Has anyone hosted a foreign exchange student?

[ChrisnSteph]

We've been approached about hosting an exchange student for 3-5 months. Has anyone done this? Pros and cons?

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

We've been approached about hosting an exchange student for 3-5 months. Has anyone done this? Pros and cons?

I just read a column in dear abby about this subject! Here's the link. Most people were quite happy with their experience. Where would your student be from? Do you know?

 

[mvazul]

My sister and her roommate are currently hosting an exchange student (a girl from Norway). It is an absolute nightmare. This girl is very spoiled, entitled and snotty. It doesn't help that her parents were just divorced and she is thousands of miles away from home while they are dealing with it. If you're interested, my sister writes in her blog about it. Just click here to read.

We hosted a French girl the summer after my senior year of high school. She, too, was extremely entitled and spoiled. She expected us to bow down and giver her anything and everything she desired. At one point, she spilled an entire pitcher of grape juice all over the kitchen floor and left it. My sister ended up having to clean it up, because no one else was home and Stephanie refused to do it. My mom still says Stephanie was lucky she was only here for a month. Mom wouldn't have been able to handle her any longer. She did not raise my sister and I to be like that.

Anyway, with that said, I do know many people who have hosted exchange students and have had wonderful experiences with them. I think you just really need to do your research and find out the rules ahead of time. Then, once they get there, have your groundrules set in place and don't waiver. The coordinator has told my sister she was being too nice and needs to be more strict with Martine. My sister said she recently read Martine's facebook page and saw what she had written - "I am going to need some help. I am used to smiling and getting my way. It doesn't work here!"

Good luck!! I'm sure if you have any questions, my sister would be more than willing to chat with you. Let me know and I will refer her to this thread.

Michelle

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I just read a column in dear abby about this subject! Here's the link. Most people were quite happy with their experience. Where would your student be from? Do you know?

He would be a 15 year old boy from Switzerland. He's an aspiring chef, and he's the cutest thing with wild curly hair! His letter was very sweet and mature, and the agency reps says he has an adorable and pleasant personality. I don't know anyone that has done this, so I need to check the program out before our family makes any committments.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

My family hosted an exchange student from Thailand when I was a jr. in high school, and it was one of the best experiences in my life! Ing stayed with us for a year, and she really became like a sister. We learned so much from her, and she enjoyed learning from us as well.

There were some rough times when Ing was homesick, and at the begining it was sometimes hard to communicate and she went through a lot of culture shock. But we all stuck it out and did our best to help her adapt, and we were rewarded with a deep and lasting friendship.

Now, we did also host a young man from Turkey for one month a couple years later, and that experience was not as positive. We still enjoyed getting to know him, but he seemed to view our home as more of a hotel where he stayed while visiting friends and exploring the area. We didn't see much of him, and he wasn't really interested in spending time with our family.

Also, he had lied on his application and said that he did not smoke (he did) and that he loved dogs (he was terrified of them). He told us that his father read his application, and he didn't want his dad to know that he smoked and was afraid of dogs, so that's why he lied. Unfortunately, 3 of the people in my family had allergies/asthma triggered by tobbacco smoke, and we also had 2 large dogs.

Really, though, even the "negative" experience with the guy from Turkey wasn't all that bad, and we still had a chance to learn more about another part of the world. And to this day I still think of Ing as a part of our family, and would love to someday be able to host an exchange student again.

 

[Jennifer S]

When I was in 8th grade we hosted a girl from Brazil who was in 12th grade. It was awesome. We still keep in touch - 25 years later. It went so well her sister came and stayed with a for a year too. It was neat to learn about a different country.

I think it all depends on the personalities of those involved. Good luck!

 

[Jpgirl]

I've always wanted to but never have then my SIL did and now I'm hesitating becausenof her experience. The girl came over with a preconception that All American teens do nothing but party. My neice goes to an all girls Catholic high school and her studies are very intense. Anyway, this exchange student snuck out of the house and "partied like it was 1999". The two girls were very much opposites and they did not get along at all. My SIL feared for the girl's safety so she asked that they find her another place to stay. It got ugly.
Hope it works out for you-but remember that adding another to your household will more than likely effect you ds's behavoir. That's something to take into deep consideration.

 

[Jynohn]

I have been an exchange student to France, and my family in turn hosted her when she visited the US. It was a fantastic experience. That was almost 15 years ago, and I still exchange Christmas cards with her family and we email back and forth. There were definitely some challenges, but I still wouldn't trade the opportunity for the world. Even if things don't work out perfectly, it's still a valuable learning experience about other cultures.

Good luck!

 

[merrily]

We just finished hosting a student from Spain for a month. It was a great experience for our family. I wish he could have stayed longer! He got along great with our family and was very interested in improving his english skills (which I thought were very good anyway!) Most of the other families that hosted at the same time (about 20 kids were here) had good experiences. It all depends on the student. I would make sure that the program has a good local coordinator and that if problems arise they can be addressed in an appropriate way.

 

[goofy4tink]

We hosted a young woman from Japan back in '91. She was 18 at the time. We only had her for about a month. Their culture was/is so different than ours it was sometimes pretty funny. Then, we hosted two young men, 17 and 18, from Japan a year later. Man, could those boys eat!!!
A few years ago, our phone rang, it was the first student's sister...she was here, in the US, in Boston and wanted to invite us to her wedding at the Wayside Inn!! Her entire family, all 5 of them, flew over from Japan. Her fiance's family came also. There were a few Americans there, us and Yukiko's current host family. After the wedding reception, both families came out to our home, about 30 mins, and had a visit. Yep, that was pretty funny..only the two girls, and the new husband spoke decent English...there we sat, about 15 of us, with only scattered English. But it was a wonderful experience for us. The girls still write to us, and exchange Christmas cards.
They really want us to fly to Japan and visit them.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I
Hope it works out for you-but remember that adding another to your household will more than likely effect you ds's behavoir. That's something to take into deep consideration.

Just curious - why would it?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We hosted an exchange student from Germany for a year when she was 15, going on 16. She was smart, and was put in the junior class with me. We became best friends, and I will always cherish that experience. My parents were great to her. When I graduated from high school I spent the summer with her family in Germany, and will always treasure those memories.

I went on an international program when I was a junior in college to Spain.

I would recommend this experience to anyone who can deal with change and unusual challenges (culture differences), and learn to grow -- it was fantastic!