Hosting Exchange Students

I am wondering if any of you have hosted exchange students and how your experience went. My husband and I recently bought a bigger house, and we would really like to have an exchange student now that we have enough room. I think we would like to start with a short-term exchange to get the feel for it, but I did find a website advertising urgent need for host families in Olympia, Washington for the school year.

My family hosted a short-term exchange student one summer when I was in highschool. She only stayed three weeks, but she's visited us twice since then, and recently my husband and I attended her wedding in Japan. We've remained great friends for ten years. Through our Japanese friend and trip, and through other international travel and knowing foreign people living here, we both recognize and highly appreciate the value of knowing people from different cultures. Hopefully this will be an enriching experience for all involved, and perhaps we'll make another good friend and visit them someday...

Besides learning about your general experiences, I do have a couple of specific questions: How do you know if an exchange company is reputable? I don't know of any in our area, so I'm just doing a web search. Also, I know of a situation where people similar to us hosted a student who got pretty wild in her latter days. They got along great at first, but when the girl wanted to be too risque things went downhill. We don't even have kids, let alone know how to deal with fired-up teenagers. That will probably just depend on the person we get, though. Do you think there are ways of avoiding problems like that??

Thanks for your input! I'm very excited about this, and I can't wait to hear of your experiences.

--Dana

Dana,

I haven't hosted myself, but know people that have. I really only heard of one situation that didn't go so well. Relatives hosted a girl from Cost Rica for the school year and everything went well. That summer her brother came to stay for several weeks; things didn't go as well with the brother. They really didn't connect, and he wouldn't do anything at home. They have stayed in touch with the girl, and attended her wedding in Costa Rica several years ago.

Check with your local high school; they should be able to give you some info about the companies.

Good luck,
Jody

My parents hosted an exchange student, I was an exchange student in high school and we hosted several exchange students and both of my daughters were exchange students. It was a great experience both going and hosting. The student my parents hosted was through American Field Service, I went under the American Friends Service, my oldest daughter went under AFS, my younger daugher went with ASSE. Our local high school has had a connection with a German Gymnasium since the early fifties, first through American Field, then American Friends and then after the American Friends quit doing these programs it has been direct. One student each year from each school. As long as the program is reputable and involved with the high school you should be OK, though not every exchange works out. We ending up hosting a girl that was with another family and that situation was not working. Talk to the school advisor. You should also get a pretty detailed packet on the prospective student that should give you some clues. You never know and it can be challenging, but we have had some wonderful kids and have visited them after they returned home. For me, the exchange experience was life-changing.

Thanks for your input! We did find a company online that seemed reputable as best as we could tell. (It's called CCI.) They've been around for a long time and have a large variety of programs. When I e-mailed them they replied very quickly. We are going to meet with a representative soon, perhaps to host a semester student starting in January. It sounds like the company provides a lot of support to the students and families, too, so if there are problems we'll have a place to turn. I can't imagine that it could be a bad idea, even if we do end up having difficulties! It's probably more likely that we'll make a new friend and then have a connection across the globe, and they do try hard to find a good match, personality and interest-wise. As you said, Chuck, it seems like it is likely to be a life-changing experience! My husband and I really value influences from other cultures in our lives. So, I think we're going to try it...

I'll have to let you know how it goes, although it looks like it will be quite awhile.

I'd still like to hear more experiences or advice if anyone else has anything to contribute. :)

Thanks,
Dana