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Simon & Laura (Switzerland, 2018-19)
Simon和Laura於今年開始成為我們的接待家庭，一開始只是因為兒子很想接待外國學生，所以才懵懵懂懂地踏出了第一步。有趣的是，因為瑞士交流生Jannes到了香港之後，是跟兒子同房的，當大家因為個性與生活習慣不同而起衝突，最直接感受到的也是兒子。當然，這也是一個學習如何與不同背景的人相處的機會，他們也會在過程中互相影響，例如Jannes喜歡每天放學回家後跟接待父母分享生活，Simon和Laura發現兒子也漸漸養成這個習慣。
我們常說，成為接待家庭是「打開家門，迎接世界!」，Simon一家也透過聽Jannes講述家鄉大小事進一步了解瑞士。不止如此，由於Jannes十分外向，喜歡結交朋友，他不時會邀請其他AFS交流生參與接待家庭聚會，這也讓Simon一家常常聽到來自不同國家的故事。
Simon和Laura說，很多香港人的生活可能就是每天上下班，回到家督促孩子做功課，成為一個接待家庭就是一個打破常規的機會，讓他們的生活變得更豐富多彩!
Simon and Laura started to become our host family this year. At first it was just because of their son’s eagerness to host a foreign exchange student, they decided to join the program without thinking too much. Interestingly, after Jannes who is the host student from Switzerland arrived at Hong Kong, he stayed at the same bedroom with their son, so when there were conflicts generated by the difference in personality and habits, he was the one who had the strongest feeling. Of course this is a chance for him to learn how to get along with people from different background, they also influenced each other in a positive way. For example, Jannes loves sharing his life with host parent every time when he comes back home, Simon and Laura then started to realize that their sons did the same.
We always say being a host family is to ‘Welcome the world into your home!’, Simon’s family also understood more about Switzerland through Jannes’s sharing on his life back home. Apart from that, as Jannes is very outgoing and loves making friends, he also invited other AFS exchange students to join their family gatherings, this is when Simon’s family heard stories from all over the world.
Simon and Laura said, our daily life in Hong Kong usually starts with working all day, then urging their children to finish their homework, being a host family is an opportunity to break the routine and add color into their life.
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