Families and Students
Thankful to My Host Family!
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My name is Gassan and I am a YES Exchange Student from Israel. I live in Copperas Cove, TX, USA and I live with my host dad, John C. Johns, and my host brother Mustafa Musayev, who is a FLEX Exchange Student from Kazakhstan. I cannot describe how lucky and how thankful I feel to be placed in such a wonderful host family and in such a great host community!
From the first day I arrived it was clear that Mr. Jones was the perfect host dad. He is funny, caring, is a great cook and he is always encourages me to do my very best. I am never bored! And thanks to him, I have enjoyed America from the moment I arrived. I am also taking advanced placement classes in school and I am getting A’s in all of my classes thanks to my host dad making me determined to succeed. I also manage to play tennis, which I like so much, and I sing in our church’s choir and I have lots of fun because I have met so many cool friends!
My new American friends are great. They are very supportive and together we share unforgettable moments of laughter and fun! During International Education Week, I did a presentation about Israel and everyone seemed so interested in my country and I think they liked it because they have asked me to do my presentation again in many other classes!
Throughout the American holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mr. Jones proved to be so energetic and cheerful. On Thanksgiving Day he cooked so much delicious food that he invited his uncle and other family members to share and I had so much fun! On Christmas I got so many gifts from Mr. Jones, neighbors and friends, and all of that happened before the huge dinner meal that Mr. Jones prepared! As I mentioned earlier, he is a good cook, a really good cook.
So I am very happy to be a part of the Program and I hope others will want to try it too. It is worth it to be an exchange student and a host family!
FLEX Alumna Maintains Long-standing Friendship between her Two Families
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Vladlena Chopa, a 2005 alumna of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, spent her exchange year in Maui, Hawaii, and took back wonderful memories to her hometown of Nikolayiv, Ukraine. When asked about her on-program experience, she said that her U.S. host family was the highlight of her exchange.
“Kathleen and Barclay MacDonald put a lot into my exchange year so that I always felt at home and left with positive impressions. They truly became my second family and I am so happy that we still keep in contact! They are very kind and devoted people. They advised me in times of need and treated me like a real member of the family. They are the people I truly trust and thank them for helping me develop into the person I am today. There was only one time I cried on Maui… it was the time at the airport when I was leaving back to Ukraine…”
When she returned home, it became her goal to introduce her new family to her natural family.
Chopa’s hopes became reality in April 2006, when she and her Ukrainian family hosted her U.S. host family for a three-week visit. The two families traveled to Kyiv, camped in Crimea, and met friends and family in her hometown. Chopa recounted the experience as “…a real family-reunion! It was wonderful to see all of my relatives, Ukrainian and American, finally united together at a dinner table, laughing, and telling each other stories!”
That was just the beginning of a very happy story. In December 2006, Chopa and her natural parents had a chance to visit their “host relatives” in America. The families spent six wonderful weeks in Maui, traveled to Los Angeles and Universal Studios, and celebrated Christmas and New Years together. “It was a very warm and happy atmosphere,” Chopa reminisced, “sharing Russian and American recipes, exchanging pieces of our cultures, and realizing that through our differences, we are so alike!”
In September 2007, Chopa’s host parents visited Ukraine again. After spending five days together in Lviv, Chopa’s host parents traveled on to Western Ukraine to visit another former exchange student.
In the summer of 2008, Chopa had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii to visit her host family again and both of her families are planning another reunion together in Ukraine in February, 2010. As Chopa put it, “it has become a sort of tradition for us to see each other two times a year, one time in their homeland, one time in Ukraine. And I hope that this wonderful tradition will continue!”
Future Leaders Exchange program: http://exchanges.state.gov/youth/programs/flex.html
Host Families and Exchange Students Discover More About Each Other and Themselves Through Hosting
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Each year, thousands of families across the United States welcome international exchange students – including those participating in the Community College Initiative Program of the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. International students share holiday meals with host families, discuss current events, and visit places of interest in local communities together. They explore their differences, similarities, values and beliefs. The conversations enable Americans and international students to learn about each other’s culture and way of life.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, Egyptian students learned to play basketball from their American host “brothers.” In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, an Egyptian student and her American host “mom” traded recipes and taught each other how to cook favorite foods. In Dallas, Texas, Egyptian students invited their host families to an Iftar, the festive meal during Ramadan which breaks the fast. Later in the fall, the host families invited the students to their homes to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Through special events and casual conversations, host families and exchange students discover more about each other and themselves.
