Hosting Foreign Exchange Students

[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.

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by greekdee

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!

That is so ignorant. Birth control pills are the standard treatment for serious iron-deficiency anemia in teens, along with iron supplements. My sister (now a pediatrician) had to take them in HS. They dramatically decrease blood loss, which is the most common cause of the anemia. Now she has to have periodic IV iron supplementation.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by 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.

My sister's experience with a female Swedish exchange student is similar ('Swee-Dee' was my sister's fourth foreign exchange student).

Apparently Swee-Dee was brought-up to be very independent from a young age. She rebelled against legitimate curfews and don't-go-into-those-kinds-of-neighborhoods requests; she even called her father in Sweden who saw nothing wrong with his daughter's independent attitude and everything wrong with American Attitudes Toward Teens.

My sister and the sponsoring Exchange Organization sent Swee-Dee off into deep midwestern farmlands far away from the big, magic American city she couldn't/wouldn't ignore.

[carnation]

Yiii! We heard stories like that before we hosted but really, the only problem we've had is that a couple of them came from hugely rich families and they didn't realize things like, say, your average American can't take off a day without notice to run you to the passport office in Atlanta. (Nor can your average person from their country.) Or, like many American teens, they were in love with their cell phones, iPods, etc., and we'd all go to the beach and they'd be standing on the beach texting their friends at home that they were on an American beach.