Lifelong Friendships Can Be Made by Hosting a Foreign Exchange Students
My tiny school in rural southern Illinois saw quite a few foreign exchange students as I was growing up. I remember students from England, Ecuador, New Zealand, Japan, Yugoslavia, Germany, and Italy.When I was in ninth grade, a close friend went to New Zealand as an exchange student and I was intrigued. I wasn't able to become an exchange student myself, but I began talking to my parents about the possibility of
After further exploration, we decided to go for it. Little did we know that the decision would bring a longterm friendship that still crosses time zones, oceans and national borders. On our host family application we specified our choice of countries for our exchange student. Because I had been the one to express the interest and get the ball rolling, I got to choose. I chose Ireland, France and Australia - three countries I had always been interested in.
We were sent a student profile - a girl from France. As we reviewed the profile, my parents, my brother and I just felt this student wasn't a good match for our family. A piano was the only reason AFS had matched her with us. The student had stated a desire to stay in a home with a piano, and we had a piano.
We sent the profile back to AFS and asked them to send us another. This time, they sent information about a female student from Australia. We looked over the pictures of her and her family and read the profile. Her name was Simone and she was three years old than me, one year older than my brother. This was our student!
After notifying AFS that we'd accepted the student, we had the opportunity to call her on the phone and begin writing to her. Truthfully, talking to her on the phone was a disaster. She couldn't understand us and we couldn't understand her. The accents and inflections of the Australian and American English were so different that we had a very hard time communicating.
Thankfully, reading and writing each other's letters was not a problem.
Roles of an Exchange Student
Becoming a foreign exchange student can be stressful however by following these simple roles, the interculural experience will never be misunderstood and should alleviate some stress in the beginning days.
Making a Host Student Feel Comfortable
Tips to help a foreign exchange student feel comfortable in the host families house and community.
Student Exchange From an Insider's Perspective: Studying Abroad with a H...
She hopes that their experience in the United States, or their encounter with a fellow exchange student, might influence them to pursue peace instead of war.
Psychological Support for International Foreign Exchange Students
For foreign exchange students, there are commonly some degree of adverse psychological complications associated with living in a new country to attend school.
|
|
- Hosting a foreign exchange student has its ups an downs.
- A lifelong friendship can be forged by opening your home to an exchange student.
- Learning about other countries and cultures is a great reason to host an exchange student.
(Guest)
(Guest)