
When i was in High school, i always wanted to travel abroad as an exchange student. We had a few at our high school and i always found them fascinating. When you are young, it's hard to picture the world being bigger than the area around you. It wasn't something that was meant to be but one day i still hoped to travel. I really didn't start to travel that much in the US until i married a pilot. At age 29, i took my first real trip out of the country to Scotland and spent 2 weeks there in the summer. Next came Switzerland as a surprise from Andrew for my birthday/Valentine's day (best birthday present ever honey!). And then we just couldn't stop. I know i was born to wander, to know more cultures, to be out in this great big world. It's just part of who i am.
The kids have been blessed with this wandering gene and have gotten to see some really cool places. I always thought they would get a chance at being an exchange student either in high school or college. Lexi has been talking about studying abroad for a semester so we will see if it happens. Anthony at the beginning of this year asked about a German exchange program.
You see he's been taken German for about a year and a half now. They do this cool program at his school where we host a German student for about 3 weeks and then in July he spends 3 weeks in German with the same teen. Enter Moritz. He's here for the next three weeks soaking up some American culture, going to school with Anthony and playing tourist in our town. At first i was nervous signing up for the program. I wasn't nervous about Anthony traveling abroad. He's really good at it. I was nervous for hosting. What if we are too weird? It's funny to think of that now but i guarantee i am not the first person to think that way. Aren't we all a little bit weird in our own way? I do reside in Dorkapolis!
We picked up Moo (pronounce Mo) yesterday and it felt right. It felt good. He's part of our family now and we are happy to host him. It's been a good thing for us right from the start. I love learning about other cultures & other places. I love seeing Moo's wonder in his eyes. "It's so big here!" I love how we can learn from each other. and i love seeing that two teens who grew up in two different countries have so much in common. It's a great big world with global connections to be made and i'm loving it.
Now all i need to do is visit Germany! I have never been but i think it might be time to visit sometime soon.