Last week one of my students went to Canada to pursue his education, of course this student had so many issues with his visa and what not, so it took us almost 9 months to sort him out. The day he departed we all jumped up saying Yaaay, he left; not knowing of course what is in store for us.
My phone rang at 3:30 AM, and then at 3:35, 3:37, and so on, and I keep on switching it off thinking that a mad man is trying to ring me, and my grandson was restless, so I put the phone on silence. In the morning, I found out that it was the father of the student who was calling! well, at that time the student is still on the plane, he lands about couple of hours after that. So why did the father called that many times? I wondered?
I asked the father what happened and why was he calling so early? he said that he freaked out, and the mother freaked him out even more. Then I checked my emails, and it seems that he had rung the Homestay emergency number at 3:31 pm and at every odd minute after that, at least in Canada they were in the afternoon, so no worries of waking anyone out!! the homestay people reassured him and told him that they will let the son call as soon as he arrives, which they did. However, that didn't help as the son went home afterwards, and of course being jetlagged, he must have fallen asleep, so the father for few days was so worked up, thinking that the son is missing or being kidnapped and so on.
I am not blaming the father here, as its understandable, I am blaming the homestay company, and the student. First, the student should ensure that he has enough battery life on his phone to tell his parents that he had arrived and safe. Secondly, the homestay company should have whatsapp or any of those free social media stuff that are growing by the minute on their phone to communicate with the parents that all is good. Of course I blame myself as I didnt know that the father is a control freak, and the mother is so attached to her baby boy, so I didnt take precautions to prevent me from waking up late at night (such as switching the phone off!).
The reader of this blog will think that I am selfish, thinking only of myself, believe me I am not selfish, I understand what went through the parents' minds, staying up the whole night! waiting for their child who had never travelled in his life to reach an unknown land, so we need a good solution, for this, help!
My phone rang at 3:30 AM, and then at 3:35, 3:37, and so on, and I keep on switching it off thinking that a mad man is trying to ring me, and my grandson was restless, so I put the phone on silence. In the morning, I found out that it was the father of the student who was calling! well, at that time the student is still on the plane, he lands about couple of hours after that. So why did the father called that many times? I wondered?
I asked the father what happened and why was he calling so early? he said that he freaked out, and the mother freaked him out even more. Then I checked my emails, and it seems that he had rung the Homestay emergency number at 3:31 pm and at every odd minute after that, at least in Canada they were in the afternoon, so no worries of waking anyone out!! the homestay people reassured him and told him that they will let the son call as soon as he arrives, which they did. However, that didn't help as the son went home afterwards, and of course being jetlagged, he must have fallen asleep, so the father for few days was so worked up, thinking that the son is missing or being kidnapped and so on.
I am not blaming the father here, as its understandable, I am blaming the homestay company, and the student. First, the student should ensure that he has enough battery life on his phone to tell his parents that he had arrived and safe. Secondly, the homestay company should have whatsapp or any of those free social media stuff that are growing by the minute on their phone to communicate with the parents that all is good. Of course I blame myself as I didnt know that the father is a control freak, and the mother is so attached to her baby boy, so I didnt take precautions to prevent me from waking up late at night (such as switching the phone off!).
The reader of this blog will think that I am selfish, thinking only of myself, believe me I am not selfish, I understand what went through the parents' minds, staying up the whole night! waiting for their child who had never travelled in his life to reach an unknown land, so we need a good solution, for this, help!
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