Homestay to Home Away From Home

I have a lot of really kind things to say about the family who hosted me in my 4-month homestay. XMandarin Chinese Language School was able to hook me up with a homestay in Qingdao. Most studio apartments here want at least 6-months or 1 year of rent (sometimes up front) and since I wanted to take off and do some solo traveling for a few months before I started University I didn't want to have to pay for 6-months when I would only use 4, and 4 months is a long time to be staying in a hotel-style accommodation. I was skeptical about the homestay at first because my Chinese level was very very basic and I was worried about feeling alone and isolated. The family, especially 奶奶, made me feel at home with her cooking. Even if I had a long day of studying, working my online job, or just having a rough day, she could tell and without saying anything she would just give me a small bowl of food. Dumplings, corn, yams, or whatever. Sometimes I wasn't hungry so I hid the food in my room until I was so she wouldn't feel bad. Sometimes we had our communication and cultural issues. But I will miss them and will continue to stay on WeChat to check the family updates.