The buildings are probably about 10 stories tall and there are around 10 buildings in the complex. As we went up the stairs to the apartment, people peeked out through their doors to catch a glimpse at us.  Two American students in the hallways is quite unusual.  I was greeted at the door by a 6-3 250 lbs. man. Turns out, this is the family’s son. He towers over his dad and is a big guy by any standards.  Although, I’ve heard that my brother , Tyler, in Laguna Beach is growing like a weed.  The Chinese father is much smaller, probably around 45 years old. He works at a Starbucks near my school. There names are: Guo Yong (father), Sheng Ying (Mother), Guo Yu Hung (my not so little, new little bro).

After chatting for a minute and getting the official apartment tour, we sat down for lunch. The lunch was delicious. We had:

• pork fried rice
• some sort of cajun stylish shrimp. Head included!
• roasted chicken
• cucumber with a sweet sauce
• roasted peanuts
• cabbage salad
• some sort of fried vegetable arrangement
• green tea

I think the family is middle to middle-upper class. The apartment is not too large. But they have a huge flat screen TV. Guo Yu Heng is quite connected, he has a PC and a Apple laptop, along with blackberry-like phone. Everything in the apartment was very efficient. The table could fold down so the dining room could double as a living room. They were very nice people and very hospitable. They have been hosting ACC students for over 10 years. Hopefully next weekend I’ll e able to make a trip over there to see them.