Blog: My great experience with my homestay family

I came to Canberra, Australia in September 2011 to start my Foundations course at ANU College. I was 17, and had just finished year 10. My sister was already in her third year of university also in Canberra when I came to Canberra. Unfortunately, she was not over 21 and therefore couldn’t be my legal guardian. Due to that, I had to engage with a Homestay provider in order for me to commence studying in Australia with the right accommodation arrangements.

My sister too, was 17 when she started her university degree in Canberra and she had told me about her experience in her homestay. They were mostly nice stories about how inclusive her homestay family was. Despite the anecdotes, I was still very uncertain about the homestay arrangement.

Was I really going to be alright living with an unknown family for so many months?

When I finally arrived in Canberra and was brought to my homestay family house in the suburb of Gungahlin, I felt a bit better about the situation. My homestay mother seemed kind and nice. She lived with two other girls, who were also students at the ANU. They were homestay ‘kids’ as well.

Over the weeks I realized that I was really lucky to have been able to stay with Auntie Helen (that’s what we called her). Auntie Helen was a great mother figure. She was chatty and lovely but she would also not hesitate to tell you if she was unhappy about something we did. This was probably a good thing, seeing how I was very young and probably needed some guidance!

I also soon discovered that Auntie Helen was an amazing cook. She was of Singaporean decent, and I am from Malaysia. She would often cook food that I am familiar with from back home which really helped me with feeling less homesick. My sister would often be invited to come over and have dinner with us as well, even if she isn’t living with us. Auntie Helen is a very generous woman who genuinely just enjoyed people’s company and did not care about money.

Another bonus of living with Auntie Helen was that she had two other Homestay girls living with her. They were both from different countries which was great because not only was I able to experience the Australian culture, I was also able to learn more about their cultures too. We became good friends and are still friends till today. The girls were also willing to help me out with buses to and fro university since they have been living there for a while and were familiar with bus routes.

Auntie Helen would often take us three girls out for a walk around the nearby lake and to the local libraries so that we can familiarize ourselves with our local amenities. She would often also recommend things for us to do on the weekends that we would not have known about since we were not familiar with the city. Auntie Helen and the girls were great help to me in familiarizing me with the city and the lifestyle.

One event that stood out for me was when I was absent mindedly whining to Auntie Helen about how expensive getting a haircut here was. After hearing me whinge about hair appointments, we ended up going to a shop and getting some hair dye.  I wasn’t confident with my ability to do my own hair and so I told Auntie Helen that I may need some help with this. She just laughed at me and said “Don’t worry I’ve got this.”

Turns out, she was also a certified hair dresser!  She beautifully cut and coloured my hair in her own backyard!  She even had all the professional tools stashed away in her bathroom drawers! She said, “Don’t waste your money at expensive hair salons when you can just get it done by me for practically nothing!”

I will never forget that experience!

I moved out of my homestay in May of the following year. I continued on with my studies and graduated from ANU College and subsequently ANU in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science/Philosophy) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology). I am currently working at ANU as a welfare advisor. Having my Bachelor of Science (Psychology) degree really assisted me in getting that position.  I am unfortunately not in constant communication with my homestay mom, but I do see her from time to time around the shops and say hello as we live in neighboring suburbs. The last time I spoke to her, I believe she no longer had homestay kids living with her because her son had moved back in the place and they wanted the place to themselves.

While I had a great time living in my homestay accommodation, I believe a homestay arrangement would be best suited to students who are either quite young, or those who would like to live in an accommodation that was more family oriented and structured. I definitely benefited from living there.

I was very young when I came to Australia and having that structured lifestyle for the first few months of living in Australia was a good way to settle in before I had to live on my own.

I was fortunate to be able to learn more about the Australian culture, learn about the other people’s cultures, and eat food from my culture as well! Getting free and fabulous haircuts was definitely not bad either!

I am grateful for AHN to have placed me with such a lovely family; I will never forget my experience with my homestay family.