US host families learn from foreign kids

DENVER - It was Chen Miaofan's first trip away from her native China. At lunch with us in Denver, she looked so bemused that I had to ask: "Is this the first time you've had a hamburger?"

"No," says the 15-year-old. "It's the first time I've had such a big hamburger."

That encounter with supersized American portions was one of many observations that students from abroad have shared with us. Chen, from Hefei in eastern China, was the latest of a half-dozen young people from around the world who have called our guest room home. Needless to say, we learn as much from them as they do from us.