One goal of 文化交流 is to connect and share with people from other countries and cultures. 比斯利的, NWSE寄宿家庭, and the Rueda Dujovnes family from Spain have taken this concept one step further than most, vacationing together in each other’s home countries at the end of the exchange program this past June. They called it “30 days of Vacation”!

It all started when 比斯利的 agreed to host their third 交换学生, 来自西班牙的Natalia, in 2020-2021. 纳塔莉亚的妹妹, 劳拉, had participated in a previous NWSE exchange in Utah, and now Natalia was ready for her own exchange experience. However, the pandemic postponed Natalia’s exchange year to the 2021-22 school year. Over that time, the Beasley and Rueda Dujovne families connected via email, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Both families spoke often before Natalia’s exchange in Texas and Katie (Beasley) could not wait to meet her host sister.

Natalia was greeted with a big welcome sign by her new 寄宿家庭 in July 2021, in time to go on a family vacation to the Texas Hill Country, 参加她学校的啦啦队营, and make friends prior to starting school. She went on to have an amazing exchange year but that is not the end of the story…

娜塔莉亚的亲生父母, 和她哥哥一起, who is currently on an exchange with 西北学生交换, arrived in Texas last year in early June.

The Beasley family shared a warm “Texas Welcome” by taking their Spanish guests to the Fort Worth Stockyards, 地道的墨西哥餐厅, 德州牛仔竞技会, and a Texas Ranger baseball game where the two dads were wearing their matching shirt, followed by a social media post titled “My brother from another mother”. 从那里, the two families headed to Oklahoma for some fishing, where Natalia caught her first trout, and they kayaked and enjoyed boating life on the lake. The fun continued in East Texas when Natalia’s family went to a Dude Ranch, where they went horseback riding and off-roading.

当他们回到沃斯堡时, they ended their American experience by going to a drive-in movie under a starry Texas sky in the back of a pickup truck, and finally celebrated with a good ol’ neighborhood good-bye party.

Fast forward a week later, and the Beasley family boarded a plane headed for Madrid. The two families set off again together, this time with Natalia’s family as the tour guides. They explored the Spanish countryside of Caceres, 去了梅里达, which is home to some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Spain. 从那里, the families visited the city of Seville, where they saw the remains of Christopher Columbus, and enjoyed a picturesque carriage ride around the city. 新的一天, a new city took the group to Cadiz Spain, 维多利亚海滩和蓝天, followed by an authentic Spanish paella. 回到马德里, they browsed the world-famous markets, 我去了皇宫, and of course had to test the amazing Churros!

Surprise – the story gets better …让我们再加上一次团聚. The Beasley family first welcomed an NWSE 交换学生, 来自德国的汉娜, 2019-2020学年. They have stayed in touch with her ever since. Since 比斯利的 were in Europe, Hannah decided to travel to Madrid to be reunited with them. 很多拥抱, 微笑, 快乐的眼泪, 接着是介绍, as Hannah joined the family for the remainder of their vacation in Spain!

But wait, there is one more twist in this extraordinary exchange story to share! 比斯利的, along with their own daughter and exchange daughters Hannah and Natalia all hopped on a high-speed train to Barcelona to meet Julia, the Beasley’s newest NWSE 交换学生 for the 2022-23 school year. Julia had been texting and WhatsApping with her new 寄宿家庭 since her NWSE placement in January and got to meet her new American 寄宿家庭 in person and enjoy some sightseeing all together in Barcelona.

那么多美好的回忆, reunions and life-long connections were made… all because one family, 比斯利的, opened their heart and home to 文化交流.

The only time you run out of opportunities is when you stop taking them.  不要错过机会 接待一名NWSE交换生 in 2023-24 and write your own exchange story with your family.