US host families learn from foreign kids

DENVER - It was Chen Miaofan's first trip away from her native China. At lunch with us in Denver, she looked so bemused that I had to ask: "Is this the first time you've had a hamburger?"

"No," says the 15-year-old. "It's the first time I've had such a big hamburger."

That encounter with supersized American portions was one of many observations that students from abroad have shared with us. Chen, from Hefei in eastern China, was the latest of a half-dozen young people from around the world who have called our guest room home. Needless to say, we learn as much from them as they do from us.

Our interest in hosting international visitors comes from our own experiences abroad. My husband, daughter and I returned to the United States in 2012 following my two decades as an Associated Press correspondent on three continents. People welcomed us in their hometowns around the world. Hosting foreign students lets us pay those debts forward.

Through their eyes

It is also a way to connect with the world from our front door and see our country through another's eyes.

An Iraqi student who stayed with us for two weeks was surprised to see people in wheelchairs going to work or school in Denver. In Baghdad, she says, they are hidden away. She helped me see that I had taken for granted the progress here for Americans with disabilities.

The State Department-backed Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program and local partner WorldDenver kept this Iraqi teen busy meeting with local development groups. Other organizations have taken our visitors to basketball games, to mountain retreats and downtown for scavenger hunts. Often our visitors go to school with our daughter.

But I sometimes think our main contribution as hosts is giving them time to rest and reflect. We share meals and show off Denver, including my favorite view of the Rockies.

Guests help make pancakes on Sunday mornings. We have sent a French student to work out with our daughter's swim team and a Brazilian to her piano practice. Chen went ice skating with us, and handled her first time on the ice with as much aplomb as she had shown eating a hamburger the size of her face.

Language and logistics

All our guests knew English well enough for daily interactions. Any young person willing to embark on these trips has the pluck and flexibility to meet us more than halfway when it comes to navigating cultural differences.

But these are teenagers. The one place where courage has failed a guest or two has been at the table. I once looked up "hunger strike" online to reassure myself that a picky eater could survive the week on only blueberries and coconut water. And pancakes.

Hosting opportunities have been easy for us to arrange through our daughter's public magnet school, the Denver Center for International Studies. Students there can study Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese (my daughter's choice), Lakota or Spanish and have rich opportunities to experience the world through classes, clubs, travel and hosting.

A school staff member helps connect with host families. We just check her calendar to see whether we can fit in a visitor. Organizers have accommodated our preferences for girls around our daughter's age and for one guest at a time.

So far, we have opted to host stays of just a few weeks to fit our busy schedules.