By on April 14th, 2017
The Benefits of Being a Homestay Host Family
Is your family thinking about being a homestay family? If so, the following benefits will hopefully make it very clear that this is a great choice.
You Get to Make a Dream Come True
It’s easy to take for granted how amazing it is to live in this country. The truth is that there are countless people all over the world who are dying to come visit just once, and also to stay for a prolonged period of time.
By becoming a homestay host, you are going to make a young person’s dreams come true and change their lives for the better. They will always look back fondly on this period of their lives, and this includes the people who made it possible.
Improve Your Understanding of the World
Of course, living in the U.S. also means that our perspective of the world is often very different from what other people see. To be fair, we’re a giant and very diverse country, so just understanding our own nation can be a challenge.
Still, having a broader perspective will help you better understand the world at large. Your homestay student can help you see the world from their country’s perspective and often through some of their neighboring nation’s perspectives, too.
Just by some of the questions they ask, you’ll gain a better understanding of the world around you.
A Permanent International Connection
Another great thing about being a homestay host is that you’ll always have a connection to somewhere else in the world. If you ever decide to visit the country of your exchange student, you might be able to stay with them or at least stay nearby so they can help you get around.
Introduce Your Children to Other Parts of the World
If you have your own children, they’ll greatly benefit from having a homestay brother or sister. As we mentioned above, this could be because they’ll be able to travel to other parts of the world and know people when they arrive.
At an early age, though, simply meeting people from other parts of the world is such a huge advantage. Their horizons are immediately broadened. They’ll have a better appreciation for how good their lives are and that people from other parts of the globe might be different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Becoming a Second Parent
When you welcome a young student in your home, you have to understand that you’re more than just a “host.” After all, they’re still developing. They’re still going to face challenges and hard times and may need some support every now and then.
As a host parent, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing much of the time: parenting. While these students tend to be a lot more mature than others in their same age group, you should expect that they’ll still need a mom/dad from time to time.
This is a huge honor and might be the most unexpected benefit. To be fair, the bond you form with this young person can be a real challenge, too, because eventually, you’ll have to let them go on their own way.
Don’t be surprised if you learn a lot about yourself through this experience, as well. Parenting someone else’s child from another country for six months or a year will be a very eye-opening experience but one that can help you grow in important ways.
If you’re thinking about becoming a homestay host, hopefully the above makes it very clear that this will be a fantastic decision, even one you decide to make more than once. Although you’re the one hosting, you clearly have a lot to gain from the relationship.