Hosting Foreign Exchange Students

[Alumiyum]

From a friend's experience about 3 years ago...be wary of kids that have a keen interest in partying. One of my friends had an exchange student that couldn't seem to remember that the drinking age here is 21 and it caused some serious problems. A family down the street hosted a student that same year that was very well behaved and very focused on improving their English (I don't remember where they were from, just that they spoke Spanish). I think they used YfU. I don't know about the first family. Be careful and be prepared for all eventualities!

[carnation]

Yayyay! Our Japanese student, coincidentally from the area we adopted our daughters from, arrives tonight! Our Filipina student, coincidentally from the area we adopted our daughter from, arrives in 2 weeks!

[svartekatta]

I´ve been an exchange student and our family hosted two exchange students aswell. We went with AFS, because it´s non-profit (like YFU) and prepares both students and host-familys very carefully.
Hosting an exchange student can enrichen your life so much, it can open a whole new world both for your family (and kids!) and the student.

If you´d like more information on AFS:

www.afs.org

[nittanygirl]

I would love to host an exchange student when I'm older!!
The exchange students at my high school were highly embraced by the students & overall wonderful people.
My friends and I got very close to a few German exchange students that year. The German students seemed to be the ones who were most involved around school & in sports as well as a Swedish girl.

Our homestays got canceled on my exchange program in high school unfortunately, so I missed out on that

[AOIIalum]

Follow up on something I posted a while back: think we're going to look at possibly hosting an exchange student either next year or the following one. This year is going to be adjustment year (one more into college, the youngest into HS) so we'll see how we all survive that!

[When Doves Cry]

So I just read every single post in this thread; it sounds so exciting!
When I'm older & married & have my own kids, I want to be a foster mother... But I think I'll also try hosting foreign exchange students too! Can't wait!

[carnation]

Our Japanese exchange student has gotten me hooked on furikake (this seafood rice seasoning). The Filipina one goes to these Filipina dinners in town and comes back with the leftovers--I adore pancit!

So last year we had a student come in 4th in the state in tennis and this year, one went to state in swimming! Would you believe that the high school coaches are saying, "Heeeyyy, you guys need to host again and pick us another good one!"

[carnation]

Fourth year of hosting! We will be hosting a girl from:

Australia!!!!

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by carnation

Fourth year of hosting! We will be hosting a girl from:

Australia!!!!

What fun! One of the guys on K's tennis team was an exchange student from Australia. He had a blast at the high school this past year and is already missed.

[carnation]

Miss Australia arrived 2 days ago! We showed her around the high school today and she was mortified (we warned her!) because all these people wanted to hear her speak. Now one of our crazy daughters (the Phi Mu) is going around with her and pretending to be Australian too, which is hysterical because she sounds more like Dick Van Dyke and his awful Cockney accent--also, she's Japanese. LOL!

Y'all, if an Australian ever offers you Vegemite, don't take it! I took some years ago from an Australian roommate and reacted much like one daughter's boyfriend did; he ran to the sink and was holding his open mouth under the faucet. Yeccchh! But take the TimTams, they're awesome!

[carnation]

So here are some things I've learned about Australia:

sooking=their term for whining
youse=their y'all
they don't have yellow school buses and she was dying to ride one!
Cherry Ripes are the best candy bars around!

and: she has been nominated for Homecoming Court!

[carnation]

Our little Aussie made the varsity cross country team and today she ran in the Disney CC Invitational! No word on her results yet but she is thrilled to be at Fright Night at Universal tonight, where she dearly hopes she'll get chased by some monster like some guy with a chainsaw. Apparently, Australians in her area celebrate Halloween in a tiny way and if you go up to a house, you may get candy or you may get a door slammed in your face. She can't wait for Halloween and we've put out all our decorations for her!

She wants to go to one of those seriously scary haunted houses this month, like that one--Netherworld?- in Atlanta. No way am I going with her.

[carnation]

Year #5 of hosting and once again, we'll have a girl from Japan--from the part that was hit by the earthquake and tsunami. She'll arrive next month!

[greekdee]

We hosted an exchange student from France in 2011. He was only here for two weeks, but it was a very rewarding experience for the whole family. I just wish the program had been for a little longer. Two weeks wasn't nearly enough time.

Some of our good friends hosted a girl from Germany a couple of years ago. She was here for the entire school year and they truly loved it. This year, we have friends who will be hosting a young man from Sweden for the entire school year. He should be arriving very soon!

While I was in high school, my neighbors hosted three exchange students. They hosted the first one to ever come to our high school or community, so it was a HUGE deal. She was from South America and one of the kindest, sweetest, most gentle-spirited people I have ever met. Our neighbor's oldest daughter (a senior) did struggle with some jealousy issues because the exchange student got so much attention, but it all worked out.

The next year, the exchange student was from South Africa and stayed with another family. When they found out she was on birth control pills, a complete freak out occurred and they refused to let her remain in their home, even though she was not promiscuous -- the b.c. pills were for medical reasons. They didn't care and wanted her to go back to South Africa, but my neighbors stepped in and that's how they got their second exchange student!

The NEXT year, the exchange student was a guy from Sweden. The original host family thought he was too wild because he didn't understand why he couldn't have wine with dinner...long story short, my neighbors ended up taking him, too!

After that (my senior year), our neighbors got transferred, so the new exchange student stayed with someone else in my neighborhood. He was from South America and I brought him home from school everyday. WONDERFUL person -- we're actually trying to find him right now in hopes he'll come to our class reunion this fall.

[TPAGirlie]

This year I will host 2 girls one from Indonesia and one from Poland. I always host 2 at a time and really enjoy the experience. We use the program CCI and have had a lot of success with the local coordinator. Over the summer we are hosting a boy from Vietnam.

If you are thinking about it give it a try. Students can be here for as short as 2 weeks or as long as 1 academic year.