An Average Day with My Host Family

Nicole Lanzo

The Family I visited lived in Beijing. They were peasants. This means that our life was very tough on us. We had to watch out for things such as our home being searched. The family worked very hard on the farm. They all worked together and never gave up. For fun, we would do certain types of things like drawing, tag, and we even told stories to each other. The funniest part of the day was listening to the family tell stories because it was very interesting. For an example grandpa Feng Chang would talk about when he was a kid and what types of things he would do. The family did not pray to Mao. They think that he was a bad person. They prayed to God because they believed that he was the only person that could resolve the problem of being peasants. We ate many different foods but the major food that we always ate was rice, white rice. It had a delicious taste that just melts in your mouth. Yum, so good! The government had many rules that were ridiculous to follow. We weren't allowed to have Four Olds. It was very difficult to hide them from the Red Guards. I know this because while I was there our home was searched. Our clothes that we wore were different from America. It was as if we were dressed up all year round. I wore a skirt with a pretty blouse. The boys would wear dress pants with a dress shirt. The time I was with the family was very fun. It was nice to explore the types of things that were done in Beijing and in a peasant family.

    At the beginning of the day when I woke up, we had breakfast. Mom made some cake that went with some tea. I played with daughter Feng Li (who is my age) in the morning too. We played tag. Feng Li started telling me that her family’s house could be searched at any moment. She told me how there was a landlord in her family. I hoped that the Red guards wouldn’t come during my visit. We continued too play some more.
    In the middle of the day, we ate some lunch. Soup with bread. Everyone looked suspicious around the house, it was so weird. Next thing I knew dozens of Red Guards barged into the door. They said they were looking for Four Olds. The Reds guards were calling the Feng family all sorts of names that I could not believe was even allowed. They trashed the house. Paper was thrown all over the floor, beds were tipped over a long with couches, and desks. I hoped that in the end everything would be okay. The Red Guard left with some boxes. It seemed as if they had gotten everything they were looking for.
    At the end of the day, we all tried cleaning the house up a bit. Fixing furniture back to the way it should be. Everyone seemed to be quiet about the search. I didn’t ask many questions because I felt bad for the Feng family. After tidying up the house, we ate dinner. Rice, my favorite. They made there rice so good, I could eat it any day. At this time It was getting close to when I would have to leave. I spent a good hour saying by to everyone. It was sad that it was time to go. As I was leaving I prayed that their house wouldn’t be searched again. I wouldn’t want that to happen to them. Feng Li walked me out. I gave her a hug and headed on down the road.
    A day with my host family was very fun. They were very polite the way they took me in and treated me like one of them. It is different there than it is here. Nothing I ever expected it to be. I’d love to and I would go back any day.