Dorothy Yue gets friendly with a couple of her host family's goats in Kansas

Have you seen the Wizard of Oz? The story about a girl called Dorothy who lives in Kansas, in the United States? Well my name is Dorothy too, and I have just spent a wonderful year there. However, I was lucky to receive a full scholarship granted by McDonald's for an inter-cultural exchange under the arrangement of the Personnel Services Branch and the America Field Service (AFS) for the year 1998-1999.

Just like the girl in the story, I was in Kansas the day after I got my HKCEE. I have always thought the US was a very busy country. However, the place where I went was totally different. There aren't many cars. When people have free time, they will go fishing, hiking, or do their gardens.

I lived near the countryside, and my house was very big with a big garden, a pond and woods nearby. Deers and squirrels could be found easily. We also had two goats, two geese, nine rabbits, a mouse, a cat and a dog. We could hardly have so much space in Hong Kong. My host sister was an exchange student who came to Hong Kong in 1997-1998, so she already knew the cultural differences, and my host mum taught in the school I went to. Therefore, they helped me a lot in settling down.

In American schools, there are many sport activities like football, golf, basketball, baseball, etc. On the days of the inter-school competitions, most of the students would wear orange, the school's colour, to show their school spirit.

There was also a lot of volunteer work like taking care of children, visiting senior citizens and fund raising for children of Third World countries.

Above all the activities, I enjoyed the annual musical most. The students performed as professionally as real actors, and I was so glad I had a chance to help with the painting of the stage background - proud to have a chance to take part.

The educational system in the US differs from Hong Kong in that teachers like to ask students to do projects. Students need to find information by themselves so they can understand more. There is not much chance to do that in Hong Kong. It was a lot of fun to discuss our project with other people. I have also met quite a few people from different countries through the exchange programme activities organised by AFS. We made friends quickly as we shared a lot of similar experiences. We were sad when we had to go back to our own countries. We promised to keep in touch.

I was extremely saddened when I left the US on July 5. I will not forget the wonderful experience I had. I hope I can go back to visit my host family and friends soon. Home is where the heart is.

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