Hosting Interview Team – NEW Updates
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Day 2:
“Today we wrapped up our interviews in our first orphanage and spent hours deliberating which kids to select for hosting. They ALL stole our hearts, but unfortunately we could only select about half for the program! After all, we still have kids from two other orphanages who deserve a chance to have a life-changing trip to America this winter. As we bumped along in the car on the way to orphanage number 2, our three American-sized bodies squeezed into the backseat of a Chinese-sized compact car, we finally settled on the sweet kids from orphanage 1 we will match with our families.
I could not have asked for a more amazing, talented, intelligent, dedicated and fun interview team. “Dr. G.” and Alex, our Program Coordinator, are superheroes for these kiddos. Of course, the only thing we’ve argued about this whole trip is which one of us would host our “Karate Kid.” (We finally agreed we should let one of you guys host him, because we just couldn’t decide who would be lucky enough to have this honor among the 3 of us.) Here is how our interview went with him:
“Bruce” (honorably nicknamed after Bruce Lee), walked in with a stoic and serious look on his face. He was ready to get down to business. He promptly obeyed every task we asked him to complete and matter-of-factly answered each question. Oh, he was aiming to please! We kept asking him things that would get him to show personality, and he certainly took initiative to do things like write his name. Finally, we got to the “what would he like to learn to do?” question. All of the sudden he lit up and said, “get better at martial arts!” And he immediately proceeded to perform and entire sparring routine, complete with perfect form, “hi-yas,” and ended with a bow. Then he posed like a real karate kid for his hosting photo! He was so proud to impress us, and thanked us for letting him show off his skills. And we just have to add that he is incredibly handsome for a 9 year old, so watch out ladies, this little Cupid will be on the loose September 20th, so get your applications in before that for a chance to be matched with our sweet Bruce!
Day 1
Ni Hao from The interview team in Guangzhou! We’ve had two amazing days interviewing the sweetest, fun loving, most beautiful children we’ve ever seen! We can’t wait to share their smiling faces with you in a few days. As we prepare their bios and photos for our first 40 VIP families (still a few spots available!), you can look forward to some cute stories and photos from the trip.
(Part of our team interviewing one of the children.)
Here’s our favorite interview story of the day:
Little “Caleb” walked in with a big smile and kind eyes. He waved and said “ni hao” and was so happy to see us! He had a look on his face like, “It’s finally my turn? Can I draw a picture for you?” One interview technique we use to evaluate he kids’ cognitive abilities is to have them draw a face or person. He eagerly drew a face, and looked up at our “Dr. G.” seeking approval for his drawing after each feature: eyes, nose, mouth, etc. As we asked him questions, with a sheepish grin he shyly but willingly answered. Favorite color: red; favorite food: spicy! Then came the question where he melted our hearts with his answer: “If we could grant you one wish, what would it be?” And his answer was, “I want to go find some parents in America, and then come back every three years to visit my foster mom and friends.” We looked at each other, and “awww” was a universal word for all of us, both Chinese and English speakers.
You can look forward to seeing him and others who expressed their interest in visiting the US to live with a family very soon! These kids are already stealing our hearts and we are barely halfway through the interviews! Check back tomorrow to read about our favorite “karate kid”!
Below is our Interview Team with the Director of the Guangzhou Orphanage.
