Last Friday, Petoskey High School Cheetos Club members and the Petoskey Middle School Kindness Crew went tubing at Boyne Highlands with some students who usually don’t get invited to activities outside of school. That was so fun. I want to share the kindness that I experienced. 

To get there, we had to drive. Although some kids didn’t have a car, nobody left at the school. Students who had their car gave those kids rides. That was awesome. In my country, people who are over 18 can drive, so young drivers made me feel strange. He liked driving fast. I was so scared, but I’m still alive. I’d like to say “Thank you” to my kind driving friend.

Most teenagers are hungry after school, and I’m no exception. I murmur very briefly to myself “Hungry.”  One of my kindness friends heard that and bought me a hamburger at the McDonald’s, which was the first Donald’s of my entire life. He was so surprised when I told him “I’ve never had Donald’s before.” Since I don’t like strong taste, I ordered a hamburger without mustard and ketchup. Most American people use ketchup for everything. I’m so disappointed with this. Just taste and feel the original flavor! Anyway , the hamburger saved my life. Without it, I couldn’t enjoy tubing. Thank you.

I didn’t need to wear warm clothes before coming to Petoskey because my hometown was very hot. So I didn’t know that snow pants were necessary to do winter sports. I came here with only one suitcase, so I didn’t have enough outfit. But one of the Cheetos club members lent me them. 

I loved to see students who were different ages, different schools and different backgrounds experiencing fun together and people thinking about somebody besides themselves.   This doesn’t happen very much in my country. This made me smile and it was fun to see.

That day, I learned one thing. To enjoy something new, you don’t have to look for new stuff, instead, find friends full of kindness!

Thank you for helping me see what kindness really is and for making the tubing a successful and excellent experience!  Someday I hope to start a Cheetos Club in my school in Japan.  

Suguri Hoshino

Tokyo, Japan

Foreign Exchange Student

Petoskey High School