Host Families and Bald Guys

At the International Student and Host Families picnic, Kathy and I were adopted by a nice lady, Alison. Unfortunately, due to schedules, it's already six weeks into term and we only just met for the second time! Alison invited us and some of her friends to her house for coffee and cake. The coffee is locally made by Bald Guy Brew (http://www.baldguybrew.com/) there were sadly no bald men at the coffee morning.

Driving out to her house afforded yet more beautiful views over the mountains - I don't think I will ever get bored of that view, and most people who live here don't seem to be either. The mountains are magnificent, always tinged blue (which is of course what merited the name; The Blue Ridge Parkway) from mist hanging over the peaks.

Alison is a great hostess, she laid out a spread for us of some local produce from Parr Foods, cookies, honey-glazed nuts, brownies and flans. She also has Tetley tea! We all took some food and sat on the porch. Deer sometimes come into her garden but we didn't see any that day. After talking about deer and chipmunks for a while, the topic of discussion got onto guns. It is still only guns that give me much major culture shock (apart from one time trying to deceipher a drive-thru menu, which caused International students to all exclaim: 'I just don't understand!' until a kind American explained it for us!). When we visited the county fair, there were lots of children with toy guns, and to hear people talking so casually about shooting is still strange to me. Having said that, gun culture is not the only way of life for every single American, there are plenty of American citizens who find it as strange as I do.

Alison had asked us all to bring some of our favourite stories or poems to the coffee morning. She had some favourites from her childhood, including a really adorable one called Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (by Judi and Ron Barrett). I would recommend anyone to look it up - it's really short and surprisingly funny. For me, it was interesting to hear about iconic American children's books. Of course there is Dr Seuss, which I never really 'got', despite its popularity. One guy in my Adolescent Literature class described Seuss as 'deep and philosophical'. I know there is something I have missed there, but I definitely preferred Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola. That book is a picture book, and another one which has stuck around for American children since 1978.

As well as having a fun and interesting time, I'm hoping that this kind of information will be useful when I come to the ASUGO presentations - international students are shipped out to local schools to give presentations about our home cultures. In some ways, I worry that I have little to offer from a country which superficially appears to be similar to the States. Us English exchange students won't be able too teach the children to count in a different language, for example. But I have thought of some things to include, such as Maypole dancing, Cornish pasties and the Queen. So far, the British things I miss the most (other than people!) are a good cup of tea, and pound coins.