Ever hosted a foreign exchange student in Houston? (Canadian: house, high school)

[karuna95]

From Chron.com
Foreign-exchange hosts hard to find--20 students coming to study in the Houston area need homes

Has anyone hosted a foreign exchange student before? If yes, would you do it again?

[HookTheBrotherUp]

They would not do it again. They had problems with this teenager they sponsored. He smoked in the house, even though there were rules, he did not care; 'tried to bring girls home, and complained constantly about the heat. He did not help around the house, came home very late, did not come home one time, scared my neighbors to death as they were responsible for him. He was never gracious, and did not say thanks when he left. He liked to eat out all the time. Overall, just a disaster as you'd see on a comedy sitcom. BTW, his parents never called to check on him. ??

Of course, this is just one experience and I doubt many are like this, but all it takes is one to spoil it. My neighbors were very good to him, and they had a toddler in the house as well. Just be careful if you consider it.

I don't want to divulge the country as people would think I was picking on a country, but he was from Europe.

[hugepossum]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

They would not do it again. They had problems with this teenager they sponsored. He smoked in the house, even though there were rules, he did not care; 'tried to bring girls home, and complained constantly about the heat. He did not help around the house, came home very late, did not come home one time, scared my neighbors to death as they were responsible for him. He was never gracious, and did not say thanks when he left. He liked to eat out all the time. Overall, just a disaster as you'd see on a comedy sitcom. BTW, his parents never called to check on him. ??

Of course, this is just one experience and I doubt many are like this, but all it takes is one to spoil it. My neighbors were very good to him, and they had a toddler in the house as well. Just be careful if you consider it.

I don't want to divulge the country as people would think I was picking on a country, but he was from Europe.

Where was this kid from?

[Mommy/Artist/Lawyer]

My mother hosted a young man from France and it was a wonderful experience. He was smart, funny, well mannered and a perfect house guest.

[desertsun41]

We did. It was not in Houston but no matter. We took on several different students at different times. I have to say Japanese kids are best. They are always polite, sometimes so polite that they seem rude compared our customs. We had 6 total Japanese kids and they were all good. They were the only ones who were happy to go out to eat with us or just go for rides to the park or museums or whatever. They are always wanting to learn and explore. Oh and he made us take our shoes off at our door.

We had one Korean kid. He was weird. Put on a pot of rice and leave it on the stove all day with a lid on it. He would come up and eat from it throughout the day, that is all he would eat. He would not eat western food. He rarely went out because he hated our food and our customs. He never finished school and went home early.

Then we had a Mexican kid. This was a kid from a very wealthy Mexican family who owned a printing factory in south Mexico. He was a good kid. Rarely home and always had a new girlfriend every week. He really did not even look Mexican but having money keeps anyone looking young. His family always sent gifts to us up from Mexico. Valuble gifts, not some junk trinkets.

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, vacume 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.

The agency paid us $600 CDN every month. We supplied room and board and food 3 meals a day. This was 10 years ago. The students had their own spending money and went out to eat on their own often as we were in the middle of a city with cafes everywhere around the ESL school. We had to clean their rooms and provide linins. That was about it. The agency did come to our house to inspect and approve that it was safe with a private bathroom, bed, desk and whatever was needed for the student to be comfortable.

It was a good experience.

[AlexTx]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

We did. It was not in Houston but no matter. We took on several different students at different times. I have to say Japanese kids are best. They are always polite, sometimes so polite that they seem rude compared our customs. We had 6 total Japanese kids and they were all good. They were the only ones who were happy to go out to eat with us or just go for rides to the park or museums or whatever. They are always wanting to learn and explore. Oh and he made us take our shoes off at our door.

We had one Korean kid. He was weird. Put on a pot of rice and leave it on the stove all day with a lid on it. He would come up and eat from it throughout the day, that is all he would eat. He would not eat western food. He rarely went out because he hated our food and our customs. He never finished school and went home early.

Then we had a Mexican kid. This was a kid from a very wealthy Mexican family who owned a printing factory in south Mexico. He was a good kid. Rarely home and always had a new girlfriend every week. He really did not even look Mexican but having money keeps anyone looking young. His family always sent gifts to us up from Mexico. Valuble gifts, not some junk trinkets.

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, vacume 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.

The agency paid us $600 CDN every month. We supplied room and board and food 3 meals a day. This was 10 years ago. The students had their own spending money and went out to eat on their own often as we were in the middle of a city with cafes everywhere around the ESL school. We had to clean their rooms and provide linins. That was about it. The agency did come to our house to inspect and approve that it was safe with a private bathroom, bed, desk and whatever was needed for the student to be comfortable.

It was a good experience.

Interesting. Were you living inside the loop at that time (you said you were in the city near cafes)?
What does CDN mean?

[Keks]

They are here to experience a different culture... not to work your back yard

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by AlexTx

Interesting. Were you living inside the loop at that time (you said you were in the city near cafes)?
What does CDN mean?

Canadian Dollar.

[zhugeliang1]

This is a fascinating thread. I think because my only experience with foreign exchange students was 20 years ago in high school - they were always wealthy, attractive, and popular, always from Europe like Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, always got into the most popular cliques. And now this thread, most interesting about the Pakistan and Korean kids.

[Oskar_Z28]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I don't want to divulge the country as people would think I was picking on a country, but he was from Europe.

I thought that too. .

I would not sponsor a foreign exchange student, unless it was someone who either I know or my family back in the old country knows.