I think you have been wonderful taking them in over the years. Yours and Lauren's patience is never-ending.
You deserve a break, and Lauren could use the me-time...especially in her senior year. Congratulations on hosting to begin with!

I agree with Lauren!

Our son felt the same way. Senior year is special and you want to make memories with your friends. We had our Russian student, who we call our son, for his sophomore year and a student from Mexico, who was sent home 2 months early, in his Junior year. Very different experiences! The Russian student was a delight and we cried when he went home. We keep in close touch. The student from Mexico was not interested in much of anything did not really want to have the experience. We never hear from him.

My DD had made that same comment after her junior year with our exchange student! She wanted her senior year to herself!

I applaud you for doing this 2 years in a row. It is a wonderful experience (usually lol) for all involved.

My daughter lived with a host family in Costa Rica. Families there are paid to take in exchange students (not sure if this is so here) and the host mother looked at this as her job. She did everything that was required but nothing more. When my daughter was sick, she contacted ISA her studies abroad program to help her. They were wonderful and very involved with all the students.
Not sure if part of this was that the host mom was following rules or again just did what she had to do.
My daughter went away every weekend. Partly because she wnted to see the country but also because she felt the host famiy needed privacy.
I would not want to take in an exchange student because of what happened to kaths. The most I ever did was host students from Canada for two nights when they came in for a chorus exchange program. That was stressful enough.

Lauren has a great idea. And so much less stress for you!
You guys have been great to do it for two years in a row!
Do you hear from the girls from last year at all??

Are you at your goal weight by the way?

What you have done is wonderful, but enough is enough! Your DD will enjoy her senior year so much.

Hey Ellendi, are you saying that we Canadians are a handful?
LOL

Someone commented to me once that high school exchange student arrangements work best when the students are a grade or two apart. The host kid helps introduce the exchange student to the school, but they develop their own age appropriate friends. That way there is not the too much togetherness thing going on. I assume that means the exchange student is a junior or senior and the host student is younger.

Oh no jas! The girls were fine. It was the stress of having them in my home. Being responsible for kids I did not know.
Sheila, in my daughters case the kids were five and seven years younger. My daughter was a senior in college. She told me that some ISA students were placed with kids their own age, and they did hang out and socialize. I had visons of my daughter being like an older sister and being part of the family. But as I mentioned the host family only did what was required. The kids even ate at a different time than the exchange students. (She had another girl who my daughter got along well with)
Maybe more is expected with a high school exchange student.
The major goal of my daughter was to become more fluent in Spanish.
Maybe a college age student would be a better fit if you are near a university or college.

Kat, yes, in fact I talked to and played Scrabble with Maria earlier today. We have an on-going couple of games going on Facebook, just whenever we have time to take our turn. She's planning to come back to visit this summer or in the fall if she gets accepted to a college here. She still hasn't heard from them. She's still engaged to her boyfriend she met here last year. I invited him to spend yesterday with us celebrating Sola's birthday because he sent me a message Friday about the tornado warnings and said he wanted to hang out with us sometime. The last I heard from Johanna was when Luther died, she posted on my facebook page. She doesn't keep in contact with any of us, including Maria, which kind of makes me sad. And, no, not at my goal weight. I gained a few pounds over the Winter, I think from eating too many carbs that I wasn't supposed to eat. I added bread back into my diet and am cutting it back out again so I'm back down to what I was before now. I'd like to lose another 25 pounds even though everyone tells me I'm too skinny now.

We did try a college student, not one that lives with us just to spend time with the family and do things with. The one we started with was a graduate student from China who was always too busy. We finally had dinner together and she barely spoke to us and when I invited her to have Thanksgiving dinner with us she said she was going to the university's dinner. So, I took that as she didn't really want to spend time with us. She was older, around 27 so that may have been part of the problem. The program called me about a month ago to see if I wanted another student so I said ok. This one is an undergraduate student, same age as Alex, from China again. Our first outing didn't happen because she got drunk with her boyfriend the night before and didn't answer my text messages or calls when we went to pick her up because she was asleep. LOL!

That's kind of sad, Ellendi, that's the whole point of the exchange programs to get to know the host family and their culture. Maybe that's why they don't pay us. Maybe they think people who aren't paid will be doing it for the right reasons, not just the money.

Years ago, when I was in high school, I became very friendly with an exchange student from Peru,South America. Her name was Maria. She and I and my friends got very friendly. She confided in us that the host family was using her as a maid. She had to share a room with their (younger than us) daughter. The hosts made her prepare dinner and clean house for them. When I told my own parents, they volunteered to have Maria move in with us. She did and the rest of the school year went well. When she left, she gave me a gold bracelet. Unfortunately, we lost touch when she returned home. I've thought of her often in the passing years. Kathsgaren, you definitely should NOT host again, at least not soon. Lauren is right. Her senior year is special, she shouldn't have to share it with a drama-queen.

I know my parents & sister really, really enjoyed their exchange-student experience. The kids were the same age, but it was junior year, I think.

We consider him "our German brother," and he comes for all the family reunion events. He and his wife flew in for my mother's funeral.

But we were very lucky--my mom called him "the missing Johnson!" (if Johnson were my last name) because he fit in with us so well.

My mom and dad liked it so much that they did it a second time, and HE is also a "German brother."

Hi Talley Sue, I haven't seen you in a long time!! Welcome back.

Kath, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Liza. I was so tempted to do the exchange student thing when my kids were in high school, except that I heard so many horror stories. But lately I have heard some really good stories, also. A couple surgeons I work with hosted several students and have had really good experiences. In fact, I got the impression one of the surgeons liked the exchange student more than his daughter. Not really, but they were more similar in their likes. He is a real physical fitness addict, and sounds like his DD is not. The exchange student was interested in all of the running and biking and did both of these activities with he and his wife. They even went to visit her and her family in Belgium the following year.

The other surgeon and his family has hosted two boys for the past two years, and have really had great experiences. Maybe boys come with less drama?

Congratulations of your weight loss. When people used to tell me I was too skinny, I used to tell them they hadn't seen me naked, lol. That, unfortunately, is not my problem now.

ellendi, maybe your dd can do like mine and spend summer school in puerto rico...she really enjoyed the experience...

she also did a short missionary trip into mexico (2 weeks) because she had taken a class in medical spanish...don't think though i'd feel as comfortable as i did, years ago when she went...too much violence now, sigh...it did help though, she still uses her spanish as a social wotker...

Kath, I've often wondered about Liza, but couldn't remember her name.

It is too bad she is like that; used to be called inferiority complex, now it is lack of self-esteem. Maybe some one can help her with it someday.

I think Lauren is right. Senior year should be for her. You have been more than generous trying to help the foreign students, now it is you and Lauren time. Enjoy looking forward to it.

Sue

My daughter spent a year in Hamburg, Germany - about Grade 11, I think.

I think that she liked them, and think that probably they would have liked here. The father was an engineer with the city of Hamburg, I think, and have the impression that the Mom was a SAHM.

I haven't heard her say whether they've kept in touch, over the years.

I don't think that she and her Mom hosted an exchange student.

ole joyful

Well its good that you got the affirmation that you did the right thing. I'll bet you're so glad that it's over now!

Way back when I was in high school, there was a foreign exchange student from Sweden. Eventually, a few years after graduation, he married a girl from the school he attended here. They have always lived in Sweden.