Did you ever want to host a student from another country in your home and learn about another culture first-hand? Or did you ever want to be one of those students and go abroad for the learning experience of a lifetime?
If either of these things appeals to you, Barb Duguay, area rep for ASSE (an international student exchange program) is encouraging you to attend a meeting this Sunday (Nov. 30) from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Valley Adult Learning Association (608 B Scott St.).
“We’re trying to get people interested in hosting for the next school year,” said Duguay. “That’s why we’re having this meeting early.
“If a potential family has a preference as to what country the student comes from, or whether they want a male or female student, they can apply now and get the first choice,” she noted.
It’s also important to get the process going early so as to give ample time to process visas for the exchange students, she added.
Those interested in hosting an exchange student, or becoming a student abroad, should call 274-3553 and register in advance for the hour-long information session.
The session is meant to inform potential host families or exchange students as to what to expect from the ASSE program.
Those who apply can do so to be a host, or go abroad, for one semester, an entire school year, a summer homestead (six weeks), the duration of a twinning program (where a student from here stays with a family for three months and then returns with a student from that country to stay with their own family here for another three months), or even a summer language visit (four weeks in another country for the sole purpose of getting a grasp of other languages).
Duguay noted students placed through the ASSE are well-screened, fluent in English, and between 15-18 years old.
Each young person in the program has expressed a sincere desire to learn about our country by living with a family and attending high school, and has a list of preferences themselves so they can be perfectly matched with their host family.
Duguay said any potential host families who are reluctant to participate for financial reasons should know that the students have excellent medical and liability insurance—and their own spending money.
A host family only has to pay for their food and shelter.
“Families don’t have to worry about entertaining their students. It’s about amalgamating them into their family, into their everyday life,” stressed Duguay.
“If they [the students] want to eat out, they pay for it. If they want to play sports, they pay for it.”
Duguay also said host families don’t have to have children of their own (let alone teenagers). In the past, older parents whose own children have since left home, young couples who’ve yet to have any children, and even single people have hosted exchange students.
“It’s all about compatibility. Some students might want to stay with a large family while others won’t,” she remarked.
The ASSE program currently has placed seven students in the Kenora-Rainy River districts this school year, and made many more placements before that—all of which have been reported as positive learning experiences.
Pat Clysdale-Cornell of La Vallee is just one of the many hosts who has used the ASSE program—most recently having 18-year-old Karilou Alaricon of Juárez, Mexico in her home for the 2002-03 school year.
“It’s great. There’s a whole bunch of benefits to it,” she remarked. “You get to learn about other cultures. Sure, we had some great Mexican food, but it’s the cultural differences that were really fascinating.
“You really get to know the student, and in our case, through e-mail, meet their family, too,” added Clysdale-Cornell. “You also get to meet the friends they make at school.
“My daughter [Rebecca] is really into sports, but Karilou was into drama. She exposed us to a whole other aspect of the community.”
Duguay said she became involved in ASSE after her parents hosted an exchange student from Australia 30 years ago—and ended up creating a friendship across international borders that remains to this day.
Both Duguay and Clysdale-Cornell noted that in their personal experience, and talking with other host families, that problems rarely arise with exchange students.
“Usually, it’s related to cultural differences,” said Clysdale-Cornell. “For example, in the Latin culture, there’s more freedom for young people. They’re allowed to stay out later and do other things at an earlier age than in North America.
“This holds true for some European cultures, as well,” she added.
These differences either can be negotiated between the students and the host family, or either party can ask the ASSE area rep to step in as a mediator.
Duguay noted that under ASSE’s regulations, students aren’t allowed to drink, smoke, drive, or travel alone without their host family’s permission, but beyond that, it’s up to the host family.
Any other problems or questions host families or students face during the exchange can be fielded to the ASSE rep, who’s obligated to help them out, said Duguay.
ASSE was founded as the American Scandinavian Student Exchange back in the 1930s as an exchange strictly between American and northern Europe, but it now serves as an agency to place students anywhere from New Zealand, Germany, and South Africa to Belarus, China, and Kazakhstan.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
