A Cultural Exchange

In 1982, my family hosted Fabiola, a 17 year-old girl from Chile. She stayed with us for 10 weeks, but the memory of the experience has stayed with me until this day. The experience was fun for me as I had a brother, but no sister. Though we were different, we were very much alike as well. To this day, we are still in contact. She has come back for a few visits, and though the years have been many, catching up has been a breeze.

Around this time of year, back in 2002, we started seriously looking to host an exchange student. I was hoping that my daughters could have the same type of experience as I did all those years ago. The search was almost like going shopping. We needed to find a girl who would fit in our family lifestyle and that enjoyed at least similar things as we do. First, we had to look through the different organizations, then to find the right student.

Six months of aggressively looking (after about 18 months of passively looking) we found our Hanna. She was a 17-year old from Sweden, and played soccer. Hanna would be 4 years older than Victoria, 8 years older than Adriana. This could work. We wrote to the exchange program, told them who we wanted, and she was placed on our list. Now, the interrogation came, a near 20-page application to host, letters of recommendation, host interview, background checks on Larry and I – pretty much everything minus providing DNA. (But, it’s good to know they were thorough in who they place students with.) Afterall, she was going to live with us for a year. She arrived at the beginning of August 2003, and left after the 4th of July, 2004 – she arrived with much excitement and anxiety, and left with many, many tears. I learned as much about Hanna and the Swedish culture as I hope she learned about the American culture. She was a smart, fun and enjoyable girl to be around. She wanted to constantly be exposed to new ventures, she loved to be on the go. I also learned that the Swedes had no idea what Swedish Fish were!! But now, thanks to the American influence, Hanna, her family and friends are all familiar with this wonderful treat! Hanna's year here was more for the experience, as she was not getting credit for it in Sweden.

At Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts with Hanna

June 2007, I had a crazy idea – let’s find a student again. This time, let’s go with an Italian girl, as I wanted to find out more about my own heritage through the life of a teenager. We began our ‘shopping’ for an Italian girl, and after reviewing over 250 profiles, we found Elisa (Eli). I vividly remember her profile letter. My father’s words still ring true, her letter was “too” perfect. Could this girl actually live up to what she presented in her letter? She hit the impossible, as she not only lived up to it, she surpassed it. Educationally, she was superior. We often talked about the differences in the schooling systems in the US vs. Italy. She said if she could take pieces of both, she’d be happy. In Italy, she went to school 6 days per week, there were no sports, no clubs, no proms, no graduations, no special days at school. Here, we offered all the extra “stuff” … which, is good and bad, I know. Personality wise, she was a perfect fit. She has a quirky sense of humor, and just fun and enjoyable to be around. Her humor, her charm was heartwarming and we created a special connection that will always stay with me.

The meeting of the families

The cost - in minimal. One extra mouth to feed, maybe the equivalence of an extra load of laundry a week. The benefit is this new relationship you form, and exposing you and your family to someone from another culture. As we shared our ways with these girls, we learned what it was like in their countries. Eli and Hanna can attest to the amount of times one of us would ask, "in Italy/Sweden do you...."

I feel that not only did my family learn about their cultures, but their friends from school learned about their cultures as well. There are still nights and times where I miss having them around. We had great fun on the big things that we did, but it’s all the little things, the things we laughed about that makes me miss them all the more. We were blessed with two amazing experiences. If you know of anyone out there, who is interested in hosting, and wants to talk with someone about the experience, please send them my way. The only pitfall is, they each took a piece of my heart with them when they left. But there’s the promise that we’ll see each other again. That’s the way it was meant to be.