She just landed in the USA for two weeks at a english camp then she comes to me on August 9th....
Miki from Japan will be here soon, and I'm in a panic trying to work two jobs and start a business and get the house cleaned up!
I encourage anyone with an extra bed to look into having an exchange student!! That and food is all you have to provide! What you get is priceless! It's been years and years and I'm still in touch with the first girls I had, and just sent one back a few weeks ago and my next one arrives soon! It makes Facebook so much more fun when you get messages from them, and see where they are now!
PM me if you want more information! If you apply now the selection is really really good and the programs are desperate for homes for these kids! Most will be here about two weeks before school starts so time is running out!!
What a great cause!
Unfortunately, I am retired now, and can no longer afford such a projet.
Someone else might be interested!
Theresa 
I'm a high school Spanish teacher and the exchange students we have are always the highlight of the year to get kids to think of life and the world on a more personal level, I'd highly recommend it! (either hosting or going as a student!)
Yeah... I tell everyone it makes me a better American for hosting these foreign kids!! I mean, I've been there-- done that... I was able to travel a lot as a kid... so it's lost it's charm.. but last spring I took a Ukrainian Immigrant, a Kazakhstan student and my Thai student to Washington DC... and we did just about everything I could think of... including walking the entire 'Mall'.... and there were tears in my eyes when the kids went to the Lincoln monument and read those words and saw what we as Americans fight for... and I laughed when we were at the Washington Monument and the light bulb went on and they realized they could see the White House, Capitol building, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials!
They work SO HARD to make their families proud of them... and to understand everything going on! Imagine sending one of our 17 yr old teens to Germany with three years of German.... Most could barely function, let alone excel in school! My Thai girl, with a language completely different from ours finished 40th out of 750 in her class! She had 11 years of English. Thailand is working to become a bi-lingual country with many signs in both English and Thai.. it makes it easier for tourists and that where a lot of money comes from!
Next is Miki from Japan... she's had three years of English and belongs to the English club at school.... and it's going to be rough at first for her, I am sure.. but she will work really hard to make friends and get good grades.
Really-- All you need is a bed and a place for them to study! And food. That's it. They have their own insurance and their own spending money-- And usually, they are great company!! Not to mention-- you get great support staff as well.. the kids have to report to you, their area representative, their regional rep, their own parents and the agency that recruits them has an eye on them as well.... And, if they break the rules, they can be sent back home-- which is to bring shame to the family, so they usually walk the line!
Enough yammering, I could talk about all the fabulous kids I have met for days!!
I just wanted to chime in and say that we had the best exchange student stay with us. It's been 5 years and we still stay in touch with him and his family. I'd like to have another but am waiting until our youngest is a couple years older.
I have never hosted one, but i enjoyed the ones who studied at my high school. I also stayed with a family in France for a month as a study-abroad student in 1988. This year, when my husband and I went back to Paris, they invited us for lunch. We have exchanged Christmas cards for 20 years. It really has been a wonderful experience.
We are so excited to have Miki coming in less than two weeks! I'm scared to bits about it because I will be unemployed at the end of OCT... and i have no real plan... I work FT and PT right now, about 70 hours a week... I just don't know what my future holds.... But, it holds her and that gives me something to work for! I really get motivated knowing that I have to work for someone else besides me. My husband has done more housework this week than he has in six months! He's so excited to have someone who might be able to appreciate sushi the way that he does!! =)
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