I felt totally at home, the minute I entered “The Boathouse”, no, actually even already when I got into David’s car at Heathrow airport. When he and his then 15 year old daughter Robyn picked me up, I immediately felt comfortable and although we had, apart from some telephone calls and webcam conversations, just met for the first time, we talked during the whole 2 hour drive from the airport to their home in Stamford.
When we arrived, my first impression was very good, I liked the family (I met Guy shortly afterwards), the house and the town very much and I didn’t have the slightest feeling of homesickness, which might otherwise have been quite likely.
My host father took me around the house and showed me were everything was and told me, that from now on, everything that belonged to the family would belong to me as well, as I was part of the family. I was introduced to everybody at once, relatives and family friends, and I felt as if I had been with them for much longer.