Weekend With Guests From Japan

Once again we opened our home to guests from Japan this week. Long-time readers may recall when we hosted Kayoko and Anna in summers past through the Ohio 4-H Program. Hosting international guests has so many benefits that of course we said yes when asked by daughters of our friend Naoko if they could stay with us for a few days.

I was pregnant with Lil when we hosted Naoko in 2005. She mothered me through a hot summer, creating a special bond between us. We met her daughters Maiko and Yuiko on our trip to Japan in 2007 and welcomed the chance to house them for a few nights this weekend during their short spring break vacation to Ohio.

Maiko and Yuiko arrived on Thursday evening after a lengthy wait on stand-by in the Chicago airport. On Friday, we drove North out of Columbus to see Amish and visit with the animals at Six Buckets Farm. We came home for dinner with friends which featured venison sausage and pie that Maiko helped cook.

On Saturday, the girls shopped the Worthington Farmers' Market and Mall. We visited my father-in-law's studio and City Folk's Farm Shop before Maiko and Yuiko made us ramen for dinner.

We saw Maiko and Yuiko off to another friends' home on Sunday. Their visit was short and we couldn't show them everything we wanted to, but that's OK. We're building a relationship sure to last a lifetime with more visits over the years.

It's that time of year when Ohio 4-H is looking for host families again for July 24-August 19, 2013. You don't need to be a 4-Her or have any special plans this summer - the children coming here want to see real life in a family with a 10-15 year old host sibling. If that's you, please read the Ohio 4-H International Program website to fill out an application or contact me for more information.

Bring the World to You: Host a Japanese Exchange Student

We have 'people' in Japan. People who have lived with us, vacationed with us, and treated us to tours of their home cities. We have people who mothered me during my pregnancy and attended my wedding. People who were foreign exchangees and are now family.

We met our people, Miyu, Naoko, Kaoko, Kristiina and more, through the Ohio 4-H International Program. Ohio 4-H has been arranging exchanges between Ohio families and a Japanese English language learning program called Labo for over 30 years. In 1993, my parents hosted a Japanese student for a month and went on to host several others, including Miyu for a year of her high school. After Alex and I were married and settled back to Ohio, we hosted three adult exchangees.

The benefits to inviting exchangees into your home and having friends-like-family around the world are enormous:

• World news and conflicts are viewed in a broad light.
• Communications, during the homestay and after, must be creative to overcome the language difference.
• Exposure to new games, ideas and foods make us grow as a family.
• Our daughter is growing up with a global awareness borne of genuine concern for her friends in other countries.
• Visiting local places with a foreigner allows you to experience them in a new way.
• We have friends to visit in their homeland.

The Ohio 4-H Program is looking for families who can host students ages 11-17 this summer. The 4-H program provides training, support and some activities during the homestay while the host family supplies a bed, daily meals, and a host brother or sister of a similar age. All the details are on the Ohio 4-H International website.

Apply to be a host family today and bring the world to you this summer!

Change Your Life This Summer: Host an Exchange Student

When I was twelve, my family hosted a Japanese girl named Megumi for one month during the summer through the Ohio 4-H International Program.  Hosting challenged us all to communicate differently, show off our community, and open our hearts to new relationships.  We learned so much about ourselves and had so much fun that the next year, my parents agreed to host a high school girl, Miyuki, for the whole year.

Miyuki became a lifelong friend that year, more like an older sister.  She brought lots of laughter into our home and taught us to drink Japanese tea and rice.  She traveled with us on a family vacation to Arizona and delighted in experiencing American customs.

The summer Miyuki went home to Japan, I traveled there for a two month exchange.  At the young age of fourteen I stayed with Japanese families I had never met, traveled Tokyo subways and trains by myself, and experienced with wide innocent eyes the beauty of Japan.

Five years ago when I was pregnant with Lil, Alex and I hosted a Japanese adult chaperone in our home.  Naoko pampered me and I loved it.  Having her spend a month with us was the perfect excuse to go visit places in Ohio we love but rarely make the time to visit, like Serpent Mound and Hocking Hills.

We traveled to Japan as a family in 2007 to visit our friends.  It was an exhausting trip with a toddler but what an experience!  Exploring temples, trains, sushi, and subways are memories we will hold dear forever.

Last summer, another chaperone, Kayoko, stayed with us.  As often as I can, I volunteer with the Ohio 4-H International Program helping with exchangee orientation and departure, presentations at the state fair, transportation and more.

As you might expect, these experiences have changed my life for the better.  I now have friends as close as family in a country around the other side of the world. Lil is showered by gifts from Japan on her birthday and New Years. I know a little of the language and can speak from experience about the Japanese culture.

What's it to you?

I want you to consider hosting a Japanese exchange student.  The Ohio 4-H International program is recruiting families right now for their exchange program with the LABO Japanese organization.  This exchange is renowned for the quality support staff and host families overwhelmingly say the hosting experience is a positive one.

The month long exchange program places 12 - 17 year old Japanese youth with families who have a child of approximately the same age.  Families with or without children can host the college students and adult chaperones who travel with the group.  For 2010, the Japanese students will be in Ohio July 23 - August 18.

The first host family matches will be made in early March and continue until the last exchangee is placed, usually in mid May.  All the details about the program are found in the Programs Booklet (another .pdf).  Please consider filling out an application (link opens .pdf) today!