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Unique Family Ties

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Submitted By lukevarner
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MY EXTENDED FAMILY
When I was 10 years old my parents decided to change my life forever. They were both from large families. My mother has 11 brothers and sisters and my father has one brother and three sisters. (5 and 12 children) They wanted their only child to to experience brothers and/or sisters. So, they decided to take in exchange student from other countries. At first, they took on students who remained in the country for six months and gradually over the years they took on students who remained in the United States for ten to eleven months.
The first exchange student was from Berlin, Germany. She arrived in July of 2005. Her name was Saundra, but my family always called her Sunny the whole time she lived with my parents and I. She was seventeen years old. My parents loved and treated Sunny just as if she was their daughter. Sunny and I fought just like a sister and her little brother. It was sad when Sunny went home in January. My family was very fortunate to travel to Europe in the summer of 2006 for three weeks. We stayed with Sunny and her parents. We traveled all over Germany and into some of the surrounding countries. We traveled to France, Poland, and the Netherlands. I spent my eleventh birthday in Berlin at the Berlin Zoo and ate my birthday lunch at McDonalds, which was my choice. It was a very memorable trip.
While in Germany, we met up with our second exchange student from near Hamburg, Germany. We traveled to her home where we stayed for three days. Her name was Annika. It was great to meet her whole family before she even came to our home. Annika stayed with us for six months too. I personally did not connect with Annika, but I enjoyed her time in my home.
Our next exchange student came from South Korea. She also was to stay in our home for six months. Her name was Ha-Young. She was the youngest student at the age of fifteen.

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