One of the beautiful things about having a guest room is you can host people in your home through a foreign exchange program. You can learn about their culture while teaching them yours. Having another person in your home gives you more opportunities to celebrate and entertain as well!
When my parents first fixed up their spare bedroom they began hosting foreign exchange students. They applied as a host family through the local Rotary Club of which my father is a member. The first exchange student they had was a high school student from Japan. The next one was a high school student from Argentina.
The way the Rotary exchange program typically works is that the exchange students are assigned three host families, each of which they will stay with for about three to four months. Each host family covers the cost for the exchange student during that period of time. Host families are responsible for housing, feeding, and getting the students to school while Rotary organizes outings and trips for the students.
My parents were well equipped because they were able to provide our exchange students with a large bedroom with a desk, dresser, closets, and attached bathroom. They also have a weekly housekeeper, and so long as the room was picked up it would be cleaned. My mother is an excellent cook so our exchange students always had a home cooked meal and the daily routine in the house is fairly consistent.
My mother grew up with exchange students, so she took well to being a host mom. My grandmother, her mother, is originally from Switzerland and often took my mother with her to spend the summers with her family. She was used to spending extended periods of time in another country speaking a foreign language just as the exchange students. I imagine this is why she was able to communicate and bond with them so well.
After our first exchange student arrived relaxed for a while and unpacked and had the full tour, we sat down for a simple meal. It was usually something like grilled chicken and vegetables, nothing too flavorful or overwhelming. Then it was off to bed.
The next day she took our exchange student to Walmart to pick out a set of towels in whichever color she liked. Our exchange student picked out a set in a color I can really only describe as a neon salmon. This turned out to be an excellent decision as her laundry was distinguishable from everyone else's.
After the exchange student was with our family for a couple weeks, my mother took them to the grocery store to collect ingredients to cook a meal from their home country. Cooking is an excellent way to bond with other people, especially when there are cultural and linguistic barriers. From that point on the exchange student would spend time in the kitchen and ask my mother to show her how to make the things she liked.
When she returned home to Japan, she sent us photos of some of the meals she cooked for her family that she learned in our home. It was really special and I think it was something my parents found rewarding. In fact, they did it the next year and we had an equally wonderful time with the next exchange student!
Do you have experience hosting an exchange student? Are you interested in hosting one? Let me know in the comments below!
As always,
Alli
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