Blog: Sharing our stories

We have laughed with them and talked with them at length enjoying conversations during and after dinner. We have celebrated birthdays. I am pleased that my cooking has been acceptable to people with very different diets to us and every student has commented about the good quality of food in our guest book.

We have learnt much about the cultures of Vietnam, Russia, China and Hong Kong and keep a large map marking their home towns.  We have learnt to accept cultural differences at the dinner table but one thing I still have not been able to master is the use of chopsticks.  I think when I visit China later this year I will be taking a fork!

Would I recommend taking a homestay student?  Most definitely!

We have learnt a lot from our time hosting students from various backgrounds and countries

To have a student I think people need to:

• Be accepting of their ways whilst maintaining your own standards.
• You need to be understanding, patient and kind.
• You need to treat these students like family as they are living in our homes as part of your family.
• You need to be prepared to ‘go the extra yard’ to help. When they arrive, they need to buy a travel card for public transport, open a bank account and buy a phone card to call their parents.  You need to know where to buy these.

We’ve had some amazing experiences with our students!

THAO (Vietnam)
Thao was our first student ever.  She arrived with a suitcase which was much bigger than she was and with very little English.  My husband struggled to carry the huge suitcase up the stairs.  She already had a degree from her home country and came to do further studies in Australia.  As she stood in our kitchen I excused myself to go to the toilet.  She did not understand and followed on after me.  We both laughed when she realised where I was going.

Thao accompanied us to our holiday house and her hair nearly stood on end when she saw the speed limit on the freeway was 100kph.  Unfortunately, when there she got sick so I cooked chicken soup and she cried when I took it to her. She told me later that she thought no-one could ever look after her like her mother in this strange new land.  Thao moved out after about two months with a friend but that didn’t work out and she phoned me, crying and asking if she could come back to our house.  She stayed for a further five months before moving again.  Today Thao has finished her degree, speaks fluent English and is a confident and attractive young woman.  She has visited me on several occasions bringing me an orchid last Mother’s Day.  On her most recent visit she brought her parents to visit and to see her first Australian house.  They want my husband and me to come to visit them in their home.

RAN (China)
Ran had stayed in Homestay previously while doing secondary school and his first degree.  He returned to further his studies.  He now lives in Australia and teaches in a Government school.  He has bought a house and we have visited him and his lovely wife on several times. We enjoyed going to their wedding which was in a lovely country setting, totally organised by the school where he works.  Ran stayed with us for about nine months and continues to be a good friend.  He asked if his wife could stay with us for a short period when she arrived from their home country.  Both my husband and I were flattered by the trust he showed in asking us that.

OLGA (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS LOLA). 
Olga came to us from a large country in the North of Europe.  Her English was excellent.  She was young and was studying her first degree in Australia.  She was a little more difficult to have as a house guest as she showed little, if no emotion.  If offered something more to eat her response was either a curt “no” or an abrupt “yes”.  Olga shared little of her home life or her culture with us and I felt she may be unhappy.  She made her own rules and was scantily dressed at times.  I had to point out that that was inappropriate in someone else’s house, especially with my husband at home.  Olga stayed with us for about eight months before moving out.  By then she had learnt her way around, met someone else who was on a short-term stay with us and had a car.  We helped her to move her belongings.

I have a guest book which I ask students to write in when they leave and was very surprised to read Olga’s entry.  Apart from what she wrote she had decorated the page with smiley faces, love hearts and kisses and said she ‘just wanted to stay here because it felt like home’.  I have since learnt that the abrupt nature is typical of her culture and is not meant as something to insult.  She is often out of the country and we keep in touch through Instagram.

GARY (Hong Kong)
Gary was a young and immature nineteen-year-old.  He needed lots of guidance, often sitting in the kitchen while I cooked dinner, asking advice about his girlfriends.  He had a large group of friends through his church and was very sociable. We were able to lend him things like sleeping bags for his camps.  Gary stayed with us for almost one year. He was well behaved and polite.  Gary left the messiest room when he went, and I told him off about this.  Since leaving he has been back here on several occasions, one of which was to come for Christmas dinner with two friends from his Church.  We also keep in touch on Instagram.

CHARLES (China)
Charles was here at the same time as Gary and stayed for about fourteen months and was very happy that he had been our longest staying student.  He mostly stayed in his darkened room on the computer playing games when not studying.  We helped Charles to move when he left with some friends to be closer to the university.  He phones me for recipes from time to time and he has been back several times bringing me tea from China when he comes and eating here for some meals.

REGINA (China)
Regina is a self-assured young woman who has been with us now for almost fifteen months.  She is a bright, happy and positive person who sings out-of- tune songs around the house.  On her day off University Regina likes to cook for us and share some of her hometown recipes.  She has been back to China twice during her stay here to visit family and friends.  During this year we will be going with her and she is keen to be our guide around her Province.  I think Regina will be here with for a lot longer as she enjoys practicing her English and she enjoys the dinner conversation.