LIVING IN A HOST FAMILY
by Duduzile Manda, Stellenbosch University

When I came to Germany I did not know what to expect and my favourite part of the experience was being with my host family, the Welte Family. This is what I will be talking about in this report, I must say I was very lucky to have been placed with such an amazing host family, they really treated me like family which is something that helped me adjust to being in Germany. As I have stated before that I did not know what to expect when I came to Germany (staying with people I have never met before) this turned out to be highly beneficial for me.

My host family did their best to make us feel comfortable and even made dinner for us. They would always look at the schedule and try to prepare us for the next day by giving us a bit of information about the place we are going to visit so that we know what to expect. I also got to know more about German people, like one time I thought the bus driver was being rude to me when I asked for directions and he just brushed me off. My host family explained that Germans like their privacy unlike back home where people are social.

Apart from that I also enjoyed staying with my host family because I was not only made comfortable by my host family but I also got to experience the language first hand and that gave me a unique glimpse into the German culture (their food) also getting to watch their television programs e.g the survivor and also one of the daughters favourite television program the bachelor. At one time we got to have the Glühwein with my host mother and that was really nice to experience that as I have never had a hot wine before.

What I have also experienced staying with my host family was the fact that it automatically gave me connections from day one. People I can converse with on daily basis, and people who can show me around. For example the children in the house who tell us of the places that it's a must for young people to be at and also told us where there will be clothing and food specials and this was really nice because they were happy to share things about their own area and country. Who knows one might make friends for life