Hosting exchange student is rewarding venture

Dear Abby: I would like to comment on the letter from "Wary in the West" (Aug. 10), the young girl who is apprehensive about having to room with her sister to accommodate a new exchange student the family is hosting.

My family has hosted several kids from Northern Ireland, and two years ago we hosted a young man from Brazil. He is now my best friend, and I will be going to Brazil for a month this winter.

Although I didn't have to give up my room, I felt the pressure of sharing a bathroom with my parents. But I wouldn't give up my experience for anything. "Wary" needs to be open and kind. It can be surprising how much exchange students already know about the United States and the world. Many of them also speak English well before they arrive and just need to practice it. "Wary" will come to regard her visitor as family and have the time of her life! — Marina in Pennsylvania

Dear Marina: Thank you for sharing your experiences. Hosting a foreign exchange student can be a rewarding adventure — as long as the logistics are worked out in advance. This is a program with great worth and appeal in our modern, diverse, "global" world, as the following readers attest:

Dear Abby: I, too, was forced to compromise when an exchange student came to stay. Because we did not have an extra bedroom, I had to trade with my brother and share with "Helga." Yes, the year was trying at times — she and I were very different, but the result of her stay has been a 25-year friendship. Our families are very close, and we go back and forth to Norway often. She and her children also come here.

"Wary" may be surprised with the result of hosting an exchange student. If she is open-minded, a whole new world will reveal itself to her. I know I never would have guessed that Norway would someday feel like my second home. — Thankful in Edgewater, N.J.

Dear Abby: During the summer of 1975, while I was home from college, my parents hosted two boys from Japan. When I returned to school for my senior year, I looked for elective courses to round out my schedule and noticed classes in Japanese language, history and literature. I signed up for all three. (I had been fascinated by the handwriting of the two students and wanted to learn it.)

While I was practicing in the language lab, I met a female student from Japan who was studying Spanish, as I had previously done. We agreed to tutor each other, which led to dating, which eventually led to marriage and two wonderful sons. During the summer we celebrated our 28th anniversary. — Jeff in San Jose, Calif.