Hey guys, Mr. Frank likes to swim at Muncul, and if you like to swim then you are welcome to join him. He is like a fish in the water and swims about forty minutes without stopping. If you join us in this program, then maybe someday you can join him at the pool. No need to worry. You wouldn’t have to try to keep up with him.
Girls I don’t like to swim, so we won’t have to go to Muncul. We do have a gril’s night where everyone gets a facial and a crème bath while we watch a romantic movie. What fun! Sorry guys, I don’t do this for you.
However, I did make up a special activity for you guys and even the last girls group enjoyed the event. We divided into two teams and one team had to find the other team using walkie-talkies. I was one team, and Mr. Frank was on the other team. We walked through the Salak gardens, woods, and neighborhoods. We even started running when Mr. Frank’s team began catching up to us. It was fun and exciting. One of the girls noticed that as we walked all the neighbors stared at us. She said “look. Everyone is staring. Mrs. Karren doesn’t it bother you that everyone is looking at us?” My response, “No, it does not bother me. I am used to it.” So be prepared to be stared at, if you walk around with us.
Another activity we do together is drawing up your life map and spending one on one time with me as you share that life map with me. We also like playing the game of LIFE together. In this board game, everyone has a choice to go to college or start a career. One does not actually get to choose their career, but rather receives their career as a result of drawing from a pile of cards. Also, one’s salary depends on the card one draws, but be prepared for “big sounding” salaries and expensive fees.
This English program offers you the adventure of living with an American family without ever leaving your country. We like to laugh and love to have those of you whom God sends our way. We really want you to get the most out of this program and that means that the requirement for coming is that you really want to use your English. No matter what. We have found that your improvement in English in this program really depends on you. We have an open door policy which means that we will not shut you out. If you want to spend more time with us, after the daily program, then you are welcome to do just that. You can sit with us in our family room, watch television with us and use opportunities to ask us questions. We have observed that the students who have greater improvement in this program are those who use their English with us and speak to each other in English. We know that this is hard and do not require you to, but if you come with a commitment and willingness to learn then you will get more out of the program.
From America with Love, Karren.
Glossary:
To keep up with (verb): menyaingi/menandingi
To make up (verb): menyusun
To catch up to (verb): mengejar
To stare at (verb): menatap tajam
To bother (verb): mengganggu
To be used to (idiom): terbiasa
A pile of cards (idiom): tumpukan kartu
To draw (verb): mengambil
Adventure (noun): petualangan
To shut out (verb): menghalangi
Willingness (noun): kerelaan
(F)