Why You Should Host An Exchange Student!

Hello and Happy Mothers Day!

My mother is a volunteer with the AFS Bay Area Team. She wears many hats in our team and is amazing. One thing that she does is works to find families to host the exchange students that come to our areas. This includes finding and interviewing families, working with the schools, and playing matchmaker. Recently, she has been watching as the next year's student profiles come in and trying to put holds on the kids she wants to be in our area.

A big problem we've been having in the US with AFS is there aren't a lot of families that want to host exchange students. That's crazy! Therefore, I am here to tell you why you (yes, you) should be a host family this year.

1. Learn about a new culture without leaving the country

Because of AFS I know where so many countries are and I have never taken a geography class (except that one geography class I took with CTY). Do you know where Tajikistan is? I do. Do you know how to say "thank you" in Swedish? I do. Do you have part of a traditional Thai outfit hanging on your wall? I do. Why? Because I've hosted and hung out with exchange students!

I have eaten the cuisines of so many countries without having to leave my house. I know so many things about so many places because I know so many exchange students.

AFS is all about the cultural exchange. This means that you will learn about their culture as much as they will learn about yours.

Noorjahan from Tunisia

2. Have a couch to crash on when you visit them!

Now I am not saying that if you host an exchange student you are guaranteed a place to stay in their country. I do, however, know many people who have gone to visit their old exchange students in their countries, including myself. 

We hosted a Swedish exchange student when I was in fourth grade. We went to visit her in Sweden and it was amazing. I discovered I was allergic to Birch tree on this vacation, but that is beside the point.

Not only that, but she has visited us several times! 

Celebrating Midyear in Sweden

3. Test drive teenagers

This does not apply to everyone and this is my mom's joke, but it's true. We hosted most of our exchange students when I was younger. My mom called it test driving teenagers because if it didn't work out, they went home after a year. Plus it prepared her for when my sister and I became teenagers.

Most students have no problems at all. It actually sucks when they leave, but you can always host another one!

Johanna, my mom's test teen.

4. Make use of that pesky extra bed

When I went to Egypt, I left my bed in America. It just sat there, collecting dust, doing nothing. My parents solved that problem. Boom! Put an exchange student in it.

Have a spare room in your house? Put an exchange student in it. No one's sleeping on the top bunk? Put an exchange student in it! All your kids are in college and you don't know what to do with their beds? PUT EXCHANGE STUDENTS IN THEM! 

Problem solved. You are welcome :)

I was a bed-filler for my family in Egypt and it worked out beautifully

5. Grow your family

You know the saying: you can't pick your family. Well in this case, you can! You literally can pick any exchange student you want. Every AFS student has a profile with pictures, essays, and information about them. You can find someone with the same interests as you and your family or someone completely different. You can host from almost anywhere and almost any continent. 

You can host someone who likes dogs or cats or both or neither. You can host someone who loves to read or someone who has never opened a book. You can host someone who like sports or likes music or likes fashion. No matter who you host you're gonna host an amazing person who wants to live and learn in the US. 

You will host someone with thoughts, feelings, opinions, stories, and, of course, a huge appetite because they're a teenager. 

Family photo six years after we first hosted her.

You can host for a year or a semester. If you have commitment issues, you can be a welcome family and host for a couple months while we find them a permanent family.

Hosting exchange students changed my life for the better in more ways than one. 

For more information go to afsusa.org. Click on Host a Student > Get Started to fill out your information and be contacted by an AFSer near you. 

And if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know. Comment or message me because I am happy to help.

Thanks for reading.

Learn something today.

Byeeeee

Corie.