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In 2014, when I was 18, I had just entered college and I had the dream of doing an exchange, being able to live new experiences and improve my english. Looking for options that my college had to offer. So I got a scholarship to spend a few months in the United States with a host family. While I was very excited, I was also nervous about living with people I didn't know. Two months later I was going to make my dream come true. When I arrived in Minnesota it was a very big shock, an accent that I had never heard before, and that made it difficult to understand a language that I was not fluent. Arriving at the house, I was very happy because I was welcomed with a super affectionate family. I had my own room and bathroom, and they had already received other exchange students, so they had the patience to teach and make cultural programs. The first week was great, we did sports programs, I met their friends and we went to the football games, walks in the park. The following week the English classes started and I started to make friends, it was also great! Everything was going wonderful, when at the end of the first month I got the news from a person from my college, saying that they had found another host family to me. I couldn't understand why, if I was so well adapted to that one. And that's when they informed me that they were just a welcome family, because they already had another trip planned and they didn't want to leave me alone. For me it was a big shock because nobody had told me about it before! I was very sad, I cried more with longing for them that I had known a month ago, than for my family that was in Brazil! In the week that the other family was prepared to receive me, and I was starting to pack my things to leave the house, the family I was living in was also very sad that we were going to separate, we had really got along very well. It was then that they decided that they really wanted to be my host family, and that they would postpone their trip to be able to stay with me throughout my exchange. It was one of the best news I received while I was there! The other 5 months I spent there were also great! I saw the snow for the first time, I discovered a new love for many sports. I did skiing, snowboarding, after the snow passed I did badminton, things I had never seen and experienced in my life before. At the end of the course I felt very privileged by all that, I had the chance to make a lot of friends from different countries, I knew a little of each culture and custom, and that was what fascinated me the most, I started to see the world with new eyes, and the thirst to know more of everything that this world has to offer, just increased! As the time went by, and my connection with that family only increased, we tried to fit the schedules at least once a month to do facetime. After a year that I was back, they decided to surprise me and came to visit me. It was one of the most satisfying things I have ever done, I was able to receive them at my house and be able to return a little of all the affection they had given me, I was able to bring my two families together and make us become one. A year and a half later my sister was about to do an exchange, and what was her first request? Live with them too! They also supported the idea, so my sister got to spend six months living the same experience that I had. And with that, even today we keep in touch and affection until today. We really consider ourselves two families in one.