9/4/2009 - Getting to know you
Siti Zainab Sabihah Roslan
for the newstraitstimes
Some Malaysian homes are practically an international melting pot of cultures. Siti Zainab Sabihah Roslan, 14, of Bangi, reveals how her home is just such a place
On July 18, my family got to meet the American Field Service (AFS) Foreign Exchange student from Germany who would be living with us for a year. I was really excited because I had been looking forward to meeting her.
Her name is Jessica Jung and she is 16 years old. I am her host sister.
Jessica has now been with my family for almost two weeks. As she is new to the culture, she is trying her best to adapt. She does feel confused at times, though.
But she is happy that some of the things that are used in Germany can be easily found in Malaysia.
Through Jessica’s eyes, I get to see a different perspective of Malaysia.
Her first impression is that the people are very friendly. She loves the way of life here and likes the weather, compared with Germany.
She realises that there are new things to be discovered such as how to cook Malaysian food and the taste of satay with kuah kacang, (from the moment we introduced her to it at Sate Kajang). She also likes fried rice.
One of the reasons why she chose Malaysia was because she really wanted to get to know Asia, and an English speaking country at that. She wanted to experience Malaysia because it is so different from the, US or Australia. She likes traveling and has visited France, Greece, South Africa and the US.
“Many teenagers in Germany do not know about Malaysia. That is why I wanted to discover more about Malaysia,” she says.
“To learn the Malay language is so difficult,” adds Jessy, as she likes to be called. But she hopes to be able to speak Malay soon so she can communicate better with her host family and friends.
Jessy’s friendly nature has helped her make new friends in school. However, she was surprised to see girls and boys sitting separately during recess on her first day in school.
Despite all the challenges and new experiences, she already loves Malaysia and is enjoying her stay here very much.
In the last few years, my family has played host to Japanese students for a couple of months at a time. This year is the first time that we are hosting one for a whole year under the AFS Intercultural programme.
It was my mother, Siti Badarny Shamsaifah Hassan, who wanted to do this because she likes to learn about other cultures and she also wanted us, her children, to grow up with an open mind and be culturally well-exposed.
My mother believes the experience is all about exchanging and sharing views, information, and knowledge on cultures and ways of life.
Living with an exchange student is nothing new for my mother. Her first introduction to the AFS programme was through her sister’s friend, when she was in Form 4. Her sister, Kak Jah from Perlis, has been an active volunteer with AFS since 1986.
My late grandparents hosted an American student, Joanna Muncaster, in 1987, for a year.
My late grandmother, Mak Nab, was a famous Quran teacher, and Joanna became very attached to her because of her motherly and caring nature.
Soon after that, my mother herself participated in the AFS exchange programme and spent a year with a Japanese host family who lived in Tokyo. She gained a lifetime of experience through the AFS and found herself more mature, with a better understanding of human behaviour and cultural values.
There are many benefits that you gain by hosting a foreign student (we can learn their language while we teach them ours, learn about their culture while they learn about ours, exchange ideas, observe and learn about human nature and enhance our interpersonal and communication skills).
See the original article here
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