A Year of Firsts

Gulnura Tukeshova - Kyrgyzstan: A Year of Firsts

(First published in April 2015)

No need for a guest blogger today... I get to write about my own exchange daughter!

Our grandchildren visit often and my littlest granddaughter, Adele, was unable to say Gulnura... so NORA, she became. Truth be told, she wasn't very excited about having a nickname. In fact, it wasn't until she attended the Civic Education Workshops in Washington DC this past March with other exchange students, that she realized the bulk of our students get a nickname. She didn't really get the fact that it was a "term of endearment", even though our little Adele arrives with her arms held high, running toward her yelling "NOOOORAH" at the top of her lungs! *smile*

Nora came to us as a welcome student. It had not been our plan to host for the entire year, and yet we fell in love with her right away! She was extremely homesick and completely out of her element the first few weeks she was here. To her credit, Nora asked for sticky notes and posted 10 of them next to her bed so she could read the messages she wrote on them every night before she went to bed and first thing every morning upon waking. "Be Positive"  "Stay Flexible"  "Smile"  "Ask Questions"  "Get Involved" and more.

Well what's NOT to love about somebody so totally out of their comfort zone and yet doing everything they can to "make lemonade"? Then there's the fact that she and I bonded early over the most random things: we have the same birthday; January 9th, our favorite color is purple, we are both devout religious women and we both love chocolate (she prefers white and I dark) so we don't have to fight over it! She has a huge heart for volunteering and we spent many, many hours together, serving others in our community.

What did Nora experience for the first time this year? 

"Real English Speakers" - Learning French - Riding a Bicycle - Volunteering - Playing the Piano - Riding the Yellow School Bus - Using a Dishwasher - Playing Tennis (on the school team) - Wearing Makeup and Nail Polish - Baking Brownies and Authentic Danish Pastries - Her First Birthday Present - Christmas - Thanksgiving - Learning to Ice Skate - Commercial Kitchen Cooking (250 guests for lunch, anyone?) - Feeding the Homeless - Being a Youth Advocate in Peer Court - Becoming an Aunt - Taking the ACT & TOEFL tests - Seeing the ocean for the first time ever - A real live Rodeo - Mining for Gems - All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Bar - Visiting Washington DC - Being #1 in volunteer hours for our organization's Eastern Division with 210+ hours served!

I can't promise you'll get a Nora (there truly is only one) - but I promise it will be an amazing, life-changing year for your family and your exchange student!

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Almost 10 years later, Gulnura has never ceased to be amazing! She went on to study at university in Hungary and her home country of Kyrgyzstan. She is an English teacher who continues to touch lives daily through the generous sharing of her knowledge and serving others.

We are so proud of Gulnura and all she continues to accomplish!