“…..With the Murrays in Seattle”
A recent visitor to Seattle from Bangladesh describes his time staying with a local host family.
Asif and his host dad, Allen
Guest post by Asif Iqbal, a student from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, who visited Seattle in February for the 9th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC). Learn more about Asif's work at ecochula.weebly.com.
---“Do you want peanut butter with that?”
---“Nope! This will do.”
---“Alright. So I will drive you to U-Dub and we’ll meet at Araya’s tonight. Is that OK?
---“Cool!”
It sounds like a typical conversation that happens every morning during breakfast in an American family, doesn’t it? For a week in Seattle, I was at the other end of that conversation with Allen, the dad of the host family I was staying in. Did the Murrays make me feel at home? Yes, they did; in every way.
In spite of coming from Bangladesh, a country thousands of miles away from the USA, I was exposed to American life and culture through TV shows and movies at an early age. When our team sent the business plan to UW and got selected for the GSEC week 2013, I was very excited because GSEC would be my first ever international competition and this would only be my second time abroad.
After being picked up from the airport by the mom, Brett, the car stopped in front of a beautiful house in NE Seattle and from then on, my stay with the Murrays began. How I wished it would never end! I had the chance to meet some of the nicest people I have ever come across during my stay. I met Hunter and Michelle, two amazing teenagers who made my stay all the better. They had four pets in the family. I always liked cats and they had three! It just couldn’t get any better.
On my first night in Seattle, we all went to Michelle’s high school to watch a talent show. It was so much fun; and only the beginning. Starting from going out for dinner to going to a yogurt shop in University Village, I basically did everything with the Murrays while I was in Seattle.
I bought the city pass and visited places like the Space Needle, EMP Museum, Seattle Aquarium. Even went on the harbor cruise! I had to go early and stay late at U-Dub for GSEC. Either Brett or Allen always took the trouble of driving me around and I can’t thank them enough for that. I also want to thank FIUTS for the amazing homestay program. It’s a wonderful opportunity for foreign students to get acquainted with the American culture and in the process, they get to meet some very nice people.
One day while driving me and Hunter home after work, Brett suddenly said: “I feel like I have 3 kids today.” That basically sums up my whole experience with the Murrays in a sentence. After returning to Bangladesh, I regularly keep in contact with them via Facebook and email. I think it’s safe to say that they are my second family now. Seattle…my second home.
Asif with his host family
---
Asif was a member of the GSEC team Eco-Chula. Eco-Chula seeks to address the problem of indoor air pollution, which is the single largest environmental risk factor for female mortality in the developing world. Eco-Chula uses an integrated approach to combat this problem by providing an affordable, efficient cooking solution powered by compressed bio-gas. The venture raises awareness among people, trains them, creates job opportunities, and offers cash discounts and installment payment on product purchases. Learn more about Eco-Chula here.
To learn more about the FIUTS Homestay and Friendship Programs and how you can host international visitors to Seattle, click here