(Through the eyes of a foreign exchange student from London, England in America.)



My name is Annalisa Elizabeth Spencer. I am sixteen years old. I was born in London, England. My mother, Lauren, was born in America, but her family moved to London when she was five. My father, William, is English. I thought I’d stay in England my life, until I was old enough to be on my own. Then, one day that I signed up for a foreign exchange student program.

As I step off the plane, I look at the people around me…I feel small. I feel scared. I don’t know where I am going….I have a small picture of what the family I’ll be staying with looks like. I scan the headlines of the U.S. paper seeing things about how a president wants universal healthcare? Wouldn’t people already have healthcare reform? We do. As I scan the article, I’m not sure what any of this means. I mean we have a queen and a prime minister, not a president.

I look for my host family. They have a daughter about my age, so I might have one friend. I don’t see anyone that has a sign with my name or see anyone who looks anything like the family in the picture. What if they didn’t come? What if they forgot about me or they decided they didn’t want a foreign exchange student staying with them?! Then I’d have to get back on the plane. I don’t have enough money with me to get a plane ride back to London!

I was on the verge of tears when I heard a voice say, “Annalisa?”

I turned around and saw a girl, about my age, that looked vaguely familiar. The picture! It was the daughter of the family I was supposed to be staying with.

“Yes?” I say.

“Hi, I’m Rachel,” She says. “The Montez’s daughter.”

I nod. She tells me that her parents are just around the baggage claim area. I followed her lead….scared to death. I see them and I wonder, what if they don’t like me?! Will they kick me out of there house and send me home?! I couldn’t find anything good in this, yet. Right now where I wanted to be was back in my home in London crawled up with a book.

I meet Mr. and Mrs. Montez. They welcome me with open arms. All at once all my fears are replaced with the feeling of acceptance. And as we were leaving the airport I realized that I might just make it after all.