Host Family

Unlike many other abroad programs, we were fortunate enough to find out the names and contact information for our Christchurch homestay families in mid December. This knowledge has really helped relieve some of my anxieties, as it makes things much more familiar. Armed with names, professions, and an e-mail address, I set out to contact the McCormack family.

Just by the little bit of information we got at orientation, I knew that my host parents, Karen and Michael were both teachers (certainly a good sign) with eleven year old twins, Holly and Theo. This is where the coincidences begin. Obviously, I have a fondness for teachers and want to teach elementary school myself someday, and I just so happen to be enamored with eleven year olds in particular, both as campers and as students... now I have them as a temporary brother and sister.

These coincidences are ordinary enough. The organization that arranged our homestays asked us some information about ourselves to help find good matches, and it seemed right off the bat that they had done well. Little did I know at the time just how well.

After e-mailing the McCormacks to introduce myself, a few days later I heard back from both Karen and Holly. This is the crazy part, Karen is originally from my hometown: Bloomington, Indiana. Of all of the things in the world, she just happened to be an elementary (primary) school teacher from right here at home. Her whole family still lives in Bloomington and, as we continued to talk, I realized that her niece, Gabi, was one of my favorite campers when I worked at Kid City.

Michael is a native New Zealander, and Karen has lived there for 18 years, so I still feel like I'm getting the international experience I was hoping for, but there is something comforting knowing that there will, in some ways, be a little bit of home waiting for me on the other side of the world.