Getting ready to meet the host family

Once we left Colmar, we had a three to four hour bus ride ahead of us. We spent the first thirty minutes talking about the family stay. We talked about some of the rules of politesse, the importance of using as much French as possible and when to use the formal and informal forms of address. The students had great questions: When should we give the gifts? What are the families going to do to find us in the group? What if my family is not there? What if they don't understand me? I remember how nervous I was before the beginning of all of my family-stays. The MPA students were also nervous, but something incredible happened as we got closer to the drop-off point. The nervousness changed to excitement. I've never seen anything like it. This was just one more example of just how good this group is.

M. Swanson