When I was a sophomore in high school my parents first floated around the idea of having an exchange student. My sister is five years older than me, so it had been just my parents and I for some time. I was ecstatic ā another person to hang out with, (and someone to give me a break from my parents)! My junior year we applied and hosted an exchange student for the entire year.
This experience had ups and downs, but taught me more about myself than I ever thought it would. We hosted a girl from Germany and overall she was really great. She was a kind person, down to try everything, and respectful. Yet, my patience was definitely still tested.Ā
I want to start with what I enjoyed about having her stay with us:
- I loved getting to hear about her culture and hearing stories from her life. It was interesting hearing about the small differences between our cultures such as opening a window; she would describe how the windows open differently in Germany. There were many small things like that Iāve just never thought about before. I also got to learn some words and hear about the geography of Germany. Her mom is also from Russia, so I got to learn about Russian culture and hear things about her grandma who still lives there.Ā
- It was fun to have someone in the house who I could hang out with at any time. We would go on beach trips, go grab food, or make a quick Target run together.
- I made a lifelong friend. I got to visit her last summer and she is planning to come here to see me again in the near future. Having that connection and a friend on the other side of the world is super cool and we still call every couple weeks and catch up on life.
Now I will go over some things that didnāt go as well:
- For me, having an exchange student was like having a sibling in the house. However, with my sister I donāt hold back from getting angry or annoyed at her. With an exchange student I felt like I couldnāt really be upset at her or tell her how I was feeling if I felt annoyed. It was like I had to be āonā all the time, even when I was home. For example, with my sister, if I do the dishes one night I have no problem telling her to get off her ass and do them the next night. With someone you didnāt grow up with itās different and I was much more cautious with how I talk to her. This couldāve just been the nature of our relationship, the culture differences, or that she didnāt have any siblings at home, but that was my experience.Ā
- The year I had an exchange student was an extremely busy year for me. It was my junior year of high school so between my extracurriculars and classes, I didnāt have a ton of free time. I think this was hard on both of us because she was in easier classes and had more time where she constantly wanted to be busy. I lived in a rural area, so if she wanted to do something she would have to be driven. We had to work hard to keep her entertained and busy.
Overall, Iām so grateful for the experience and I would definitely recommend anyone to have an exchange student. However, it can be mentally tiring and that is something to consider before making this decision.Ā