My Irish family

Like I said before I chose to live in a home-stay, meaning an Irish family who unluckily agreed to have me for the semester, actually to start I guess it really was just a business arrangement so to speak because I do pay rent, but now I am truly part of the family. In a way I guess I'm an honorary Stone.

The Stones are as follows:

John is my host dad. He's a carpenter and self-employed, doing mostly kitchens. He's missing a tooth due to a golf ball when he was little. (But unlike my dad he doesn't have a fake one, he just has a readjusted smile) He really likes movies, he downloads a bunch all the time, which is wonderful because then I get to watch them! He's the primary chef of the house and makes amazing dinners. So far my favorite is this pork steak and stuffing, with of course potatoes, followed by strawberry flan, reserved for special occasions but deliciously worth the wait.

Ber is my host mom. She works as a caregiver in a nursing home and is taking some college courses. She loves her tv shows (various antique shows, some soaps, the CSI's, and others). She was the one who got me hooked on Prison Break (which I have finished) and I think I'm going to move onto House now. But she reads a lot too, every few days I see a different book in the kitchen. She likes to joke around a lot, she's very funny, even if I'm the one being made fun of, but we really do all take turns with that.

Rebecca is their daughter. She's 22 and not around all that much. She works a lot as a waitress and is getting ready to go to school to get a degree. She's nice enough when she is here. And she has invited me out with her and her friends, so one of these nights I'm going to take her up on it, just so far we've had conflicting schedules.

Leonard is their son. He's 16 and a beanpole. He mostly just keeps to himself. I didn't even meet him til after my second day being here. He's generally quiet but when he does talk, he mumbles a lot, and he usually has to repeat himself before I can understand what he said. Not so much any more, but apparently before I came he never talked like. Me and Jana give him such a hard time, only because it is so easy. And he loves to point out differences between the Irish pronunciations and the American ones.

Jana is the other student who lives here too. She's 16 and from Germany. She goes to secondary school in Cork city so she has to take the bus everyday just like me. She also plays judo, and is really good at it; so far she's won two medals from her competitions. She is constantly reading, because she really enjoys it and she doesn't like tv or movies. We get along really well.

So that's the fam. Us kids all have our own rooms. I'm downstairs, but everyone else is upstairs. John and Ber host various other short-term students too, for as short as a couple nights (like a weekend generally) or as long as a whole week. When those students come they stay in Leonard's room, and I'm not all that sure where he goes, but it all works out.

I really do consider myself part of the family. I feel like John and Ber treat me like a second daughter and Leonard and Jana pretty much think of me as a sister so it's great! It's a little weird how much they kind of mirror everyone at home, but I really lucked out!