Russellville High School had a great opportunity to host 2 freshmen students from China. They arrived on Thursday, February 5, and were here until they left for Los Angeles on March 11. Conrad and Cassie Reding volunteered to become the host family. When asked to share this experience, Cassie writes:
My husband and I are glad we made the decision to be the host family for Waeve and Allen and to open our home to them. From the very first evening they were with us, they made a deep and lasting impact on us and on our children. During the five weeks they lived with us, they were very much a part of our family. Our children (we are a “yours, mine, and ours” household) bonded with the two young men instantly; my ten-year-old son, Clifton, referred to them in his journal entries as “my step-step-brothers.” It was clear to us that Waeve and Allen felt a strong bond of affection for them as well.
The time with them seemed to fly, and we shared too many memorable moments for me to be able to describe them all in this space. The most special to us were the moments in which we, as a family, learned from them or experienced with them things we might not otherwise have had the opportunity to learn or experience.
They brought us simple, beautiful gifts from their home in China and enjoyed telling us the history and significance of each one. My children were most interested in the Terracotta warrior and horse sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang.
When Waeve discovered on one unseasonably warm day in February that my husband owns a guitar, he asked if he could play it for us. Our children and their friends from the neighborhood sat on our patio captivated as he played a wonderful “mini-concert” for us.
We’ll never forget the night they cooked for us. They spoke somewhat limited English, and as foreign visitors to any country will do, they sometimes had trouble keeping up with the speed of our speech and our use of idioms, yet they communicated well. I had no trouble understanding what Waeve meant when he stood proudly in our kitchen after putting his creation in the oven and said, “I have occupied your apron.”
The boys participated in school and community events with us as well, including a celebration of the Lunar New Year (or “Chinese New Year”), and at SES, my school’s family literacy night celebration of NEA’s Read Across America, which we called “Soup with Seuss.” On the latter occasion, both boys took a turn wearing our big theme-park “Cat in the Hat” costume and posing for pictures with students and their families. Allen took a lot of pictures of the event, which he gave to me to share with our school community and to post on our Facebook page.
Though they were with us only a short time, we already feel their absence from our household. When Clifton moved back upstairs to the bedroom he had vacated to make room for our guests, it was with a touch of sadness. Like all of us, he will miss his “step-step-brothers” from China.
We are grateful the Reding family chose to be the host family, and as written above, it was appears they are grateful as well. Mr. Leon Smith stated he didn’t remember during his time as superintendent, that we have attempted to provide a place for students to stay. For future opportunities, the Chinese students would stay approximately five weeks, there will be a teacher from China coming with them as well, the host families would receive a stipend for hosting, they will have medical insurance, and they would attend classes and events with host students. For any students who have a passion or interest in international opportunities, this may also open a door at a future date for the possibility of our host students to visit the families of the foreign students.
The pictures are at the Chinese New Year celebration as a family, and the boys playing paintball with Clifton and his neighborhood friends.