Host Family

In a lovely Einfamilienhaus just outside of Salzburg's Altstadt lives a family consisting of a mother, a father, and two little girls. The father runs a business, the mother a household. The father works hard and has little time off, but does manage to spend as much time with his girls and wife as possible. The mother, the model wife, combines running the household with pursuing her own interests, and still manages to find time to attend those social/work functions with her husband that she finds to be such a bore. High society interests her almost as much as meat would interest a vegetarian.

The girls, 7 and 9, have the curiosity and vitality that suits their ages and gender. At such young ages their futures are already apparent. One will be practical when finding a husband, marry young, lead a good stable life, while the other will most likely scare her parents with tattooed motorcycle riding boyfriends before she finally manages to marry the right man. Only time will tell if these premonitions are correct.

I am living with this family to teach them English, but in fact, they are also teaching me a lot. About Austrian culture, about children, about life. Each family that I stay with teaches me something different.

There is so much more to every family than meets the eye. And I, on this adventure, with this family, have a chance to see it and experience it. One day, every single one of my Gastfamilien (names changed to protect the innocent, of course) will make it into the book that I write about my experiences abroad. (And no, I will not be revealing their secrets. I will be sharing what I have learned from being around them) Having lived with so many families, I've come to see that, despite the fact that they all seem perfect on the outside, all have their imperfections on the inside. Their imperfections, in fact, are what make them the most interesting.

Cheers, Molly