Host-Bro

Day 8 - 9:00pm

Today I made a lot of progress befriending the son of my host family, who from now on will be known as host-bro. He seems naturally shy to non-Korean speakers, something I easily noticed on my own and was supported by the stories of previous guests. I've come to realize he is the perfect speaking partner. His English level and my Korean level are about the same. We both speak at the same pace, use basic words and for the most part can communicate with each other without any stress or pressure.

My host-mom always tended to house females, and if there were males, typically they were part of programs that had shorter durations. So as the real first long-stay applicant, she agreed to take me through Holt and was thinking about having an older brother figure around for host-bro. So I've done the things an older brother would do. Host-bro just discovered old syndicated episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos that air on Korean television. Seeing how much he laughed at stupid stunts and bloopers, I decided to show him what Jackass was (none of the disgusting stuff, just them riding grocery carts into brick walls and pranks of that nature). It was the greatest thing he'd ever seen. I also downloaded him some old games that I used to play when I was his age: Dino Park Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Theme Hospital. He loves them. It's really easy to impress somebody who's had limited exposure to American stuff.