Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Exchange student recalls the year

When Yolanda Ching arrived in Texarkana on her way to spend nine months with an exchange student host family, her thoughts were that the time was stretched ahead like an eternity. Now, with only a few days left before she returns to her home in Hong Kong, Ching said shes sad to leave.

Ching is one of several exchange students who have spent the academic year in Prescott from various countries around the world as part of a student exchange program. But what would make an 18-year-old girl leave her family and friends behind to spend her senior year in a foreign country? Ching said that her parents were anxious for the opportunity.

My parents wanted me to come to America, she said. They think theres a better future here.

But Ching said she resisted their arguments, saying that she wasnt ready to leave home.

Then one day, I just decided to come, she said. Theres no reason. I just decided and here I am.

Ching spent the year with Kenneth and Juanita Pittman and their daughter, Ashley Jackson, who also graduated this year. Jackson said she also had her doubts about the plan when her mother announced that an exchange student would be their guest.

But after a week, we were best friends already, Jackson said.

Ching said she knew nothing about Arkansas when she was assigned to the Pittmans.

I started looking on the Internet, and I found Prescott, Ariz. She said she started asking questions and discovered that her host city was in Arkansas.

I said,  Whats Arkansas?

She said her parents knew only that Bill Clinton was from the state, but the rest of what she knew before her arrival came from her research.

Ching said she was having serious doubts about her decision by the time she was at the airport and ready to board the plane.

Ive never left my parents for nine months, she said.

But she said she felt compelled to finish the trip. The 26-hour flight brought her to Texarkana where her host family was waiting.

It wasnt an instant bonding.

I thought, What a dork, Jackson admitted.

For her part, Ching said shed been told that the host family had the right to send her home if they felt there was a problem.

I kept thinking, Please let them hate me. Please let them hate me.

But it took only a short time for the bonding to begin.

Ching said she is the oldest of three children. She has one brother and one sister.

But I dont act like the oldest, she said. My mom has to remind me of everything. And now my house mom, Juanita, she has to remind me.

Ching said her initial reaction to the area was shock because everything is so low.

She said that she lives in the city of Hong Kong where the buildings are very tall and no one lives in a single story house.

Another shock has been the sheer distance to get from one place to another. She said that shes felt at a disadvantage because she has no car.

In Hong Kong, I went everywhere by myself, she said. Theres no need for a car. You can walk everywhere.

Early on, school was a bit frightening, but Ching admits that its mostly because she didnt know anyone and had no friends.

It didnt take long for Ching to find her place with the students of Prescott, and her house sister. She said she soon found herself involved in many activities.

When I first came here, my parents called every week, Ching said. And Id be by the phone waiting. They still call every week but Im never home.

Language wasnt a big issue for Ching, though theres a definite accent. She said the bigger issue was not having anyone to talk to in her native language. She said there are other exchange students who are from the same country, and they sometimes share a few words in their native language.

Im so jealous, she said.

Ching explained that her mother is from Taiwan and her father from Hong Kong. She speaks three languages, though she said she has an accent in Taiwanese as well as English. She said the one student in Prescott who understands Taiwanese laughs at her accent.

Ching herself has undergone some changes while shes been in America. One of the biggest is that shes gained weight. She said she developed a taste for deer, though she never knew anyone ate it before she arrived in Prescott.

And shes gained 30 pounds.

My host family has fed me good, she said.

Ching said that she feels she should thank those who made her stay in Prescott worthwhile  teachers, friends, host family and those involved with the exchange program were high on her list.

She said she now hopes to attend college in America in the fall, possibly in California. She also said she plans to make it back to Prescott.

And perhaps the biggest compliment she can pay to those who helped her during this year is summed up in her parting words.

If I could do everything over again, Id still come to Prescott.