A Christmas Celebration
Today's post is my story that appeared in the 2007 Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas 2007. I wrote the story one evening in December after the Czech exchange students we hosted that year had been to our home for a Christmas celebration dinner. They were leaving the next day to travel around the USA on their Christmas/semester break. I had been so moved by the evening that I knew I had to write about it. A simple story about simple things.
It’s The Simple
Things
Ken and I have been a host family for Czech exchange
students who come to study at Kansas
State University
This year, we have two young women who are both majoring in
the study of Architecture. Jana and Klara attend university in Prague ,
but both come from smaller towns in the Czech Republic USA
the day after the new airline regulations regarding what can be carried on and
what must be checked went into effect. The day before they left home, their
luggage had to be sorted out and rearranged to meet the new regulations. Then
there was a paperwork snafu in New
York when they went through immigration and customs.
Before they knew what happened, they were taken to a tiny room filled to
overflowing with other immigrants who had problems of one kind or another. Most
all the people in there were from Asian countries or the Arab world. These two
tall blonde girls huddled together in a corner expecting the worst. Finally,
the paperwork got sorted out and they had to find a new flight to Kansas City since they’d
missed their connecting flight with the delay. The customs officials in New York refused to help
them, so they marched off to find the counter for their airline and managed to
get on another flight with the help of a kind and resourceful ticket agent.
Meanwhile, we knew only that they had not arrived when they
were scheduled. Once they knew what flight they would be on, they did call and
a full twenty-four hours beyond the expected time, they arrived at our
door--desperately tired, longing for a shower, and hungry after traveling
nearly two full days and nights. They spent their first week with us in our
home while looking for housing and getting registered on campus. We spent the
time getting to know one another and taking them to meetings and testing places
on campus as well as orienting them to our community. At the end of the week,
they had found a little house to rent with two other Czech students and were
ready to begin the semester’s classes.
That hot August week seems so long ago. In early December I
invited Klara and Jana and their two housemates to come to dinner to celebrate
Christmas. Most of the exchange students travel around the USA during the holiday break, so we
try to provide an evening of Christmas cheer for them each year, as it is often
the only Christmas celebration they will have. It is heartwarming to watch the
wonder and joy on their faces when they walk into our home and see the
decorated tree and other Christmas symbols throughout the house. We have a
special meal and linger at the table to talk about Christmas traditions in
their country and ours. I place a candy cane above each dinner plate, and this
year’s group were as surprised as all the others in years past. Candy canes are
not known in the Czech
Republic Prague
for Christmas.
Turns out it’s the simple things that mean something to
these young people far from their families and their own country. A home-cooked
meal, conversation, knowing someone cares about them and maybe having a candy
cane for the first time. For Ken and me, it’s another simple thing. We end up
receiving far more than we give with all of the students we’ve had. Not every
Christmas gift comes in a box with wrapping paper and a bow.
Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas (2007)
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