Maggie’s Piece of the Pie

A short introduction. I am Bruce Koldys. My wife Cynthia and myself have been residents of Canton for 5 years. We are owned by a golden retriever named Toast and a 7-month-old English Labrador puppy named (with good cause) Footloose. If you have ever seen Marley and Me, Footloose is like Marley on a six-pack of 5 Hour Energy Drink! We formerly lived in Dearborn, where I work in the media center computer lab at Henry Ford Community College. Cynthia works in the dental field and also is very involved with the Canton Newcomers organization, a group that in the future we will highlight from time to time for their good works and community activities.  I have blogged off and on for years and am very happy to be here!

It is for us at this point in our lives the beginning of a new road. We are going to host an exchange student Magdela (Maggie) from Poland for this upcoming school year. This is coordinated by the Youth for Understanding organization. Maggie will be attending the PCEP (Plymouth Canton Educational Park), which consists of almost 7,000 students. Maggie’s hometown in Poland has all of 2,400 residents! Maggie will be completely immersed in American culture for the upcoming year. Everything she sees and experiences will be new to her and her views of us and our community will certainly be a different and enlightening one. We will learn as much about ourselves through her eyes as she will. We will share with you this interesting journey as Maggie discovers day after day interesting things about our community that perhaps we are too busy ourselves to see and appreciate.  Cynthia and I will be instant “parents” to a teen-age girl. This in itself promises much “excitement." Maggie is set to arrive on the 23rd of this month. We hope you get to know her as well as we do.

Maggie comes to us wanting to experience typical American family life and culture. We think we fit the bill. We are not rich and are trying to stay not poor. We struggle daily with the realities of economics and recession, but stay involved in our community and political process and are rightly proud of the township in which we live. We vote, cut our grass, keep up our house, watch out for our neighbors, participate in our community, fret and worry about bills, complain about gas prices and are concerned about where things are going and how to make them better. We think we are a representative slice of the American Pie. This will be Maggie’s piece of the pie. The road ahead has curves and twists still unseen for all of us. The trip should be fascinating. We hope you enjoy the ride.