Think about teenagers who lived alone. They do not have family. I am sixteen and I studied abroad in the United States. I spent most of my day with my host family. When I was in Korea, I did not know how much they love me. Frankly, I thought their loving, giving, and taking cares of me are their duty. And there were also some conflicts with my mom like when I wanted to play with my friends more than just studying, my mom wanted me to study more than playing with my friends. Also, Korean education is really hard for everyone.Teachers usually made tests hard, and there are lots of things to do. Those facts made me to study abroad like my brother, Jin. At first, I was so happy because I had chance to study abroad and I love to meet new friends. Also, I appreciate that I can get an opportunity to learn more. But I also have concerned about my adjustment. The reason why I concerned is that it is hard to get used to new environment. When the departing day came, I felt more nervous than happiness because I saw my friends crying and my room was getting empty. After I came to the United States, I met many other school students before the school started: Christy Jung, Jake Jung, Hye-rim Lee, Sunny Hong, Cindy Kim, and In-sung Kim. Spending my most time to set my stuff in new house was not that hard. After school began, I get many stresses. That made me to miss my mom and it was really hard to study in English. My first day of school was really terrible because I did not know anyone in our school except international school students and I had to speak in English every-time, everywhere. I made many mistakes on the first day of school. Few days later school began, I cried a lot because there were many things to do and I missed my parents.
The hardest time was getting used along with my host family: know who they are, what they like, and what they wanted me to do. Sometimes, there are conflicts between me and my host family. The main reason is that I did not know my host family well, and also they did not know me well. So, I had lots of stresses about that problem and many school works. But the only way that can make me feel better is that when I talked with my mom on the phone. She always asked me about my daily life and concerned about me a lot. Actually, I felt kind of annoying when my parents kept asking lots of things. But I really appreciate it right now. They do it for me because they loved me.
Another example that made me to know my family’s love is that when I was sick. When I was sick in Korea, my parents always stayed with me. And they also made many of my favorite foods. Of course, my host family cared about my healthy but not taking care of me. They just asked me how I felt and told me take a rest. And they left me alone in the room. I do not like being sick alone. It makes me feel worse. In that time, I really missed my parents and I want to go back to Korea.
Those things make me to know my family’s love. My family gave me a comfort and strength. That strength made me to overcome many difficulties. And I also realized that no one can replace their place. If someone replaces their place, those people cannot give great and endless love like my real family. This I believe that my family is most important thing.