In Touch with Nature

When I began communicating with our most recent exchange student (Oskar from Germany), I was very curious as to why he had asked to be placed somewhere on the western coast of the US. His reply was that he wanted to experience a part of the US that was more rural, having already visited New York. As such, I asked whether there was anything specific he would like to do while living in Oregon with our family, to which he replied that he would like to go hiking in the Cascade Range. We were finally able to fulfill his polite request in November by hiking 4.7 miles of the Trail of 10 Falls at Silver Falls State Park.

Similarly, we hiked The Boy Scout Tree Trail (5.8 miles) in Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in California on Black Friday. Not only did we thoroughly enjoy the outdoors and all that comes with it, but these 2 long hikes provided great opportunity to talk about a variety of topics.
 

Janette Ehlig-Anderson
ICES host mother in Halsey, Oregon