How to live with a host family
如今，许多留学生都选择住在寄宿家庭，那么留学生们该怎样适应一个有着不同文化的陌生家庭呢？
Studying abroad is full of adventures — everything is different and exciting, including your new host family. All of a sudden, you’re sharing everything with new people whom you’ve never seen before. It will take time to learn how to behave in these new surroundings. To get the most out of your time with your temporary family, you can check out the following tips.
1. ________
If you are allergic (过敏的) to peanuts, don’t like seafood, or have a fear of dogs of all sizes, tell your host family about it right away. Generally speaking, they will have learned the most important facts about you from your paperwork, but some things cannot be stressed enough — especially when it comes to health issues.
2. ________
Food is a great social lubricant (润滑剂) across cultures. Try to be at home for meals and help set the table or do the dishes. Eating together is a fantastic way to get to know people and sitting around a dinner table is a fun way to pick up new words and practice your conversation skills. If you know how to cook, feel free to prepare something from your home country and take the cultural exchange to the next level.
3. ________
Of course you should get involved in social activities with your new friends from school, but why not spend some quality time with your host family as well When you’re in a foreign country, going to the supermarket or watching your host sister’s soccer practice can be super exciting. Participating in everyday activities is a great bonding experience that lets you practice your language skills and helps you get to know a new culture.
Notes:
temporary adj. continuing for only a limited period of time
Self-check
Read the article and then put A-C in the correct places in the text.
A. Participate in activities
B. Attend the family meals
C. Be open and communicate
Reflection
What else should you consider when you live with a host family
答案
【Self-check】
1-3 CBA
【Reflection】略William N. Brown introduces China to the world
他是第一个定居厦门的外国人，也是福建省第一位外籍永久居民。他对中国毫无保留地热爱，向世界讲述真实的中国故事。下面让我们走近这位感动中国的美籍教授——潘维廉。
William N. Brown, 64, a United States professor at Xiamen University, was listed among the “people who moved China in 2019”. The professor won the award for “striving to introduce China to the world”.
Brown and his family moved to Xiamen from the United States in 1988 when he started working at the School of Management of Xiamen University. Four years later, he became the first foreigner in Fujian to gain a permanent residence (永久居住) permit in China.
He has lots of books about Chinese history and culture at his home, according to Shen Yifeng, his colleague at Xiamen University. “He knows even more about China and Xiamen than we do.”
What touched Shen most is that Brown spent a lot of money collecting books and pictures that recorded the city's development and donated them to a local museum and the management school.
In 1994, Brown drove his family across some 40, 000 kilometers in China and visited several poverty-stricken regions, such as Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Qinghai province. The trip allowed him to learn more about the rest of China outside Fujian.
He recorded his experiences and impressions on China through letters to his family members and friends in the US over the past decades. The book Off the Wall — How We Fell for China, including 47 of his letters written since 1988, records and displays China's changes during the country's reform (改革) and opening-up process from a perspective of a foreigner living and working in China. It was published in both Chinese and English in late 2018.
In 2019, he restarted his journey, enabling him to see how China had changed over the past 25 years, a country which he said had never disappointed him.
“Twenty-five years ago, we were stuck for three days due to poor traffic conditions in rainy days. And now, even the remote areas in West China are connected with broad roads,” Brown recalled.
He said he plans to write another two books to record his journey, reflecting China's achievements through its reform and opening-up.
“I don't think I've done anything to touch China. On the contrary, China has touched me,” Brown said at the award ceremony. “One day, the Chinese dream will be the world's dream. China will touch the world. I have full confidence in that.”
【Self-check】
1. Why was William N. Brown listed among the “people who moved China in 2019”
2. What is William N. Brown's book about
【Reflection】
Why does William N. Brown introduce China to the world
参考答案
【Self-check】
1. Because he devoted himself to introducing China to the world.
2. China's changes during the reform and opening-up process.
【Reflection】
略
