Ivy Bridge Group

感 谢 信
Letter of Thanks
尊敬的寄宿家庭的妈妈和爸爸
Dear host parents
您们好！我们是吕卓颖的爸爸妈妈，我女儿住在您家里，感谢你们一家人对吕卓颖（Jenny）的关心和照顾！
I hope this letter finds you well. This is the parents of Ying (Jenny). We would like to thank you for taking care of our daughter during the period she lives with you.
Jenny说：到新的寄宿家庭，第二天妈妈就带她去了教堂，带她去超市买水果，问她想吃什么？颖颖说橘子、富士苹果，就买了，还买了西红柿。颖颖非常喜您家里的两只狗，高兴的不的了。说这两只狗非常的听话，颖颖刚去两天，就摸着了狗的喜好，这只黑色的狗喜欢坐在她的腿上，白色的狗喜欢舔她。
Jenny told us that you took her to the church the next day after she moved in, and brought her favorite fruits from the market. She likes your dogs very much, saying they were quite docility. Just days she became friends with them, the black one likes to sit on her leg and white one likes to lick her.
颖颖说您的家庭非常的和睦温馨，爸爸妈妈之间说话都是这样的：比如在客厅大家都坐在一起看电视时，或聊天时“请你把遥控器递给我一下，好吗？”“好的”“我可以把什么什么拿走吗？”“哦，好的！”等等……这是夫妻之间的对话，让人感到很舒服很温暖。颖颖说听到这样的对话，感到这真是一个幸福的家庭。她体育课需要一个背包，妈妈说你不要去买了，正好家里有一个不用的包，你用吧！女儿很感谢。
She also told us that your family had a wonderful harmonious atmosphere. Everyone talks to others with politeness, like “could you please hand me that remote please?” “Sure there you go” or “Can I take that please?” “Yes, of course”. All this kind of conversations make people feel warm and comfortable. She thought it is the symbol of a happy family. One day, she needs a bag for PE, and you immediately give your extra bag to her instead of letting her buy her own one. She really appreciates it.
颖颖说：“一次，我给妈妈说天天吃三明治 不想吃了。妈妈就给我买回来一袋包子，对我说她看到说明上写着亚洲人喜欢吃，就买回来了。晚上在微波炉里热了，我赶紧品尝，结果是韩国的包子 烤肉陷的。而且寄宿家庭妈妈还给我订中国餐，很感谢美国家庭对我的真诚关心。”
Ying told us that when she got tired of eating sandwich day to day, you bought her all kinds of Asian food. Sometimes you even order Chinese food for her from the restaurant. She really appreciates your patience and care.

颖颖说：
圣诞节将要来临时的前几天，寄宿家庭的妈妈就给我一个大的袜子，并说到时会有圣诞老人给你送礼物的。平安夜寄宿家庭妈妈给我一个大礼包，里面有一些礼物。第二天圣诞节，寄宿家庭妈妈又送给我好多礼物，我们几个孩子就一件一件的拆包看礼物！哇！我一看妈妈送给我的礼物都是我需要的，我太高兴了，非常感激寄宿家庭妈妈。
Several days before Christmas, Ying mentioned that you gave her a big sock and told her the Santa will offer her a surprise. At the Christmas Eve, she really got a large package of gifts from “Santa”. And the next day, you gave her more. When she opened the gifts together with other children, she really felt happy and warm. She has got everything she wants!

这些礼物颖颖一件一件的给我们看，我们做父母的都很感动，没想到美国的寄宿家庭对孩子这样的好，真是让人敬佩！同样是父母，我们都没有给孩子一次送过这么多的礼物！我和颖颖爸爸感慨万分！发自内心的感谢您全家人如此用心对待孩子，让孩子在异国他乡感受到家的温暖！谢谢了！
When Ying showed us the gifts, we were really moved by your carefulness and generosity. I cannot imagine an American family will treat my daughter as if she is their own kid. As her parents, we have never given her so many presents. Your great love made us to rethink our own way of parenting. I sincerely thank you for offering my girl a warm home when she is away from us.

颖颖说：寄宿家庭的妈妈太好了
学校放了一个星期的假，颖颖的一个女同学，也是中国去美国住在别人家里的，这个同学的寄宿家庭男主人的姐姐结婚，学校放假后这个寄宿家庭的人就要去另外一个地方，家里就只剩下这个同学一个人。颖颖愿意陪这个同学在她们家住几天，双方都说好了。当颖颖把这个情况告诉自己寄宿家庭的妈妈后，妈妈就把颖颖的同学接到自己家来住，没有让颖颖去那个家庭去住，担心两个孩子在家不安全。
Ying told me her American mom is a really nice person. Ying has a Chinese friend whose host family will leave for a couple of days. Ying wanted to keep company with this girl by moving in to her home. When you found out her plan, you invited the girl to live in your house. We know it’s all because of your concern of safety for both girls.

颖颖说：她非常喜欢和妈妈爸爸聊天，一次在和爸爸一起出去遛狗的时候，爸爸告诉她，现在住的房子的历史，给她讲他们家的故事；妈妈喜欢听她讲中国的文化，她非常愿意和妈妈、爸爸聊天。这是一个和睦、温馨、慈善、充满爱的家庭，她在这个家庭中感到非常得快乐！非常幸福！被爱包围着！这个家庭充满积极乐观的生活情趣，妈妈和孩子们在一起时，开放、平等、关怀、充满和谐的气氛，爸爸宽容大度，慈善的对待每一个孩子，寄宿家庭的爸爸妈妈对待我就像亲生女儿一样！
Ying told us she loves chatting with host mom and dad. When she walked the dog with the host dad, he told her stories about their house and their family. The host mom would like to hear about Chinese story and culture from her. She really feels happy in this family that is full of love and fun. The host family treated every kid with equality, politeness, caring and generosity. Ying felt she has become a member of the family.

妈妈给颖颖找到一个辅导初中学生数学的工作，当颖颖辅导的这个学生数学考了100分时，妈妈和颖颖一样的高兴。颖颖想拿些家里的糖送给这个学生，妈妈高兴的说：“拿去吧”
You introduced a job for Ying and she became a math tutor for a younger student. When Ying’s student got a 100 point in exam, you were as happy as Ying and even provided candies to the student as rewards.

颖颖在生活中和学习中遇到事情时，第一个就告诉妈妈，每次妈妈都帮助颖颖解决，妈妈对颖颖说的话，颖颖非常感动：
Whenever Jenny had problems or troubles, you are always the first person she thought of. And whenever she asked you for help, you can always help her figure out a solution.
前几天，同学过生日时，在上学的路上妈妈带颖颖到超市，买了10美元的礼物。当时颖颖的零钱有8元，不够10元，妈妈就帮颖颖用卡付了款。颖颖就管同学借了2元钱，给妈妈还的时候，妈妈问：“你是向你的同学借的吧？”
颖颖说“是的”
妈妈说：“不要借钱，不要借钱 ”
颖颖感受到您博大的母爱！
Jenny wanted to buy a birthday gift for her classmate. On the way to the school, you and Jenny went to a supermarket. Jenny bought the gift with $10. However, Jenny only had $8, so you used credit card to help her pay. And then Jenny borrowed $2 from her classmate to pay back to you. When you found out and you told Jenny: Don’t borrow, it doesn’t matter. Jenny felt great warm in the heart.
这些都是在视频中聊天时跟我们说的，还有一些生活中的故事，从您对孩子的教导中，孩子体会到不同国籍，不同父母的教育方式，也深深感受到您一家人对她的关心和爱护…….
I heard about all these stories when video chatting with Jenny, I am sure there are more things she did not tell me about how you cared about her. From your way of teaching child, I have learned a lot.
我们的孩子能到您的家庭生活，是她的福气，也是她的幸运！是多么大的缘分能让我的孩子到您家生活啊！我们感谢神的安排，感谢！
We felt it is our honor to have our daughter live with you, and it is her luck also. I believe this is arranged by god, thank you!
在与颖颖视频中，我们感受到：您的家庭真是一个善良、诚实、尊敬、友善、非常有爱心的家庭，我们做父母的需要向你们学习，我们感到我们做得都没有你们好！在以后的日子里，我们也要像你们一样的对待周围的一切！
During the video chat, we deeply thought that your family are filled with goodness, honesty, honor, friendliness and love. As parents we have much to learn from you. In the future, I wish I could treat people around me like you do.
我们深深的感谢您的一家！在我的QQ空间，我们写了《吕卓颖讲述在美国上高中》系列文章，我们周围的家长们很愿意看，这里面记录了在您家的生活细节，看到文章的父母们都很感动，感叹您全家这样真诚的帮助中国的留学生，也向您们表示敬意！
In my QQ blog, I had wrote the series of Ying In America High School. It logs Jenny’s life with you in detail, and most of the readers are parents too. They are all touched by the life you gave to our kid. On behalf all these parents, I sincerely thank you for your help for the Chinese students.
虽然这里只是记录一个孩子的故事，但是却代表着不同文化下的各种教育，让我们从生活中的点滴，学习到美国人的优秀的品质！
Though this is only one child’s story, it represents different education in different culture. We have learned valuable characteristics from American!
再一次感谢！祝您全家身体健康！幸福快乐！
Again, my most sincere blessing to your health and whole family!

吕卓颖的爸爸妈妈
Your sincerely,
Jenny’s parents
2012.3.13

We appreciate being an IBG host family! We feel supported by the company and enjoy the ability to communicate both directly and indirectly with the parents of our Chinese student. IBG facilitates communication between the host family and the students’ parents in China so that the best interest of each student is upheld. Without this critical link between families, the experience lags for both student and host family. We feel as though we are part of a team which has the students’ best interests in mind, while at the same time the needs of the host family are recognized and validated.

Having served as a host family with another organization in years past, we can honestly say that this communication element, which makes our position as host family such a satisfying experience, was not part of our other hosting experiences at all. IBG encourages regular communication between American host and Chinese families. If the Chinese parents can speak and read English, the communication can be direct, but if there is a language barrier (which is often the case), IBG provides translation services to keep the lines of communication open.

When problems and misunderstandings arise, IBG has been very responsive and works immediately to resolve issues. We are happy to work with this distinguished organization.

Eric and Kim

Family fun with our IBG student.
By Gael Motz

We find everyday something new, interesting and often amusing about our host student. He is friendly and outgoing and so are we. It’s a good match and we are all doing well in this new relationship. Part of the pleasure for us parents is having a younger kid around again. Our son is a senior in High school and he is growing up and headed out of the house out soon. Our host student is just a freshman, still small and young in looks, spirit and manner. He is willing to share more enthusiasms and energy with us. We look forward to watching him also grow into a man, but let’s not hurry! This is fun!
One piece of culture shock that surprised us is how often he comments on the clean air; the bright sun, moon and stars and the scenery here in New England. We went on a Whale watch at the end of summer and enjoyed a crystal clear blue day out on the Atlantic Ocean. One night in the front yard I pointed out the half moon and he was excited enough to take some pictures. He said he was capturing the moon. Driving out in the country here we now appreciate that our sky is very blue. We took him to visit our country property and he saw lots and lots of stars. His comments help us to appreciate our healthy environment.
My husband found out that we were selected by our student partly because he works for a large telecom company, and indeed our high speed internet and wireless system in the house are being well used. There is plenty of technical talk nearly every night at dinner and we are all getting schooled in the latest and greatest Apple products. They are really amazing and our student is great about showing some of the fine points and special features of the products. One funny thing happened with our student’s brand new laptop. I wanted to get him outside to enjoy the good weather, so I set him up on the bench swing in the yard, with pillows and encouraged him to relax with the new laptop. Unfortunately, a bird flew overhead and dropped a little white “message” on the new laptop! What a crisis! He didn’t know what to do. We cleaned it very carefully. No permanent damage was done and the next time he sat outside we rigged up a large umbrella to protect the laptop from the birds.

你的独奏 从留学开始
统计表明，赴美深造的中国学子于2010年已接近13万名。也就是说每一万中国人中就有一位留美学生。留学毫无疑问已经成为了一项热门的智力投资。既然您在读这篇文章，那么留学也一定是您生活中或大或小的一部分。我作为一名赴美高中留学生，希望和您分享我两年来的留学感受，希望能给您对赴美留学提供一些新的想法。
自从踏上大洋彼岸之后，我总是会被朋友们问到这样一个问题：“美国学业是不是特别轻松？”我相信这是大部分在题海战术中水深火热地存活的中国高中生的普遍疑问。他们憧憬的是在美国高中每天两点放学后，三小时篮球训练，一小时作业，四小时Xbox，八小时睡眠的生活。而作为一个曾经在水深火热中摸爬滚打过的人，我每次的回答都是：“不，美国的学业一点也不比中国轻松。”试想一下，一个在世界大学前五十名中占了十九所的国家怎么会比一个全国最好大学排在世界第四十七名的国家学业轻松（来源于US NEWS & WORLD REPORT2011）。如果您的目标是世界排名前四十六的大学，而不是逃避每天写到凌晨1点的作业，那么高中留美这条路绝对适合您。
初到美国，第一个挑战毫无疑问是语言。语言的学习因人而异，有的人底子好、经常看美剧、爱说话，那么一两个月英语就会应用自如；差一些的也不用着急，语言环境可以很快地使人熟练掌握英语。英语学习的过程就像是王国维的《人间词话》中治学的境界：“今之成大事业、大学问者，必经过三种之境界：‘昨夜西风凋碧树。独上高楼，望尽天涯路’。此第一境也。‘衣带渐宽终不悔，为伊消得人憔悴。’此第二境也。‘众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处’。此第三境也。”
除语言问题外，文化也是对留学生的一大挑战。美国是一个文化丰富的年轻国家。印第安人，欧洲人，非洲人，亚洲人在几百年的混合中创造了美利坚文化。对于美国文化，其实并不难理解。相比于几百年的历史，五千年中的任何一个传统都散发着更加浑厚的底蕴。所以可以说美国文化在我们眼里多少有些幼稚，于是乎也不难学习。
在我看来，友谊是了解文化的捷径。试着在班里交一个要好的朋友，认识朋友的朋友，再认识朋友的朋友的朋友，美国文化便在一条条友谊之中交织出来了。

如果在走读学校上学，和寄宿家庭的交流就是对美国文化最好的了解。每天一起吃晚餐，每周一起去教堂，每周日一起看橄榄球赛，文化在无形之中便渗透进了生活。
在通过了语言和文化的障碍后，我们就成为了一名合格的高中留学生。对于学业和课余活动，我的建议只有一个词，ambition。
对于课程和学习要有野心，有honors就不报普通课程，有AP就不报honors。因为作为在中国高中摸爬滚打过来的人，我们最不怕的就是刻苦。
课外活动更需要野心。在美国学校的第一天，印象最深的就是年级主席，那么明年就竞选年级主席。学校有从不同国家来的人，但是没有International Club，那么就建一个International Club。学校没有橄榄球队，那么就建议和别的学校合办一个。一个学校就像一个社会，有太多的机会去发觉，但机会只给找到机会的人。
留学之路不平坦，但一定值得。语言，文化，学习这些都只不过是忐忑的留学之路的小插曲，每天都有新的挑战。然而挑战就是机遇。在拿到名校的录取通知书时，回首望，一切决定一切努力都是值得的。
这不会是您看过的第一篇留学文章，也不会是最后一篇，但这篇是由一个在美国高中摸爬滚打过的留学生写的亲身体会。这些小小的感受，只希望能给您的留学之路提供更多的信息与建议。
王宇轩 2011/10/5于马塞诸萨

Here are some photos showing Alex with the Moniz Family during the Thanksgiving Holiday break. Alex is a part of IBG’s short term program and only stayed with the Moniz family for a short, but pleasant, time. Generally students involved in our short term hosting program attend boarding schools and need a place to stay while the school is closed for the holidays. IBG connects these student’s with Families that are willing to share their home’s with our students, such as the case with Alex and the Moniz family.