We are approved

My wife and I were asked if we would host an exchange student. We agreed and last night had a meeting with the reps. to have our place checked out and we were approved. Now the big thing for us is picking a student. We have been empty nesters for a few years, so we will need to adjust to having somebody around again. We now need to pick a student to fit into our family. We need a female as that is what the decor of the room is. Most of the students say that they help around the house and cook. I think it would be a big plus if one of them was a woodworker.
 
Had a Girl from Japan as an exchange many years back. She was between my oldest boy and my daughter in age at the time. Great experience for everyone.
 
We have had short term exchange students several times over the years.
From this point on, I'm going to be non-PC, close yer eyes if'n ye can't take it. :eek:
I recommend you not take a middle eastern student. Very often they come from very-very wealthy families and are not accustomed to doing anything for themselves. And, I do mean "anything", like getting a glass of water or making their bed. The woman of the host family is expected to do all that for them. Never have I seen one of these situations work out.
Any Germans here? I'm about to offend you, sorry.
Germans do not have the same attitude about nudity as Americans. They just don't worry about it. We had a German girl once who thought nothing of running around the house in her underwear or naked. Of course, I had mixed reactions to that but it was not a good situation.
What/whoever you get, I'm sure it will be an interesting and learning experience for all of you.
 
Congrats, Rex. Should be a fun adventure. Dan Gonzales (a member here) has hosted several exchange students, and I'll bet he'd be willing to share notes with you.

Frank, IMHO the nudity issue is with the Americans, not the Germans. I never did quite understand what the hoopla is about naked human bodies. Parts is parts, and we all have 'em. Doesn't make sense to be ashamed of them. :rolleyes:
 
Congrats, Rex. Should be a fun adventure. Dan Gonzales (a member here) has hosted several exchange students, and I'll bet he'd be willing to share notes with you.

Frank, IMHO the nudity issue is with the Americans, not the Germans. I never did quite understand what the hoopla is about naked human bodies. Parts is parts, and we all have 'em. Doesn't make sense to be ashamed of them. :rolleyes:

I didn't say I didn't look.
 
We have been going thru the prospects and most of them are german. I think that we are leaning toward a german because LOML and I have both been to Germany and our daughter spend a year as an exchange student there. We need to get the girl selected soon so she can get enrolled in our school system for the fall. Our school is picky and will only let in about 3-4 per year. This is because they get no funding for these extra students. Who knows maybe we will have one again the following year. The rules are changing here it that you must have a kid in the school system to have an exchange student. We will see what happens.
 
As you may know, my eldest daughter is going to school in Canada right now, she is a Canadian citizen but as we live outside of British Columbia, where she is going to school, we have to pay an Out of Province" fee, which is about $7500 a year, if she was not Canadian and was an International student, you can add another $8500 to that, plus $750 a month for the host family, that is $24,500 a year just in fees, not counting plane tickets, and some pocket money. I'm really surprised that the school there does not charge something similar.

Funny thing about this is all of my family in Canada, and my parents friends were dumbfounded at the cost, they were surprised to hear that it cost that much per student to educate them, and wondered if they could get their taxes back and then pay the difference for the kids to go to a private school :D

Frank you comments are a very broad brush stroke, so they are therefore inaccurate. There are many cultures that the male does little around the house, I imagine that your generation was similar, at the very least your father's generation was much like you describe the middle eastern student being, but if you let them get away with that, how are they much different from the spoiled rotten kids we all witness out in public everyday?

if a kid came to my house and expected to be waited on hand and foot, they would be in for an education all right :D
 
I have had over 10 exchanges students over the past few years, 8 great experiences. Last year to had two students due to a major mess up by the placement agency. We "lost" the students several times, took them both to the hospital when they decided to enter a hot food eating contest, had the police over when they decided to crash an all girls party at midnight and that was just the start. My advice is make sure the student has a US cell phone and program your number into it. Also if you own an iPhone they have a free translation application that we found invaluable. Students from Japan tend to be very shy and will say yes to everything even when they mean no, the translation application app helped.
 
Hello Rex,

As Vaughn mentioned my wife and I have had many years of experience hosting exchange students. I have worked with two organizations. In addition to being a host dad I have become a volunteer trainer and family/student support specialist. My wife's career is international student education and she is currently the president of a high school exchange program. So a bit of experience in our home beyond hosting.

As mentioned by previous posts in this thread everyone can have a different perspective on being a host family. Perceptions, assumptions and generalizations are hurdles every new hosting experience has to overcome - the host family AND the exchange student. Communication is the greatest tool to having a good hosting experience. The second is being prepared to guide the student as you would a family member. The students should never be treated as a guest, they should be a close member if the family that you just haven't met :D

Also be sure to check the organization that you will be hosting through. There are some companies that are desperate to get the students placed anywhere they can, but are unable to provide the required support through the year. In my years of experience and attending national conferences the worst examples do come to mind. At the very least the organization should be U.S. Department of State registered, licensed/registered with your state government and members of CSIET (Council on Standards for International Educational Travel).

websites:

U.S. Department of State http://exchanges.state.gov/jexchanges/index.html

CSIET http://www.csiet.org/index.html


Please feel free to PM me if you would like to talk. I would be happy give you an idea of what will probably be a great experience for your whole family.

Cheers,
 
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As you may know, my eldest daughter is going to school in Canada right now, she is a Canadian citizen but as we live outside of British Columbia, where she is going to school, we have to pay an Out of Province" fee, which is about $7500 a year, if she was not Canadian and was an International student, you can add another $8500 to that, plus $750 a month for the host family, that is $24,500 a year just in fees, not counting plane tickets, and some pocket money. I'm really surprised that the school there does not charge something similar...

Here is some general information regarding how states and public school districts regard the funding of exchange students in the USA.

The first thing is - these students are getting a defacto scholarship. Their natural family has not paid taxes for them to attend a public school in the community they are placed.

No school is obligated to accept an exchange student. Some schools are overcrowded or have impacted programs, those seats have to remain available for regularly enrolled students. There are specific forms that need to be completed by the school or school district per U.S. Department of State regulations to enroll an exchange student, a reputable organization will not sneak a student into a school. A high school exchange student comes to the USA sponsored by the exchange program with a J-1 visa. The host families are NOT guardians of the students and should not enroll an exchange student as a guardian.

Some schools get their funding by how many days a student attends school, others by enrollment numbers. Either way each state will have their own criteria of how they would fund, or not fund, a district's expenses to educate an exchange student.

Regardless of how they are funded some schools are downright rude about what students they will accept based on nationality.

Oh lord I could bore you all with more information, my experiences and experiences shared, but I won't.
 
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