Parent Host Testimonial

How was your overall experience as a host? You can talk about things you did with your exchange student; how did you prepare for their arrival; did you have any apprehensions about participating?

A very worthwhile experience for the parents as much as it was for our daughter and son who both participated. As parents we also got to partake in some German culture of sorts as the German kids were great ambassadors for their country; they were gracious guests who were well-mannered, voluble, willing to share of themselves and curious about us. There were very few dull moments or uncomfortable ones where any party was trying to fill uncomfortable silences. Generally speaking, the kids were keen to participate in any and all family activities and even simple things (like indoor roller-skating in Armstrong!) were highlights for them.

Did any concerns/issues occur during the exchange and if so, how did you deal with them?

We live 35 minutes out of town and so on weekends we had to sit down and make a schedule for the week that would allow the kids to spend some late evenings in Vernon partaking in various activities or hanging out with friends. The efforts we made in this department were always well-appreciated by the kids and they frequently tried to repay us by doing some additional chores around the house, an offer which we generally turned down. We also had to talk about length of showers with one student as she left all of us without hot water if she went first. One thirty second discussion and all was good. She got it.

Did you have any concerns of sending your child away and if so, how did you deal with them?

Not really. The program is well-run by people we know and trust. There’s always the possibility of things going wrong even here at home, so in terms of real fears, there were none. We knew we could always get in touch with the organization, and we’d been put in touch with the host family. Also, we’d hosted the German student here for ten weeks already and we had a good idea of where our kids were going and what sort of household they’d be in, so our minds were pretty much at ease.

Do you continue to keep in touch with your exchange student and/or their family?

My wife and I do not except for the odd response to a text or Snapchat that the past kids might send to us personally. And Christmas cards. But our own kids definitely do keep in close contact and one of the German exchange students even came back a year later as he backpacked across North America with a German friend in tow. They stayed three days and we had a grand time.

Any advice you would give to future host-parents?

As advice, I’d recommend just being yourself. If you have any interests of your own, invite the guest to explore that with you. We’re an active couple who’d invite the kids our for jogs or walks or swims or to go to the municipal library or to play tennis or to cook with us or to come to a yoga class or to help stack hay. They loved to go food shopping, even. We found the kids willing to do it all and we’d even ask them to plan a week’s menu or the weekend activities. They were always keen and the time went too quickly.