Hosting Foreign Exchange Students

**MomK** · 06-01-2008, 09:23 AM

Hey! I was wondering if anyone out there has or plans to host foreign exchange students? What challenges have you experienced? What successes? What is it about hosting that you love?

We are getting ready to host our third.
We've hosted 2 girls in the past; one from Hong Kong, and one from Germany. This time we're hosting a boy, 17, from PR China. He'll be here in August, and spend the whole year here.

**Monroe on a Budget** · 06-12-2008, 08:08 PM

We hosted a short-term high school sister city visitor from Japan in 2001. Then in 2006, daughter was able to be a sister city ambassador to Japan. Our city exchanges high schoolers for three weeks, the students then stay with two families during their visit.
We've also had weekend visitors from other countries.
Short-term visits are a bit different than your scenario. We end up trying to cram in "must see / must do" appointments while not exhausting everyone.
But it is a way to get involved in international exchange on a budget so to speak!

**earthymom** · 06-12-2008, 08:20 PM

I've hosted one girl from Japan and one from Sweden. Great experiences. The Japanese girl was a bit "spoiled" when she arrived but quickly adapted. We all expanded our horizons from the experience. America isn't really what they thought it would be and we got a different perspective on how America is viewed. Comparing school systems was interesting too.

I highly recommend hosting. My two students came through Rotary International but there are lots of programs. Way better than a "pen" pal.

Last year I was returning home from a business trip and met a couple heading to Germany to visit an exchange student "son" they'd hosted 15 years ago. How cool is that?

**suki** · 06-12-2008, 08:52 PM

Very cool...

Like Monroe, we just participated in a short-term exchange. In fact, my daughter is in Germany with her host family at this moment. We had our German daughter for a month in March/April and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I think both families have benefited greatly.

We almost hosted a Thai girl, but it turned out they were looking for a host family in a town of the same name, but different state. We were disappointed.

Hubby's family hosted several exchange students over the years and he still corresponds with a few of them.

I don't think we will host now that our girls are in college and our life has taken a different turn... but, I'm always open to the idea.

**PrairieRose** · 06-12-2008, 09:03 PM

We hosted a Japanese boy for a whole school year a few years a go. He was a wonderful kid, still love him dearly but I have to say I grew really weary of having 'company' for 9 months. I know you're not supposed to treat them as company but as one of the family which we did but still....9 months is a very long time. We still keep in contact with our student, he and his mother have been back to see us since he left which was nice but I won't do it again, especially since our kids are grown and gone, probably wouldn't anyway. (We had 2 kids at home, 1 sr. at the time we had him here, we felt like it took a lot of our last year with our son at home away from us.....and we didn't plan on having this student, he sort of fell in our lap after his first home fell through)

**frugalfoster** · 06-12-2008, 11:26 PM

I have hosted many exchange students over the years. We were like the safety net for our high school. We always took the students who were having problems in the homes that they were placed in. As the years went by we had over 7 exchange students from Japan, Germany, Brazil, Sweden, and France. It's a very worthwhile program, we enjoyed it. Kids are kids, no matter what country the come from. But Prairie Rose is right, there are times when you feel like you are done having "company". I'll be interested in hearing how your year goes, though. Keep us informed!

**MomK** · 06-14-2008, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by PrairieRose

We hosted a Japanese boy for a whole school year a few years a go. He was a wonderful kid, still love him dearly but I have to say I grew really weary of having 'company' for 9 months. I know you're not supposed to treat them as company but as one of the family which we did but still....9 months is a very long time. We still keep in contact with our student, he and his mother have been back to see us since he left which was nice but I won't do it again, especially since our kids are grown and gone, probably wouldn't anyway. (We had 2 kids at home, 1 sr. at the time we had him here, we felt like it took a lot of our last year with our son at home away from us.....and we didn't plan on having this student, he sort of fell in our lap after his first home fell through)

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. You're right, having company for nine months is work! What you have to do is split up chores just like you'd do for your own kids. The exchange students expect that. Still, I understand your dilemma. Our first exchange student, the girl from Germany, I treated like royalty. I never got tired of it, but I only had a four year old of my own. I loved showing her the sights, cooking new treats for her. Luckily, she never took advantage of me like my own kids would!

Now I have a 14 year old and 9 year old, and it'll be a bit different.