Farewell to... exchange students?
Jun. 19th, 2018 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaA bus pulled up in front of my house. Not a transit bus, a charter bus.
A dozen Asian teenagers piled out and darted across the street into the library. A larger and more multicultural/multigenerational crowd of people crossed over from the parking lot.
They stood around in my front yard taking photos of each other and hugging, as suitcases were loaded into the luggage hold of the bus. Several wore varsity jackets from the local high school, even though it is a hot summer day. Asian teenagers then sorted themselves out and got on the bus, leaving the non-Asians behind. While this was happening, the group that had gone inside trickled back out, and back onto the bus as well.
The bus pulled away, leaving the rest of the crowd sadly waving farewell.
Theory: Exchange students going home.
Because if the bus was picking up kids who lived here and were joining an organized tour, there would be white kids getting on the bus too. And it's not a short trip - varsity jackets wouldn't be wanted for a summer trip, and kids who were only here a short time wouldn't have them. Those kids were here long enough to join sports teams, maybe a full school year. And the crowd waving farewell were host families and friends to these kids now going home.
I am just surprised to see so many kids depart together, in such a homogenous group. My high school experience of exchange students was that they came in ones and twos from all different places. Perhaps there are more nowadays? Or they keep them grouped together more?
A dozen Asian teenagers piled out and darted across the street into the library. A larger and more multicultural/multigenerational crowd of people crossed over from the parking lot.
They stood around in my front yard taking photos of each other and hugging, as suitcases were loaded into the luggage hold of the bus. Several wore varsity jackets from the local high school, even though it is a hot summer day. Asian teenagers then sorted themselves out and got on the bus, leaving the non-Asians behind. While this was happening, the group that had gone inside trickled back out, and back onto the bus as well.
The bus pulled away, leaving the rest of the crowd sadly waving farewell.
Theory: Exchange students going home.
Because if the bus was picking up kids who lived here and were joining an organized tour, there would be white kids getting on the bus too. And it's not a short trip - varsity jackets wouldn't be wanted for a summer trip, and kids who were only here a short time wouldn't have them. Those kids were here long enough to join sports teams, maybe a full school year. And the crowd waving farewell were host families and friends to these kids now going home.
I am just surprised to see so many kids depart together, in such a homogenous group. My high school experience of exchange students was that they came in ones and twos from all different places. Perhaps there are more nowadays? Or they keep them grouped together more?
