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View Poll Results: Have you/your family ever hosted a foreign exchange student?
Yes 13 38.24%
No 21 61.76%
Voters: 34. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-05-2011, 06:21 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,571 times
Reputation: 10

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I'm hosting a Chinese student now. Very expensive, draining, rewarding experience.
This student has become a Christian during her time with us. No we did not evangelize her at all. She stated that God has been working in her life for some time now and she finally wanted to make the decision. We warned her of the potential life-threatening persecution that she may encounter in her country but she did not falter. We will miss her and our Armenian student beyond belief when they return in a couple weeks.
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Old 05-05-2011, 07:13 PM
 
1,106 posts, read 2,642,267 times
Reputation: 957
I know a woman who is working with placing French teenagers right now.
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Old 05-05-2011, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Sugar Land
2,465 posts, read 5,761,220 times
Reputation: 2733
My wife is a product of the exchange student program. She came to US (Dallas) at 13, finish high school and then went to Duke and later to Sorbonne Paris, and moved back to US... I met her in Paris.

That beings said I have great admiration for her host parents which are in Dallas. They're like our 3rd family besides her parents and my parents. At our traditional Chinese wedding in Hong Kong we had our host parents on the same stage with our families dressed in chinese traditional clothes as their tradition was. Her host parents are just part of our life and we love them very very much. There is no better way to reward the host parents than loving them and making them part of our lives. The host parents don't have any kids and I believe we're it... They hosted over 20 kids but my wife was their favorite in terms of experience and success. But they had their share of bad as well. I can share some of their horror stories but they just kept doing it.

Last edited by ethanw; 05-05-2011 at 09:43 PM..
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Old 05-06-2011, 08:08 AM
 
Location: Texas
632 posts, read 1,175,531 times
Reputation: 694
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertsun41 View Post

Then comes the nightmare. Pakistan. Those boys are taught to hate women from an early age. He could not stand my then wife coming in his room to make his bed, vacuum the rugs or clean the bathroom. He was a messy pig so his room needed cleaning every other day. He was fairly polite with males but treated women badly with snide remarks and many anti woman comments. He never let us forget that where he comes from, women are second class trash. They are to be used for sex, cooking and cleaning only and will not go to heaven. We ended up having the agency take him outta there before I killed him. He was never placed again that I heard.

*sigh* Its sad that a Pakistani kid would behave in that way. He's probably (as someone mentioned) a person whose family has political connections (and probably big time ones at that) or lots of $$$$$. Not suprised as to why he was a lazy and ignorant kid.
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Old 05-07-2011, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Central CA
57 posts, read 143,257 times
Reputation: 84
I don't live in Texas but our family has hosted several students over the years.

I highly recommend hosting an exchange student but if you've never hosted before, do a short homestay program first, not a year-long program.

Short homestays are from 2-4 weeks, typically in the summer (but also over spring break or during Christmas). These are students who come from one country in a group of 14-30 participants, with a tour leader. When they come here there's a program coordinator who has scheduled many things for them to do while here. I've coordinated 20+ programs over the years.

When students stay with you in a short homestaythey go to English classes and have afternoon activities in your community. They might do one major trip each week (in our case, Disneyland, the Beach, Universal Studios, etc...). What's nice is that YOU, the host family, don't have to feel pressured into 'showing them a good time', as the fee they've paid includes all of these things. It's been a great experience for our family; our kids were preschoolers when we hosted our first student. We hosted every summer through high school. It's made my kids interested in other cultures.

We've had Japanese students, French, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. Each experience was different and unique. Each culture has its own unique characteristics. Japanese tend to very respectful but the students' English skills are usually the weakest when compared to other countries. The European students tend to have the best English skills (since English is the national language of the EU); they are very independent and used to a lot of freedom in their own home.

The Russian program was a very unique experience. I coordinated a group of 30 students back in 1996 and it was the most challenging program I've ever done. The students had no concept of the idea of 'volunteerism' and couldn't believe that our host families received no compensation for taking them in. The didn't understand that Americans would host a student just for the goodwill and experience of learning about another culture. And they had preconceived ideas about life in the US. They literally thought that everyone had a 3-car garage and a pool. Several students were really upset that they didn't get the living experience (i.e., some kids shared a room with a host sibling, some had their own rooms; some lived in apartments, some in houses; some had pools, some didn't). Many felt that since they had each paid the same amount of money to come on the program, they should each have the exact living arrangement. And then, there were the 4 students who were arrested for shoplifting

We have also taken a student for a school year and it was a positive experience. But there is definitely a longer commitment on the part of the host family. For a short homestay (2-4 weeks), even a moody, quiet, unpleasant student can be tolerated for a short period of time.
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Old 05-07-2011, 05:31 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,989 times
Reputation: 13
People, please read my topic here:P~~~
It about foreign student too!!
//www.city-data.com/forum/houst...dent-16-a.html
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Old 09-15-2012, 06:10 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,177 times
Reputation: 10
Default Looking to host a student?

I am currently working with an English language school in Dallas. I help find host families for students that are mainly from Saudi Arabia. I am a host family myself and would love to discuss this rewarding opportunity with anyone that might be interested. The student pays you $500 a month and needs a ride to school, dinner, a room and a family that will treat them with respect and also treats them like family. The students have finished high school usually and are here preparing to attend a university. It is nice because if they are not a fit in your home or if they do not want to stay in your home, it is not a situation where you are obligated to keep them there. I am a single mother and can honestly say they are so sweet, respectful and treat me like they would treat their own mother. I love it and hope to be able to share my experiences with others so tht they can experience it, as well.
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Old 09-17-2012, 10:36 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,136 times
Reputation: 10
We are a family living in Houston that would be interested in hosting a female student from France. My high school daughter is studying French 1 and I think it would be mutually agreeable and fun for her to host a french student. How do you find out about hosting a short term stay?
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Old 09-18-2012, 04:48 PM
 
1,574 posts, read 2,950,117 times
Reputation: 1118
I had a 7 foot tall German kid stay with me. He had long hair and dressed in all black. Needless to say we got along great. We would stay up all night jamming guitars. He was a very intelligent kid (much more so than most American adults).
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