Are there people out in CC land that have done this? Any advice? They are coming in 2 days. This is a last minute idea. We have not done anything like this before.
Interested as well, as I have, on and off, been considering this as well. I would only have one student tho - you’re brave!
I have a friend, a single woman, who did this for years. She had no children of her own and always hosted 2 girls at a time so that they had another teen for company. She is still close to several of them via social media and Skype. I can’t remember if you still have a child at home so your situation may be different, but this can work out very well.
We have only hosted for a week, so the communication was a struggle the whole time. Bothe times the girls were from Japan, and they had perfect grades in advanced English classes. They were horrified how little they understood of spoken American English. We did a lot of note writing.
Have fun!
How long are you hosting for? Shorter summer program, I assume, or longer school year? Boys or girls?
I have no experience but would really be interested in hosting in the future. What was the process?
I have a friend who hosted international students for several weeks at a time–she got a small stipend and some company. She mostly enjoyed it. Another friend rents bedrooms to students in her home, downstairs while living upstairs. They are from the US or international and she’s been enjoying doing this for years–the rental helps pay her mortgage.
How long will they be at your home? There used to be an exchange here…but the students were only here for two weeks…and the sponsoring group had them very busy. The sponsoring group also,give suggestions of things to do to enrich the experience the students were having. @fauxmaven have you discussed this with the sponsors?
You may want to offer boiled hot water for the Chinese student. This is what’s common to drink and although she’s probably very sophisticated, and will want to do what Americans do, when away from home it’s nice to find something so familiar. She will prob have a thermos of some sort that she carries, in which she has green tea leaves and she will want to replenish the water often with boiling water. There are automatic tea kettles that keep water at the perfect tea temperature, but you don’t have to be that high tech. Boiling water in a kettle on the stove will be fine too. She will probably also have a small thank you gift for you, prob a silk scarf or fancy green tea, or some local handicraft.
Make sure they understand US plumbing, what can be flushed and what can’t. A friend had a few very expensive lessons learned with au pairs. Take a few minutes to explain what you expect from them as far as helping around the house, checking in with you if they are out at activities. Ask if there are food restrictions and what you can do to get them things they like or maybe schedule different types of American eals - BBQ, hot dogs, burgers, pizza.
Have fun.
Yoo hoo? @fauxmaven
What has the sponsoring agency given you for information.
How long are you hosting these students?
How old are they? Remind them of the laws in the US. We had a 19 year old Swiss exchange student who was quite used to having wine and beer at her home. She was quite sure that she could still partake here. Ummm, no.
I would find it hard to believe the sponsoring agency hasn’t provided a list of things to consider.
I, too, am surprised that the agency hasn’t provided you with extensive information as to what is expected, both from you and from the students, schedules, contact info, customs, etc. That is typical in these arrangements. I have to say that I have never heard of this type of billeting being a ‘last minute idea’. The ones that I’m familiar with are arranged long in advance, as there have to be background checks, often even a home visit.
Years ago I was an exchange student in France (part of a group of about 15 or so) and was staying at a private home. One of the other American girls - her host family turned out to be unsuitable (as in - concerns for her personal safety) and so last-minute my host family took her on as well. But generally speaking, these things are planned well in advance. Sorry faux maven, it seems fishy that you are taking 2 kids last minute.
What has the agency told you to do / prepare for? What questions do you have that are not answered by their material?
There are more and less organized trips. Years ago our elementary school had an exchange with a school in Costa Rica. It was organized by parents and not any official group. They stayed for a week or two. I’ve gotten occasional email requests from the high school to put up visiting kids who are here for short term stays. I had a friend who took a couple in and was appalled that all the kids wanted to do was go shopping! She was prepared to take them to do touristy things, but that was not part of their agenda!
The best thing my French family did was make me a part of all their activities. I picked grapes with them (they had a small vineyard in nearby vacation property) foraged for nuts and mushrooms. I got taken to parties with their 20 year old son. He also enlisted me to help touch up a somewhat historic painting that needed restoration.
The last minute thing doesn’t seem off to me. In my area, I seen organizations begging for local families to take kids, often last minute and typically for shorter, multi-week stays. Does seem like a questionable protocol, but it is done. I think they have problems getting enough host families to step up to meet the demand.
Probably because people in China do not trust the safety of drinking the tap water there without boiling it first.
I’ve also seen last minute requests from exchange organizations and people related to the local high school posted on our local neighborhood facebook pages. Sometimes there is a mid-year request for a new home because an original placement “didn’t work out” and I always wonder what happened there.
“Probably because people in China do not trust the safety of drinking the tap water there without boiling it first.”
Hot boiled water is used to brew tea, as posters explained. If your tap water is hot enough to brew tea, you’ve got a problem. 
We’ve done it several times, though all our kids were from South Korea. One boy we rescued from a bad situation, the others were 2 girls traveling together.
The first boy was extremely fluent, the other two were supposedly tested and they really struggled.
All very sweet and the cultural differences were really interesting to us. One girl had a huge crush on my son that he found uncomfortable, which I didn’t realize until afterwards.
They all brought gifts to us. They don’t say please and thank you like Americans. I was concerned about the food but they managed seemingly fine, though they did pack dried seaweed.
What I thought was interesting is how much math homework they had. Endless hours of math during their break. Americans would probably be given journals to write about their experiences, they did endless math sets.