Hosting Foreign Exchange Students

[ThetaDancer]

Yay! Congrats. I hope the experience is a great one...keep us posted.

[carnation]

They've been here 3 months! We've had a great time with them and I can thoroughly recommend hosting to everyone. Last night they trick-or-treated (one wore a kimono, the other a cheer uniform) and scored a ton of candy. They just finished volleyball season, they went to the Homecoming Dance, and they've been enjoying the football season; we're now going into the playoffs. I think they like WalMart even better than they like the mall!

Next week they'll be interviewed for the school paper. They've already been interviewed for the yearbook and we found out that the Japanese student replied to "What has been hardest for you?" with, "Understanding the English of black students." Aiee! I hope it doesn't get into the yearbook.

[XSK_Diamond]

LOL! That's not negative in my opinion. I don't understand the kids 95% of the time either, and I'm black.

Now, I know how my parents must have felt when I was a teen (in the 80s) whenever I said something was funky fresh, flyy, or def. Word!

I hope this continues to be a great experience for all of you.

Originally Posted by carnation

They've already been interviewed for the yearbook and we found out that the Japanese student replied to "What has been hardest for you?" with, "Understanding the English of black students." Aiee! I hope it doesn't get into the yearbook.

[carnation]

This has continued to be a wonderful experience for us, and I hope for them too!

Both made varsity track (hard to do here) and one made the National Honor Society! They've definitely seen the gamut of American life; our daughter is about to deliver and they've been to some baby showers. My husband's aunt died after Christmas and they were with us for all that too. One daughter got married in the fall and they celebrated right along with us (several showers there too) and participated in the rehearsal when bridesmaids couldn't come until later. They loved going to football games and celebrating holidays; we're making their Easter baskets now!

My prediction about the house being filled with our sons' friends has come true. One had had 5 friends spending the night on Friday and our visiting daughters, who hadn't noticed all the cars out front, were startled when they all came tramping down the stairs the next day.

So we've signed up for 2 more next year: a Chilean and a Japanese!

[carnation]

They're gone--they had to leave on June 15th. It was hard and everyone cried.

The week before they left, we went to Disney--the Japanese is a hardcore Tokyo Disneyite--and we had a blast. You know how you kind of get used to everything at Disney being fake? Well, the last day we were standing next to a wall with a massive hairy bug on it and the Japanese was calmly standing next to it and I said, "Um, do you realize that bug is real?" and she screamed the place down. Anyway, they got picked to be in the backlot show at Disney Hollywood Studios and probably rode Splash Mountain 40 times. So much fun!

So they've facebooked us and we'll stay in touch! Maybe they'll come to college here. This week we got the papers on the next 2 and they'll come in about a month.

[carnation]

Our Chilean student has now left to start her senior year at home and we'll have our Japanese student for another month. Right now she's cooking with Spam again--apparently, Okinawans love that stuff! (ew) She went to the state quarterfinals in tennis and made the National Honor Society and went to 2 proms!

These 2 saw a wide range of American family life just like the last 2 did. They were here for our grandson's birth, our niece's wedding, and unfortunately, my brother-in-law's death. Like the last one, our Japanese student is astounded by the Southern drawls rolling out of the mouths of BlazerCheer and SweetTea (well, what do you expect, we adopted them from Japan as infants). LOL.

We've signed up again and hope to have another Japanese student in August.

[ExchangeStudent]

Okay, I have been a lurker around here for ages. This thread finally inspired me to post.

What programs did everyone host from?

I am anxious to hear. This is so exciting to see the Greek Community involved.

FYI: I am American. I was actually an Exchange Student way back in the days when they called Recruitment "Rush." I am thinking of posting my story. So, I will hold off giving all the details.