NEWSLETTERSEPTEMBER2008

HOSTING/SENDING NEWS

2008-2009 COLUMBIA PACIFIC HOSTING –

The dust has settled and our Thai studentsfinally arrived on September 8th. Please be sureto welcome these new participants! For this AFShosting year, 2008-2009, Columbia Pacific has20 boys and 29 girls from 24 different countries,attending 34 different schools. Two of thesestudents were our winter arrival semester students from Malaysia and Chile, who havereturned home. In addition we are most happyand proud to have three AFS Visiting Teachersfrom Thailand, Suwannee Boonchai at TrilliumCharter School in Portland; Bolivia, Eva Villa atInternational School of Beaverton; and China,“Vickie” Zhuang Libin at Woodstock MandarinImmersion School in Portland with us this year…If anyone would like to reach out to the teachersto invite them to dinner, concert or sportingevent, please let me know and I’ll be happy toconnect you to their families.We could not have accomplished this taskwithout each and every one of you host familyrecruiters, lead trackers, application reviewers,bio writers, host family interviewers, schoolrelationship cultivators, orientation leaders,student supporters, gateway and welcomefamilies and of course, primarily, our dear hostfamilies who have opened their homes andhearts to changing the world person by person.The staff and volunteers working together makethis happen, but it is the families and thestudents who make it possible at all.THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED INANY WAY! Best Wishes to all for a life-changing,wonderful year!Our 25 Countries: ARGENTINA, AUSTRIA,BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, CHINA, COSTARICA, DENMARK, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,FINLAND, GEORGIA (FLEX), GERMANY,HUNGARY, INDIA, ITALY, JAPAN,KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, MALAYSIA,NORWAY, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, SWEDEN,THAILAND.Our 34 Great High Schools: BEAVERTON,CAMAS, CANBY, CLEVELAND, DAVIDDOUGLAS, ESTACADA, EVERGREEN,FRANKLIN, GRANT, INTERNATIONALSCHOOL OF BEAVERTON, KELSO,LAKERIDGE, LINCOLN, MADISON, MARKMORRIS, MCMINNVILLE, MOUNTAIN VIEW,PARKROSE, R. E. LONG, SKYVIEW,SOUTHRIDGE, ST. MARY’S, SUNSET, THEDALLES-WAHTONKA, TIGARD, TILLAMOOK,TRILLIUM, VANCOUVER SCHOOL OF ARTS &ACADEMICS, WASHOUGAL, WEST LINN,WILSON, WILSONVILLE, WOODLAND,WOODSTOCK.As always, I'd like to encourage everyone to"speak AFS" at every opportunity. We wanthosting to be a privilege and joy and we'd like toget our kids placed earlier in the year, so theycan be corresponding with their families beforethey ever arrive. That will only happen if each of us takes the responsibility to share our experience and plant the seeds for others toshare the joy and challenge of promoting peace,person by person. Thanks to everyone—especially those who stepped up, late in thegame, to help our other regions out with theselast placements. We do have five students in“Welcome Families” who we will be working tofind permanent homes for. Yes, it is a year-round process. Please plant the seeds of peace,by asking at every opportunity, if not now, thenlater! “YNKUYA” (You never know unless youask!)

Sally Ann, Interim Hosting Coordinator

THE CHAIR REPORT—Bonnie Richardson-Kott

To start off this school hosting year, I got the opportunity to help out at the ArrivalOrientation in Camas, Washington a few weeks ago. My job was to assist our super organized and dedicated volunteer/host mom, Tami Spears with registration. I tried toconcentrate on making sure all of our new students had their health forms and that eachstudent double checked their emails, but I have to tell you, that was hard work! I was justtoo distracted by all the excitement in the air as the students and families prepared to meeteach other for the first time. And I was having a really nice time chatting with our newvolunteer/liaison Andrea who managed to get herself roped in to helping out withregistration, too.But that is exactly what volunteering with AFS is all about. It's about tending to details andputting together programs and connecting people with one another, while at the same timeenjoying the excitement and enthusiasm of all the kids who have come to our country toimmerse themselves in our culture and learn about all different kinds of Americanfamilies. Their laughter and wonderment at everything around them is infectious. As avolunteer, that is what makes AFS so much fun and that is what ties us all together.We'd love to have you come join our volunteer team. There is always something you cancontribute and there is plenty of excitement and fun to share. If you'd like to become moreinvolved, check out our local volunteer website:www.afscp.comand email us today!

Bonnie Richardson-Kott, Columbia Pacific Area Team Chair

Bonnie and her daughter Rosabel

COLUMBIA PACIFIC HOSTING/STUDENT NEWSWelcome 2008-2009 AFS Students!

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The Columbia Gorge Chapter had their Welcome Picnic for Monicafrom Costa Rica and Giulia from Italy on September 2nd, at RiverenzaCourt in The Dalles. We had a wonderful gathering of host families,liaisons, former host families, and AFS supporters with a delicious potluckprovided by all.

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Photo taken at Bernice’s SE Cluster Welcome Picnic held at thehome of Mark and Mindy Roddy on Sunday, August 24th. Studentsare Maria from China, Hulda form Norway, a guest, Oda fromNorway, Mark from Hungary and Feroz from India. The SE Cluster will have two more students who are arriving in September—Chonlawit and Nutnida form Thailand.

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Don Sheneberger and his new, 10thhosted son Niles fromGermany. They did atwo state road trip.Seattle, Bend in four days.

VISIT OUR WEB SITE, WWW.AFSCP.COM!

Don’t forget that we have a great resource for both host parentsand exchange students at our web site, www.afscp.com. You’llfind current and past newsletters there as well as pictures fromAFS events. Visit the site now to see the first picture ever takenof you and your host family at Arrival Orientation. The onlinecalendar is a great source of information. There’s a quick list ofall of the mandatory orientations. You can even register forCamp Adams on the web site and save a stamp. Remember, AFSColumbia-Pacific’s website is www.afscp.com.

James Spears, Area Team Webmaster

WHAT THE STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY...

What did the Students have to say when they were asked the following questions?

1. What groups, clubs and /or sports have you joined?

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International Club—

Keti, Georgia

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Soccer Team & International Club—

Ellen, Germany

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Oceanography & International Cluband soon the swim team—

Philip,Germany

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Basketball Team & Drum line—

Daniel,Austria

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Vancouver Lake Crew (rowing club),Taekwondo & a fitness center—

Frederik, Germany

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Soon to join the Theater Club—

Dianhong, China

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Volleyball & Band—

Lena, Germany

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Hopefully Football—

Andreas,Denmark

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YMCA and Tap lessons—

Cat, India

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Tennis & BMX–bike—

Killian,Germany

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Volleyball—

Tiantian, China

2. What is your funniest moment you have experienced so far in America?

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My Welcome Family had 4 kids and theyoungest, Roman who was one and ahalf years old, always wanted to playwith me. This was my funniest momentbecause it was so difficult for me tounderstand his English. For example.“Vos Keti, vos!” which meant “watchKeti, watch” or “ikusmi Keti” whichmeant “excuse me.” -

Keti, Georgia.

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While on vacation in California I forgotmy swimsuit even though we talkedabout it the whole day.—

Ellen,Germany

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While on vacation at an AmusementPark, all of my clothes were wet andeveryone was laughing.—

Philip,Germany

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Trip to the State Fair—

Daniel, Austria

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Swimming in the Pacific Ocean with myhost brothers—

Frederik, Germany

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Going to Bend and seeing movies withmy host family—

Dianhong, China

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It is funny that people in Oregon talkfunny about Americans in the Midwest.—

Lena, Germany

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When I went to a pretzel store with myhost dad. :-) One of them, Curtis,wanted the biggest pretzel-hotdogpossible, and the lady at the counter told him that he could get the bigger one for $5 opposed to the $4 for thelittle one. He then responded “Wow, if Icould have got 4 inches for $1 Iwould’ve done that a long time ago!” -

Andreas, Denmark

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Tillamook Cheese Factory—

Cat, India

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The Pendleton Round-up—

Killian,Germany

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My host family took me to a partywhere everyone ware Hawaiian clothesand flowers.—

Libin, Visiting teacher from China

3. What is your strangest moment you have experienced so far in America?

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My host family had a Sushi party and Itasted raw fish for the first time—

Juulia, Finland

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How the students behave together withthe Teachers—

Ellen, Germany

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It is strange that Americans usedifferent units of measure than inGermany. Also, everything is muchbigger here like cars, refrigerators andthe Supersize menus at McDonalds.—

Philip, Germany

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The first day of school—

Daniel,Austria

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Every morning at an Americanschool—

Frederik, Germany

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My strangest moment is when I canunderstand when people talk to me inEnglish—

Dianhong, China

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That I am the only kid in the hostfamily.—

Lena, Germany

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Buying a ticket for the cinema for just$7.—

Andreas, Denmark

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American Culture—

Cat, India

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There are so many different kinds of people from all over the world inAmerica, I have never been a“foreigner”.—

Tiantian, China

CONTRIBUTE TO THE AFS NEWSLETTER!

The Columbia Pacific Area Team publishes a quarterly newsletter sharinginformation, ideas, culture, insight, and funny and/or interesting stories.Share your hosting experiences with other host families and volunteers inthe area (cultural differences, heartwarming stories, etc) and encourageyour hosted student to share their insight (what they’ve learned, what hassurprised them, what they have found interesting, events in which theyhave participated, etc). And, if you have any ideas or would like to seesomething in the newsletter, let me know. You can view all past issues of the newsletter at the Area Team website,

www.afscp.com

.Future DeadlinesDec. 15. 2008March 9, 2009May 25, 2009

Tami Spears, Area Team Newsletter Editor

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS—$20...NOWAVAILABLE!

The Entertainment books have arrived.The are $20. The money will be usedfor a Seattle trip in the spring. ContactBernice Schuchardt,bmschuch@aol.com or give me a callat (503) 539-8146 or (503) 775-4161.Please pass the word around and helpme sell these books. Last year our kids had a great time!