A day with host family

A DAY WITH MY HOST FAMILY

Qin Dynasty

Christian D’Amico

          

As the morning sun grew brighter, I woke up to a wonderful smell of potatoes and vegetables. It was coming from the kitchen; my host mother was cooking up a storm. Before we ate we prayed to Buddha. After we sat down to eat, the food was very bland but for a peasant family it was a meal. In Xi’an the peasants were assigned a job and were prompted to do it correctly.

My host family were assigned silk maker, it was a rather unique job. It was another beautiful spring day on the field. We silk makers got our silk together and started to string it onto a spindle. My host mother was teaching me how to spin the silk without breaking it. It took me some time to learn but I did it.

It was almost midday and it was scorching out, I would do anything for a light breeze. It was now time to eat; I was having an average meal. It was rice, corn, and pork. At 2:45 we began working again making sweaters and rugs out of the silk. At 5:00 it was time to leave; my day of work was finished.

At the end of the day I went home to wash my clothes. I felt bad for my host family because they could only afford to wear raggedy clothes. Before eating we were to pray again to Buddha.

Religion was one thing peasants could depend on. It gives them hope and I have enjoyed praying with them. My host father usually leads the prayers; they are quite long but are interesting to listen to. The prayers are help in this sacred room. It is all white and had a painting of Buddha on the wall. They have in-scents lit and it smells of lavender and vanilla.

It was now time to eat, we had soybeans and pork. While visiting my host family I learned how to value the little things like bathing in warm water or even bathing at all. Living with a low class family gave me a new prospective on their hardworking life style.