EPISODE 44: THE TAIWANESE 'SON'

No, we did not adopt anybody. But these days, we are hosting this 12-yr-old Taiwanese boy from Kaoshiung. The boy arrived last week and has been settling in nicely with us. We volunteered to be host family for the Taiwanese students visiting Jordie's school so he will be living with us for 3 weeks.

It's fun and interesting to watch our boy interact with him as Jordan speaks very little Mandarin - so the Taiwanese boy was forced to speak English with him. He was initially shy but is now more confident and comfortable with us. We were told to speak English with him even though we can converse in Chinese, so that he will have the benefit of learning to communicate more in English. Found out he likes beef and lamb. Quite a carnivore,... and takes to Aussie milk and soft drinks. We are given an allowance for his stay though, which helps with the extra food bills.

To be honest, we thought we wouldn't qualify since we were Asians, but the school homestay coordinator thought we were a nice family and spoke English well enough to qualify for the role. So, she helped us apply for a blue card, which is a must for any work/ volunteer handling children below 18 years of age. My responsibilities as host mum is to make sure he gets to and from school on time Mondays to Fridays; 3 square meals daily, pack school lunches for him, communicate in English, do laundry and help adjust to OZ culture. It's quite an experience... handling 2 kids instead of one, but they are both very good, so it's still manageable. I had initial fear images of boys jumping on sofas, raiding fridges and wrecking the bedrooms, picky eaters, etc...but so far so good....

Meantime, Jordie is enjoying his company very much and told me he wished he had a brother. Oh well, a temporary one will do for now....