I was really enjoying this thanksgiving vacation at Lancaster.

My host family is an aged couple. But because they did not show up at the very beginning of this conference, I got a chance to meet another family which are also really kind to me. They are my host family's neighbor. They are farmers and they have a really huge farm. There are 6 children in their family, 5 of them are girls and the youngest one is a boy. They picked me up most of the time instead of my host family. And I made friends with 4 of the 6 children. So I am a kind of closer to them than my really host family. The oldest girl is only 16 years old, but she and her sister look a little older than their real age. Anyhow, it is not a bad thing. (Because I look older than my real age as well!) They do not go to neither a public school nor a private school, they are having a so called  home school. Their mother got a certain certification and were allowed to teach them at home. They will get degree after passing a test. And they are qualified to apply for a university in future.  So the education system in U.S. is really flexible.

My host family operated a small business on their own. They have 8 children and 20 grandchildren. But the children have all left home and become independent. Some of their grandchildren are reallly really cute.  

Lancaster is a kind of Amish area. Although my host family is not Amish, there are a lot of Amish in this area. Amish is a weired group in our eyes. They do not use electricity. They do not use cars. They still use horse buggy. They are out of date. But they are living very happily and do not want to be affected by the modern world.