http://www.susanbkason.com/2010/07/21/postcard-from-tahiti-1989/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:11:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.susanbkason.com/2010/07/21/postcard-from-tahiti-1989/comment-page-1/#comment-710 Susan Blumberg-Kason Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:57:46 +0000 http://www.susanbkason.com/?p=1901#comment-710 Thanks! In writing my memoir, I'm trying to show how I was really unprepared for many things in life, despite traveling to far off places. I don't go into this Tahitian trip in the memoir, so I thought I'd blog about it here. The girl came to the US and stayed with us the summer before I went to Papeete. She was so quiet! That's probably why I was so shocked by her lifestyle in Tahiti. It was a very loosely arranged exchange. Her aunt introduced us by mail and then we took it from there. I'd finished high school by the time I traveled to Tahiti, so never contacted the aunt, who was a proper French woman, and close to retirement age. It would have been a major loss of face!! I guess I was already thinking the Chinese way!! Thanks! In writing my memoir, I’m trying to show how I was really unprepared for many things in life, despite traveling to far off places. I don’t go into this Tahitian trip in the memoir, so I thought I’d blog about it here. The girl came to the US and stayed with us the summer before I went to Papeete. She was so quiet! That’s probably why I was so shocked by her lifestyle in Tahiti. It was a very loosely arranged exchange. Her aunt introduced us by mail and then we took it from there. I’d finished high school by the time I traveled to Tahiti, so never contacted the aunt, who was a proper French woman, and close to retirement age. It would have been a major loss of face!! I guess I was already thinking the Chinese way!!

]]> http://www.susanbkason.com/2010/07/21/postcard-from-tahiti-1989/comment-page-1/#comment-709 vanessa Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:45:54 +0000 http://www.susanbkason.com/?p=1901#comment-709 what an adventure! the teenage years are tough, to say the least. living is a struggle- much less sharing intimacy with a 'foreigner', unless you are prepared for and willing to accept it voluntarily. (i would have been a dreadful host at that age). at least you got some language skills out of it, coping skills and a broader understanding of human behaviour :) did the exchange involve a tahitian moving to the states? did the teacher get any real feedback about what happened? these days student exchanges are much more monitored (i think)! what an adventure!
the teenage years are tough, to say the least. living is a struggle- much less sharing intimacy with a ‘foreigner’, unless you are prepared for and willing to accept it voluntarily. (i would have been a dreadful host at that age). at least you got some language skills out of it, coping skills and a broader understanding of human behaviour
did the exchange involve a tahitian moving to the states? did the teacher get any real feedback about what happened? these days student exchanges are much more monitored (i think)!

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