The 16-year-old son of Station Sergeant Lau Tsang-kit of the Yau Ma Tei Division Miscellaneous Enquiries Team, Leo was selected from scores of applicants to take part in the scheme from last August to July this year. Leo stayed with the Freeman Family who lived in Turin, a small town 12-hours drive from New York. Host dad David was a postman, while mum Karen was a nurse caring for the handicapped. They had a 16-year-old son Chad and Leo attended Grade 11 class at a nearby school.

"Turin is small with natural surroundings and plenty of fresh air. It has a small population where people live a simple life and are very close," he said, adding he had a pleasant time with his host family.

"They were wonderful, so nice and caring. At the beginning, I could only speak limited English and some of my habits were just not the same as theirs but they were very tolerant and supportive. It was no more than three months before I could converse with them confidently in English and become a family member. The three of them liked outdoor activities such as gardening, fishing, hunting and skiing, and I came to enjoy the latter as a result."

Being the only Chinese face at school, Leo was impressed by his first close encounter with foreigners in a community dominated by caucasians who never discriminated against him.

"My schoolmates were curious about Hong Kong and kept asking me questions," he said, adding what impressed him most was his freedom in school. "We didn't have to wear school uniforms and could choose the subjects we liked."

Leo breezed through mathematics but had trouble with American history.

"We got piles of textbooks for history lessons which were full of daunting vocabulary and we had to write lengthy essays. That was really difficult for students speaking English as a second language like me."

However, it was more than compensated by the wide variety of activities which Leo enjoyed, and by the new friends he made.

Sky-gazing into Turin's clear heavens at night helped Leo through his occasional bouts of homesickness. And being a star-watching club member in Hong Kong, he took the opportunity to buy plenty books on the topic while in the US. Back home, he is set to enrol in a Form Four class in September, a year below his old school mates.

"But I don't regret it as I could not have otherwise learned what I did as an exchange student during the past year." He vowed to work hard to get into an American University and become a computer engineer.

Enormously enriched by his first experience away from home, he seemed a much more mature person in his father's eyes.

"He learned a lot about taking care of himself, solving problems and improved greatly in interpersonal skills. He's now much more self-confident, considerate and frugal in spending. What comes to my surprise is he's even able to offer some bright ideas to help solve family problems, not to mention his improved English," Mr Lau said, encouraging others to apply for the scheme.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Christy Ma Wing-man, daughter of Sergeant Ma Chak-yuen of Airport District Patrol Sub-unit Team one, was awarded the scholarship for 2000-2001 and left for Pennsylvania on August 9.

Grand rapids: Scholarship winner Leo Lau takes study time out to see the Canadian side of Niagara Falls