Guideline for When Meeting Your Host Family

I cannot speak for everyone here because each household has its own individuality. As an
exchange student, you spend significant time at school and at home with your host family. You
are strongly encouraged to contact your host family after you find out who they are. This is a
great opportunity for you to get to know a little bit about them beforehand. Typically, they will
reach out to you and ask you questions to get to know you.

1. After you find out who your host family is and introduce yourself. They would want to
work with the host family to set up a date for your arrival.
2. Once you have booked your flight, please send it to your host family. That way, they
have your flight information because they will be picking you up from the airport.

What do I do with my host family at home?

A host family is essentially your legal guardian for when you are in the U.S. Please communicate
with them whether you are homesick, sad, or if you have any questions about anything
whatsoever. A lot of host families do not get paid for hosting students. They are genuinely
interested in learning about your culture, who you are, and where you are from. It is important to
treat them with respect and honesty. Most organizations will walk you through some of the rules,
expectations, or what to expect but I also have a few things that you might find useful.

 House rules- Please ask them if they have any rules that you need to follow or
expectations or responsibilities that are expected of you. Remember, you are part of their
family. They will treat you like their own children.
 Ask them questions- One of the best ways to learn a language is to speak the language.
Try your best to talk to them and interact with them.
 Dinner- Again, some families might not eat dinner together but for some families, dinner
is something they do together. So, it is nice to participate.
 House chores- Most host families will expect you to help out around the house. Simple
chores such as, vacuuming, dishes, your own laundry, etc. I understand that some
children from different cultures may not expect to do chores because of their culture at
home, but please be mindful that you might have to help out around the house.
 How to improve your English at home? From my experience, I learned a lot of English at
home because I would always hang out with my host family rather than staying cooped
up in my room. You have to always be confident and not be shy. Host families
understand that you are learning. Therefore, they will speak articulately and slowly.
 What to do if there is conflict with someone in the family? This varies on a case to case
basis. Some host families have young children or teenagers. I am not saying this will
certainly happen. Sometimes you run into issues with them or someone says something
the other one does not like. One of the best things to do is to talk to your host parents and
be honest with them. Another thing to keep in mind is you can report it to your area
representative, which I will talk about later.
 Communicate with the- It is very important to always communicate with your host
family. Tell them about your day or things you are struggling with at school or in life.
They are there to help you. Even if you are sad because you miss home or if you are
 expiring culture shock, it is good to let them know. That way, they can offer to help or
just be there to listen to you.

What happens if my host family is not nice?

 Area representative- An area representative works directly with you, your host family,
and your organization. They are there to make sure your stay goes smoothly by checking
in with you and your host family individually to see if there’s any issues and things that
both parties are not happy about. In my own experience, they check on me every month
by phone and they would come to my host family’s house every other month to talk to
me and my host family in person.
 Can you move out? If there are any major issues where you and your host family cannot
come to an agreement or compromise. You are entitled to request a new host family.
PLEASE remember that you have to have legitimate explanation. For example, one of
my friends had to go to another host family because there were drug issues at home. The
other one also moved out because the host family would not provide them food. If there
is anything that concerns you, your safety, health, etc, please do not hesitate to contact
your area representative.