For most, Christmas is a special time. But for 15-year-old Shuyu Pang, Christmas 2016 was a unique experience. It was the Chinese teenager’s first time celebrating the Holy Christian event. Pang, a Lincoln Academy sophomore, is one of 82 international students attending the high school in Newcastle.

Most of the international students live in a campus dormitory during the school year. But during vacations, school officials need alternate accommodations for those not returning home. For those occasions, Lincoln Academy matches foreign students with local host families.

For Pang, staying with a host family in Walpole introduced her to the holiday. Her host parent Shirley Tawney acquainted Pang with the traditional Christmas holiday customs. “It was Shu’s first time seeing a Christmas tree, caroling, hanging stockings or attending Christmas church services,” Tawney said.

This is Tawney’s first time hosting in the Home Stay Program. But it isn’t the first time she cared for an international child. “Years ago I adopted a Chinese child,” she said. “So I thought hosting an international student now would be a good experience.””

She became a host parent after hearing Lincoln Academy was looking for host parents during the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. So Tawney applied. She was matched with Pang, who hopes to study criminal psychology in college. The match seems a good one.

“She’s very nice. Kind, too,” Pang said of Tawney.

Like most international high school students, Pang is attending Lincoln Academy to improve her English language skills. International students also use their time at a U.S. high school assimilating to American culture.

But the students aren’t the only ones learning. For host parent Katie Michael of Newcastle, she learned how Spain’s New Year’s Eve celebratory customs differ from hers. Michael hosted Jorge Pulido, a Lincoln Academy sophomore. Pulido became friends with Michael’s son, Nolan, a Lincoln Academy soccer teammate.

Pulido introduced the family to the Spanish custom of eating a grape each second as the last 10 counted down to the New Year.

“There was a power outage that day in Damariscotta so we had to drive to Wiscasset to buy Jorge’s grapes,” Michael said. 

For Pulido, the lifestyle of an American teen is different from his Spanish peers. In Spain, the school day lasts until 5 p.m. He prefers the American shorter school day. He also said American and Spanish teens interact in a significantly different way.

“In Spain, the kids are more hyperactive. They like to get together and do something. Here, the kids like to talk and hang out. It’s crazy,” Pulido said.

Soccer also played an important role in matching international students from China and Uzbekistan with the Shaffer family of New Harbor. Their son, Will, requested his two Lincoln Academy teammates stay with the family over the winter break. Linda and Bill Shaffer agreed to their son’s request. They took the boys to unique Maine experiences such as seeing the reindeer at L.L. Bean in Freeport and snow tubing in South China.

Linda Shaffer enjoyed the experience of taking care of two more boys. “Being a host parent is one of the best things we’ve ever done. It really opened our eyes to other cultures.”

But kids in either Maine or Mainland China still have things in common. For Bill Shaffer, the family’s mission was encouraging them to explore their surroundings. “The challenge was getting them to take an interest in something other than sitting up in the bedroom playing video games,” he said.

But for Michael, her challenge was not worrying about her teenage Spanish guest. The family took Pulido to New York State to visit family during the winter break and to Boston for a Celtics game. But she was troubled about whether or not Pulido was comfortable living with a new family.

“Everybody kept telling me not to worry and that he’s fine. Eventually, I realized Jorge was comfortable, and that he was fine,” she said.

The Harris family in Damariscotta is an experienced host family. They’ve  hosted several students attending Chop Point School in Woolwich. The family  has one child away at college and one attending Lincoln Academy.

“We’ve hosted students for 16 years,” said Marilee Harris. “We believe hosting is a benefit to our own children who experience a different point of view.” Terry Matsudo is a junior from Japan who stayed with the family during the winter break. Harris’ daughter, Emily, enjoys having him stay with the family.

“My older sister left for college so having another teen in the house kind of fills the void,” she said.

This is Matsudo’s second year attending high school in the U.S. Last year, he studied in Michigan. Matsudo plans on studying aviation in college. He chose Lincoln Academy for its specialized academic program.

“They have a good ESL (English as a second language) program here,” he said. “I want to attend a U.S. college, and my dad found this place for me,” he said.

Matsudo stays in the dorm during the school year, but he prefers staying with a family. “It’s fun being part of the family and the dorm has too many rules,” Matsudo said.

One of the international students likes Maine so much he wants to attend college here. Leon Wang is from Shanghai, China, a city with 25 million people. Wang recently won an art award and plans on studying at the Maine School of Art. He likes Maine for its quality of life and lack of pollution.

So, as more students attend Lincoln Academy and spend their school break with local families, the program will continue helping make the world one big happy family.