American Farm Life!
My life in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire is AWESOME!
Before I came here, a lot of people told me that New Hampshire is a very nice place. It is more like a country side with beautiful scenery and where people stay on farms. I was excited, yet a bit worried because I have been living in a city for my whole life! How am I going to adapt to such a different lifestyle? Are there a lot of flies and insects that bug me everyday? Am I going to stay in a rural place? And before I can even think of a solution, I received my placement letter at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. It was stated that my host parents are farmers and they have lots of animals. I was amazed because the things people told me seemed to be true. I told myself, I AM GOING TO SURVIVE! EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!
The plane I traveled on was very small and I could actually see the scenery throughout the whole journey because the plane was flying very low. All I saw were beautiful mountains, undisturbed trees, white snow, clouds that looked like the moustache of Santa Clause and some small houses. It was breathtaking! When I reached the airport in Manchester, there were no other people except for my leader holding a paper with my name on it. It was a complete different picture of what I had imagined! I thought I was going to be lost in a crowded waiting area and ended up calling for help, things like that, which now I think is really silly and crazy to even have thought of!
So, here I am now; staying with a very special host family and we live on a farm. There are ducks, ponies and other animals in the farm. The 'house' we live in is actually a garage! It used to be a place where cars were parked inside. By the way, only two cars can fit inside. So, as you can guess, it is very small! However, I still enjoy my stay here a lot! I have two host mothers and six other siblings living with me. Wow, what a big family. Yet, sometimes, there are even more kids staying here because people visit us a lot. They are the friendliest people I have ever met. Most of my host siblings do not go to school. They are home-schooled kids. They are vegetarians too.
I have to climb up a ladder just to get into my 'space', and crawl to my bed. I think it is very fun, as though I am living in a stone age era where the cave is too small. We do not have rooms because the 'house' is too small. Hence, we call them space, instead of rooms. Besides that, we have birds, puppies, guinea pigs, and hamsters in the 'house'. I was shocked the first time I saw them. How on Earth can you sleep with so many animals surrounding you? But I got used to it in just a few days. In fact, I have natural 'alarm clocks' in the morning when all the birds chirp at the same time, hamsters running in their cages and puppies moving around. By the way, the toilet in this 'house' cannot be flushed at all. It is a compose toilet.
My school life is even more fun! I love my school so much! The classes I am taking now are Physical Education, Keyboard, Honors U.S. History, English and The Hero's Journey. Above all, I love my Honors U.S. History class the most because I have a great teacher and cool friends! Mr. Garnham is my teacher and he makes the whole class laugh every day. He is the best teacher I have ever met. If it wasn't for him, my school life here would almost be nothing. I learn a lot from his class even though it was hard for me at first. It was strange to recall back the first day I entered his class. I almost cried and was frightened to death because he looked so scary and made fun of me. It took me a few months not to feel scared anymore. Mr. Garnham used to ask me this question every day when I first came, "Merryn, are there any single and beautiful women available for me in your country?" This is just one of the strange questions that he has asked me, there are even more.
My friends here are very curious about Malaysia. I feel happy to tell them about our culture and shared my stories in Malaysia. A lot of them want to come to Malaysia after I did my presentation! They were amazed by the beauty of our country! I made a lot of friends in the school and I love them very much. They are very nice people and they talk to me a lot. Most importantly, they help me every time I need help and accept me as who I am. My friends told me that they like me so much that they hope I would not have to leave so early. Some even told me that I am the nicest and coolest exchange student they have ever met. I feel very happy as being accepted as a friend of theirs from a completely different country! I have a great time with other exchange students too, especially the exchange students from China and Indonesia. We had lots of fun and spent time together.
Other than that, I joined the track team in my school and go for practice everyday, even when it was raining heavily! I thought students were not allowed to do sports in the rain because they will get sick. However, I did not get sick even though the rain was pouring and wind was blowing hard. Honestly, I feel like dying every time I run in such a weather because it was VERY cold!
I enjoy doing community service too. I met new people and went to different farms. It is amazing to visit other neighbours because every neighbour has different animals on their farm. My host mothers have an organic farm too. I helped them to plant vegetables and trees. They taught me a lot of things about farming. Sometimes, they teach me things about animals too. After all, it is not that bad to live in a farm, except for the black flies that suck blood! They come out in the spring and I always have a hard time dealing with them. I feel like burning my whole body so the bugs would not bug me. What else? Bees. Bees that fly into the house. Not a good thing to have when you are sleeping.
Well, there are too many stories and things to tell. What I have just shared is just a tiny part of it. I can't wait to share my stories when I go back to Malaysia or meet other friends! Life is great! I am so proud to be a Malaysian and I will cherish every moment of my life here!
Choong Merryn
Lyndeborough, New Hampshire
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