Don't judge a book by its cover

Mari

"When I first thought about going to Germany and staying in a family house, I was pretty sure that they would all be very strict, careless and not a loving kind family. I was also very nervous because I knew that not everybody would be lucky with theirs host families. And I kept thinking like that till the day I arrived at my German house. At the train station, they were all very kind and helped me with my luggage. My house was a huge typical Bavarian one, not a chic or a rich house, but a very comfortable one. After unpacking my stuff in my own bedroom, I sat at the dinner table with my family and that was the moment I realized that all my thoughts about my “strict German family” were wrong. My family had a huge heart and they were always looking after me and offering me something.

My house was on a neighboring village of the main city called Murnau. Seehausen, the name of the village was just 2km away from Murnau, where my exchange school was. That’s the reason I didn’t have any problems getting there. My host mom usually drove me by car and when she couldn’t take us, we went walking.

I had a 16 year old sister, and she was really sweet. So, as she used to go to school with me everyday, we became very close friends. I had also an 18 years old brother and, of course, my lovely parents. Their grandparents were also in the house and we had no pets. Lucky me, as I am very allergic to them.

Mari's Family

I really enjoyed my time in Germany. My family contributed a lot with that, because they were always taking me to visit some different places and taking a good care of me. Now, I certainly can say that I have a second family, which will be always in my heart, even coexisting for a short time with them."