I wonder if my friends are fed up with me complaining about my host brother Andrea. Well, if that is the case, good news for them: Andrea and I finally get along!
If you do not know, Andrea is my 7 year-old host brother. It is hard "putting up" with him because first of all, I have never had a younger sibling (I am the youngest in my family) and second, he is 7 years old (aka he is self-centered). Often times, he would use at his advantage the fact that I cannot speak Italian. Occasionally, he may say something bad about me and I would point out that I know enough Italian to understand what he is saying. Not to mention, we got in petty fights (yes between a 17 year-old and a 7 year-old...)
But I decided to adhere to an old saying: "little goes a long way." Every day, I came back home a little bit earlier so I can play with him, whether that be playing tag or Wii Sports. Now, he cannot wait until I come back - he seems happy to have a sibling to play with (he is the only child). He finally listens to me and gives me enough respect to not bother me.
Who knew we would get along - I even thought about talking to my director about him. But I am glad that we are now on good terms. Let's just hope that it is like so for the rest of the year.