February 3-26, 2005 ...I really want to thank iEARN for this opportunity that they provided us - a chance to visit U.S.A and remove our misconceptions about the people....We were group of four girls all from grade 11 of Cardinal School Lahore [and] escorted by our teacher... we all were to live with a separate American family to experience the culture and traditions of typical American lifestyle.  Before going we had all kinds of thoughts in our mind [including] misconceptions about American families [portrayed] by the media.  What I realized was that all my thoughts about an American family was wrong....

The parents [in the USA] have same issues as parents [in Pakistan], and girls [in the USA] have same dreams, same problems and common interests as we have.  And one of the biggest cultural shocks I had was that there was no cultural difference at all. Apart from the religion and some basic difference, the general lifestyle was the same.  It had been such a great lesson for me that I learned that you cannot judge people by their governments or what others tell you and I think this will help me for rest of my life.
 
We did all sorts of activities. We went to their school and attended regular classes and one thing I found out that comparatively their studies were much easier than ours.  They had arranged a two day Washington trip for us and it was extremely good. We visited all the museums and went to the State Capitol...
 
This was one of the best times in my life. We made so many friends; we learned about the cultures and we learned that we have more similarities than differences. We discovered what life would be without family and friends.  As far as I'm concerned I learned to be organized, disciplined and independent.  One other thing amazed me was that we easily got adjusted in the [host] families. They made us so comfortable in their homes that I wasnít even homesick.  Overall the adventure was one of a kind. and I really think this should contiune because to make a world a better place we cannot rely on our governments.  Instead each one of us has to take individual effort to find out the best in each nation to create more interaction; and then make it easier to resolve issues.