Written by Angela Valenzuela; Host Mom to Dana Kassymbayeva (2015; Kazakhstan/CA)
Our family had been anxiously awaiting Dana’s return, as she was our first exchange student in 2014-2015. Our family instantly fell in love with this young, skinny girl from Kazakhstan. A girl that was excited to share her culture, was full of life, an inspiration and motivated to do so much while she was here.
Boy, she has been extremely busy since she left with University, involvement in student government, volunteering and FLEX Alumni groups. Dana is definitely a superstar so it was very difficult to find a time to have her visit. We settled on June 7th, 2017…finally! Dana would make the 23 hour flight into LAX and right into our arms. It was like she never left, we had our baby back.
Jack, her host Dad had some time off, but Dana decided to go to work with me a few hours a week to volunteer gaining experience for future positions. She is diligent, focused, and always looking forward to new goals. She helped in the Kings County Risk Management, Board of Supervisors and Human Resources. She is definitely ready to conquer the work force.
As a family, we visited the Santa Monica Pier, San Diego Comic-Con, Sea World, and Universal Studios. Thanks to Margie, Dana’s [World Link] coordinator and Margie’s husband Dennis, Dana had an opportunity to experience the only holiday she missed while she was here, the 4th of July. Also thanks to them, we had a chance to visit Monterey Bay Aquarium and she went to Cayucos beach. Dana experienced roller coasters at Magic Mountain and her first concert thanks to her cousin Haily. Of course we did a lot of Dana’s favorite past-time, shopping (not spoiled, just well-loved) and we can’t forget the famous Superior Dairy ice cream she attempted to finish.
Dana also spent time with her extended American family like Nana and Papa, her two Great Aunts, and a Great Grandfather. It was a whirlwind visit. We tried to get as much as possible in.
Dana, along with her entire family are welcome anytime. We, as parents and siblings (Lindsey and Karli) love Dana as our own. We look forward to more visits with her in the coming years and plan to visit Kazakhstan as well as Kyrgyzstan to see Asemgul “Sam”, [who we hosted in] 2016/17, in the summer of 2019. We are hopeful that Dana’s sister Samal will be accepted in the FLEX Program and hope to host her as well, if permitted. We are on a hiatus from hosting this year as I am focused on finishing my degree. However, hosting is not just a few months of love and support, it is lifelong.
Have a fabulous year families. If you haven’t had the opportunity to host, don’t pass it up, I guarantee you will fall in love with every second of this precious time.