[Editor's note: Eran Efron is a grade  6  student at Brock Corydon Hebrew Bilingual School. He was born in Israel, and recenty hosted two  children from the Israeli hockey team for a week, which was arranged and co-ordinated by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. I had the pleasure of meeting the two children he  hosted as Eran and his family were invited to our house for shabbat dinner as part of a "chavura" group we are in. The "chicken" or "juge" referred to in the article was served at  our shabbat dinner. After dinner our basement was turned into a hockey rink, where a ferocious game of ball hockey occured. A number of years ago my son insisted we buy him a full goalie outfit, (which now usually goes unused), but was  alas put to good use for the occassion.  Eran, who speaks Hebrew fluently spoke to his two Arab Christian friends from the Israeli Hockey team in Hebrew. He and his family look forward to being in contact with the two children they hosted when they are next in Israel.]

Eran Efron: My Experience Hosting Madj and George from the Israeli Hockey Team- Sushi and Tushi

March 21, 2013

Until one week ago, I had never hosted anyone, so this was the first time.

The first day that the kids form the Israeli  hockey team came, all the host families waited in the gym at Brock Corydon school. Upon their arrival, the families found the gift bags with the name of the person or people that they were hosting and presented them with a gift bag. The hockey players (that came to Canada to play hockey) were not the only ones who got gifts. All of them brought their host families gifts such as Turkish delight, baklava, and chocolates to name only some of the gifts they gave to us.

Then the coach and the principle of Brock Corydon school, Ara Morris, gave a speech. Afterwards the host families went home and showed the people who they were hosting around their houses. My family hosted two Arab Israelis who were first cousins, Madj [Editor' s note: Madj means tower in Arabic] and George  and both of them were from Nazareth. We met their families through Skype. One of their families has a Maltese , just like ours, called “Tushi”, whereas our dog is called “Sushi.”

While we hosted them they taught us how to say a few simple Arab words like “juge”, which means chicken. It was a very enjoyable week with a lot of activities for both the Israeli hockey team and for the children who were hosting them. Some of the many activities included: curling, bowling, and going to the Rady Jewish community centre for a few activities to name a few.

The hockey players looked like they were having an amazing time playing hockey and experiencing a real Canadian winter and I personally felt, as a part of a hosting family, like the Israelis were like family for that week. I think I speak for everyone who hosted at least one Israeli hockey player when I say that the week that we hosted the Israeli hockey team was one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year, and I, for one, would do it again.

I have added Madj and Juge to my facebook page.