My name is Elvis Chen. I’m from Taiwan. I am going to share some stories about me and my lovely host family during my study abroad experience.
The whole story started on 14 June, 2026. It was a wonderful, sunny day. I arrived here alone in this beautiful, lovely city, which is surrounded by nature, Dunedin.
When I walked out the gate. There were two people that met me with huge smiles and said “hi” and made me feel very welcome when I arrived in New Zealand. They were my host parents, but they have also become like my real parents. This welcome made me feel so warm when I had just arrived here alone. After picking me up, they drove a truck and showed me around this remarkable city. They walked with me around the best university in NZ – the University of Otago. Then we went to the supermarket to buy some stuff and went back home to make a lovely dinner. They quickly made me familiar with this city, and I experienced an authentic Kiwi family, learning how Kiwis live, how they eat and what the lifestyle is like.
After class started, they supported me in my studies. I practiced my conversation skills and tried to fix my pronunciation to say things in a more standard way. They often helped me to fix lots of grammar problems. We always had some daily sharing while eating delicious meals during dinner time; we talked about different topics and shared our life experiences. There are three lovely stories that I want to tell.
The first one is when they helped me to celebrate my 30th birthday. They made a nice dinner and a birthday cake. We had a really lovely time, which made me feel happiness when I was studying abroad by myself. The second special thing that I want to share is that when I had joined the Dunedin marathon and my wonderful host family supported me for the entire marathon. During this 42km long run, there are lots of stories to tell, but what moved me the most was they drove the truck all the way and stood at a resting spot to cheer me on. This really pushed me to keep going and never stop, so never said “no” and didn’t quit.
The last story is that the best reason to stay with a host family: if they have a child or children, who are similar in age to you, you will have the best chance to meet a lifelong brother or sister. Luckily for me, I have two host brothers. One of my host brothers is two years older than me, but we have shared lots of different experiences and enjoyed lots of family time together. We have the same opinions and lots of different topics, so we can talk about relationships, the future, jobs and hobbies. These conversations have also given me special, different memories. All of these have been such happy experiences.
During the six months that I have studied abroad, my host family have brought me lots of different experiences that I had never had before. They also took me to do lots of things that if you stayed in Dunedin, you must also do. Dunedin is always the best place for you to choose to study abroad. The University of Otago has the best teachers as they have really high teaching skills also it has a beautiful study environment. Staying with a host family will complete your study experience puzzle and help you to build fantastic memories.
