Host Family

Today we are applying to be a host family for a Taiwanese student for 4 weeks. If we pass "inspection" she will arrive Monday! We are busily getting a room ready for her. We are hoping to have an additional student as well - we'll see if any more need to be placed next week. If it goes well, we'll do it again in August and have my mom house sit for us while we are in Michigan. She can take care of our students in our absence and we'll pay her a portion of our stipend.

So, for the next 4 weeks we could possibly have another teenager in the house - one who is an exchange student coming to the US to live with a host family and learn English. We will be getting a 16 year old girl. She will be going to school M-F during the day and spend each evening with us. Most weekends she will be at School related group events. We are carpooling with other families in the area to drive the students to the school each morning and pick them up each evening. So I hope I only have to drive once or twice a week! We have four drivers in the family so I probably have it easier than the other families.

We are supposed to just take the students along with us whenever we do anything as a family. I'm sure living with a big family will be a new experience for her. I hope she has fun here.

We're looking forward to some hikes, riding bikes at the beach, and some girls shopping days. We'll let you know how it goes...

This will be a good experience for our kids - to get to know someone from another country, to think about how to make someone feel at home and welcomed, to share their time and resources with someone else, and to work together as a family on a project in which we all have to sacrifice time and energy for a common goal.

I think this will be good for me too.