Don’t keep your host waiting

You don’t want to keep your host waiting so you go straight to the designated meeting area. There, for the first time, you see Mrs. Lutz in person. You have seen pictures of your host family, but your interactions have been minimal. Mrs. Lutz is speaking with a uniformed security officer, but it is clear that their discussion is unofficial; they are laughing, and Mrs. Lutz keeps reaching out and putting her hand on the officer’s arm as she speaks.

Her eyes meet yours as you approach, and you hear her say, “Here she comes now. Give me a call. You have my number.”

As the officer walks away, Mrs. Lutz walks to you and opens her arms for a welcoming embrace. “Tomika! I’m so glad to finally meet you! Welcome to the USA.”

You find yourself in the warm embrace of this woman. Her familiarity is quite a bit more than you have been raised to accept as normal, but you also know it is a different culture, and Americans are far less reserved than what you are used to. You awkwardly return the embrace and say, “Thank you, Mrs. Lutz. It was kind of you to come and get me.”

“The first thing we need to address is that name,” she said, looking sternly at you. “As long as you are going to be living under my roof as a member of my family, there won’t be any of this ‘Mrs. Lutz’ business. From now on, I am ‘Mom.’ Understood?”

You smile and nod. You like the fact that she sees you as more than a guest, and you hope that will help ease the cultural transition and discomfort from being so far from home.”

You glance to your side and see the uniformed officer, apparently working, but keeping a close eye on the two of you. You ask, “Is that a friend of yours?” Mrs. Lutz smiles and says, “Not yet. We just met. He seemed to think there was something suspicious about me and insisted on patting me down thoroughly a couple of times. We exchanged pleasantries after that.”

You think it is odd that a person who is not a passenger and didn’t have to go through a security checkpoint would be patted down that way, but it must be one more thing that is different here.

You make quick use of the restroom while Mom Lutz watches your bags. When you return, you see her talking again with that officer. He steps away as you approach, and it appears for a moment that it was Mom Lutz who was doing the patting down. You dismiss the thought, convinced you must be tired from the flight. As you approach, you hear her tell him, “I’ll see you then, and don’t bother changing when you get off duty. I have some ideas for using your ... ahem ... equipment.”

You look questioningly at your host, but she does not appear to noticed your curiosity. You decide it would be improper to ask, so you just gather your bags and follow Mrs. Lutz out the door.

As she drives you to your new home, she tells you a little about your new family for the next few months.

“The kids are still on summer vacation. Their classes don’t start up for a couple more weeks, so it will be a pretty full house until then. Also, I’m sorry, but the guest room isn’t quite ready yet. I hoped to have it ready for you, but the painter got ... um ... distracted the last couple of days and didn’t finish.”

You noticed a bit of paint on her arm, so you assumed she must have been helping the painter with his work.

“So for a couple of days, anyway, you can share a room with Candy. She has twin beds, and plenty of room. They all are doing their own things, so they will be in and out all the time. I will try to get us all together for some quiet family time before they all go back to school.”

You arrive at the apartment building and pull into the parking garage. As the two of you unload your luggage, a young man comes up and offers to help. Mom Lutz introduces you. “This is Tom. You will be going to school with Him this year, and he lives one floor below us, but sometimes he just seems like a member of our family because of how much he is with us.”

“Oh, are you friends with Bryan or Aron?” you ask.

Tom looks at Mrs. Lutz with a small grin and says, “I’m pretty close with all of the family, I guess you could say.”

The three of you head into the building and take the elevator to your floor. As you walk into your new home for the first time, Mrs. Lutz asks Tom to take your things to Candy’s room.

As Tom leaves, he gives Mrs. Lutz a hug — again, much more intimate than what you are used to — and says, “Mom and Dad are out of town this weekend; do you think I can stay here again?” Mom Lutz tells him she is sure there will be a bed available for him. With that, Tom says goodbye to you, giving you a very close hug, as well. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you,” he says.

Once Tom leaves, you get a tour of your new home. First you see Candy’s room, where you will be staying for a couple of days. “You can use this dresser,” Mom says, pulling open a drawer. Then, glancing in, she quickly shuts it and says, “I’m sorry. Candy was supposed to have emptied this out. I’ll make sure she does that as soon as she gets home.” You wonder what was in the drawer, but Mom Lutz is on her way to show you the rest of the house.

“This is Aron’s room,” she says, opening a door across the hall. It is a typical American teenage boy’s room, from what you have seen on TV. There are pictures of scantily-clad, big bosomed women on the wall, as well as comic book heroes and musical groups. The room is a bit messy, with the bed unmade and clothes on the floor. Surprisingly, there appears to be a pair of ladies panties mixed in with male clothes. Before you can think too much about it, you are ushered to another room.

“Sorry about that,” Mom apologizes. “Aron is a bit of a slob.”

The next room is Bryan’s. It is somewhat nearer than Aron’s, and he seems to have similar tastes in wall decorations, except you conclude Aron must be into weightlifting since there are also pictures of muscular men adorning the walls.

In between the boys’ rooms is a bathroom that can be accessed from the hallway and from each of the bedrooms.

“And this will be your room,” Mom says, opening the door across from Bryan’s. You see a spacious room that is in the midst of being painted. Oddly, the pattern on the wall where the painting stopped looks very much as if two people had been rolling around on the wet paint. Strange how that could look that way!

Like the boys’ rooms across the hall, your room shares a bathroom with Candy’s room, accessible from the hallway and from both rooms.

You get a quick tour of the rest of the home, including the master bedroom which is very tasteful. The mirrored ceiling seems odd, but it must be the custom.

“Well, you must be exhausted,” says your host. “I don’t know when the kids will be back, but if you want to get some sleep, you certainly can, and I’ll introduce you to them in the morning. You can sleep in Candy’s room, or if you aren’t ready to go to bed yet, you are welcome to stay up and make yourself at home.”