Finding overseas friendships is easy just be a host family for exchange students from different countries. We've hosted 17 students. Five were for school year and rest we hosted from 3-5 weeks. We dearly love people and get to know their food, country and cultures better.
Each student was special and there were no favorites. They became part of our family. The countries we hosted were Belgium, Uzbekistan, Japan, Czech Republic, Mexico, Nigaragua, Germany, Russia, and Argentina.
We glanced through applications matching their interest with our family. We found the student we liked and wrote a letter of invitation to personally host them. It is very important the whole family agrees to host otherwise there is problems.
The students hosted for the year took three months before they think English without translating in their heads. When this happens they became very fluent in English.
We took students to a buffet restaurant. They can see the name of the food and what it looks like so when going to another restaurent they can order properly what they want. I watched what foods they chose as they filled their plates. Then I knew what foods to cook for them. It was fun to watch the new foods they tried for the first time and the faces they made.
We took one student to Chuckee Cheese Pizza for her 18th birthday. At first she didn't think it would be fun. Other exchnge student friends were invited too. Squirt guns , table bowling, video games made it a fun party.
Our exchange student coordinator helped us choose our student . She gave us ideas other parents had tried. Planned activities for all exchange students were enjoyed through-out the year like : parties for Halloween, Christmas, Birthday, ski trips, Day in Boston, Mass., visiting state capitol, hay rides etc. The exchange students had a choice to go or stay home. We each brought a dish of food to share.
Some parents and students seemed to click and bond so we had get togethers like sleep overs, pizza parties, roller skating, ice skating and what ever else we could think of.
We had fun showing student s our beautiful state of New Hampshire. The mountains, lakes, beach, foliage, parks, concerts, fairs, farmers market and street parties. We had cook outs and barbecues with games and fun for all.
What ever we did as a family students had the choice to join us whether it be concerts, movies, mystery ride, out for ice cream sundaes, or visiting friends. They liked visiting friends as they saw American families, teenagers and their homes.
The Japanese student group cooked their favorite Japanese food for all the host families. We even had to eat with chop sticks. They sang American songs and demonstrated fencing and karate at a going home party for the host parents.
We had a communication board on our refrigerator and students wrote where they were going. So, if they wanted to walk downtown, bike ride, go to a near by park, visit another exchange student they wrote it on the board. This let us know where and what they were doing. Phone messages for each family member was also written on this board. Good way to keep communication in the family.
This is how we found overseas friendships. We email each other to keep in touch. Some students have re-visited and a couple of parents came to meet us to video tape our house just to remember where their son or daughter stayed that year.
This may be one of the ways you can find an overseas friendship for a lifetime.