A broader world view

In a difficult news week, it’s hard to see when things will get better. Everywhere you look, including across the pond, the world seems to be spinning off its axis as we lurch more and more to the far right. A friend suggested this happens in cycles. I really hope we’ll see things swing back the other way soon. Now, more than ever, I think it’s important to remember we’re all together on this spinning rock. There’s more that connects us, than should divide us.

Growing up, my family hosted people from all corners of the world, for several weeks at a time. This was either students on school study trips or adults and professionals, visiting the UK for the first time. While i’m sure there was compensation for being a host family, my parents were more than happy to open our home to them all. I really value this part of my upbringing as I think it gave me such a wider perspective on the world, and exposed me to different nationalities and identities that were really formative experiences as a young teen.

The youngest we hosted was a 12-year old Italian boy who was incredibly homesick. However, I remember we had lots of fun on a trip to Laser Quest. The oldest we hosted were an elderly couple from the Czech Republic (formerly part of Czechoslovakia) who had survived the prisoner of war camps, and were now trying to see as much of the world as possible.

There were the Jamaican students who were so friendly and could skateboard so much better than I could (I could just about stay upright on the skateboard). There were the young French girls who played Hunchback II on our Amstrad computer and giggled at the (their words) “burp” noise our dishwasher made. I exchanged letters and postcards with one of them for a brief time afterwards.

There were German, French and Portugeuse students. The French boys who ran rings round us, playing basketball on our patio and the Portugeuse students who showed us photos of their gorgeous city. There were the young Spanish couple who, despite my teenage awkwardness, became good friends with my parents and have stayed in touch ever since. There was the cool, French guy who showed me how to get past the Venice level in Tomb Raider II on the PlayStation.

An Italian man - a photographer, I think? - who stayed with us for a number of months, and gifted my parents a photo book of his home town. A cheeky but adorable Japanese “little sister” who delighted in teasing me - Mr Frodo! - and asking questions about UK culture that I had no hope of being able to answer at that age. We also stayed in touch over email on and off for some time.

I’m sure i’ve not been able to remember everyone who stayed with us. I’d love to know where they all are now. I think we continued to host students for a number of years. I’ve seen photos of my sister and I, as school kids, looking very sleepy at the breakfast table, sitting next to our guests (We have several photo albums!). Lizzie also stayed with us when at least one of our guests was staying, and we met in my late teens, so I would probably have been between 15 - 18 years old.

My memories from that time are of meeting so many friendly and fascinating people. They all had interesting cultures and it was a privilege to be a part of their experience of the UK. It was also difficult, as a nervous teenager, feeling almost responsible for our guests. I recall showing some of them round the local area, and being very conscious that, while they were keen to explore, I knew the areas you stayed away from, the streets you didn’t go down. Even then, I knew that the world was a harsh place.

We weren’t the only family hosting at the time, but I know other families saw it as first and foremost a money making enterprise. This was brought home to us when an older couple who were staying with us, revealed that they’d hidden food in their suitcase for fear of not being fed. Their host family in London had made them pay for basic amenities like tea, coffee, milk and sugar. Needless to say my parents were mortified. While we didn’t have a lot of money, they embraced hosting and saw it for the opportunity it was: to learn more about the world, just because that was worthwhile in itself.

I’m really grateful to my parents for this experience and I like to think that these experiences growing up shaped my worldview, including my respect and interest in other cultures. We’re all different and I see such a richness in that. In the mid-noughties, I moved to London to study and had one of the best periods of my life, living with my Chinese flat mates, as well as comitting to my relationship with Lizzie, and finding my blogging family. I definitely think my early experiences are partly to thank for that: they sparked my curiousity about views and experiences different from my own.

In a world that is becoming increasingly isolationist, I think it’s more important than ever to foster relationships across borders. I cannot imagine living my life not being interested in the wider world. There’s so much we can learn from each other, and such a rich tapestry of stories to experience. The planet is facing economic, health and climate challenges that we can only tackle together. I don’t know how I can personally reset the current balance, except to continue to promote that diversity and expand my own horizons.

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash.