WORLDV I E W International Student Program
Hernandez Family Clyde Rinsema
Bowman Family
When we first met our student, Ju Yong Kim we felt honored to be his host family.
We enjoyed watching him hold a baby for the first time when our family came to visit. We have enjoyed learning the customs of Korea. Our favorite part of having Ju Yong in our family is seeing his perspective on life.
Groters Family
When we first met our student we felt excited and a little nervous about having someone unfamiliar to us living in our home. But after just a few months our international student is just like one of our own kids. Our guest student, Rick, seemed particularly excited to make new friends, try new things and travel to new places.
Our kids really enjoy playing board games and ping pong with Rick. We enjoyed watching him/her go body surfing in Lake Michigan in 4 foot seas for the first time.
And the holidays have been a fun time, also. During Thanksgiving we had dinner with our family, played lots of Monopoly and laughed a lot! At Christmas time we opened presents Christmas Eve. This was the first time our student had the opportunity to be around a larger family opening presents together. It was a precious time. Our extended family has enjoyed meeting him at family get -togethers and during the holidays.
Our favorite part of having Rick in our family is the perspective he helps us to have about our culture as compared to his culture and his beautiful piano playing! We have enjoyed learning the differences in the educational systems of Korea as compared to the U. S..
This experience has not felt like a burden because Rick has an observant eye and is always trying to serve others. In addition he has brought much joy and laughter to our family. We look forward to having Rick in our family next year also and helping him to find the right college to attend.
We would encourage anyone to consider hosting if they want to learn more about another country and develop a new life-long friendship.
Bosman Family
When we first met our student we felt excited, we were happy to finally meet and hugged each other. We were fortunate to be able to meet Sarar's mother, brother and grandmother and I think being able to meet us helped ease her mothers mind about where Sarar was staying.
We have enjoyed learning about the the culture and food of Thailand. Thai food is spicy and I'm learning to eat spicier Thai food. I like being able to ask Sarar any questions about Thailand when they come to mind and have over time learned quite a bit about Thailand. Also Hannah has to report on a country, she picked Thailand of course because she has a resource in our house.
She just fit in right away with our family, our family just expanded by one, she became a part of us. Since our family has a high sports interest it's been fun watching Sarar play some sports for the first time. She is so willing to try new things even if she is just learning them, it has been a joy watching her play volleyball and rollerblade she is just so excited trying new things.