I arrived at my homestay on a Saturday at midnight. My homestay family quickly showed me around then they went to bed. I wasn’t tired so I wrote emails to my friends and after that I felt tired.

The next morning I didn’t want to get up because I didn’t know them very well and I felt a little uneasy. I wished I was in my own flat in Switzerland. After half an hour I had to get up because I was hungry. It wasn’t bad. My homestay father was playing with the children. He showed me all the breakfast food and I ate breakfast. Leigh was out and came back at midday then she took me to the city. She showed me the school and we went to Westfield shopping centre for lunch. It was very kind of her to show me these places and we had a good talk over lunch.

When we went home I had some time to myself and I thought about all the new places I’d seen and the impressions they’d made on me. Dinner was very delicious and I felt very welcome in the family. I realised that I had been worried about nothing and that everything would be okay.

Story contributed by Gabriela Leuzinger, a student at Languages International Auckland.