Would you do it again

I have had a lot of people lately ask me about our experience hosting an exchange student. The question that is always asked is will you do it again. The natural assumption is that if you had a good experience, of course you would want to do it again. But my response is No, I don't think we will do it again.

Like a lot of things, I don't think the sequel would be nearly as exciting or fulfilling. Our year with Pete worked due to a combination of things that will never happen again.


I don't know what we would have done without Ross. He was the driver, the confidant, the big brother, the spoiler. He and Pete became quite close during the year. We knew they had connected when Ross started blaming Pete for things left undone or laying around. Pete helped expand Ross' world and Ross expanded Pete's world.

What can I say, Pete is an exceptional kid. From the first day he stepped off the plane until the day he left he was open to new experiences. He was flexible, and yet wasn't afraid to give his opinion. Right from the start he seemed to blend into our family, opening our hearts and minds to new perspectives and ideas.

We got a letter the other day from YFU. There were a number of kids who were waiting for a "home". The plea was to commit to take someone for 6 weeks so they could be enrolled in school and give YFU time to find another home. We knew darn well that the hope (and probable reality) was that the kid would end of staying the whole year.

Mark was looking over the profiles and saw a Finnish girl who "loved to garden, walk the dog and house clean". She would be perfect for us, he joked. Yes, we do have the space with Ross at college, but the room in our hearts are full with the 3 boys we have.