On Foreign Exchange at Poly

As I thought more and more about my experience in Argentina and my experience with Anat coming to my home, I realized that there are some changes I wish Poly could make to their hosting program. I realize many of these goals aren't realistic and just don't fit the Poly model, so this post is more of a "in a perfect world" thought that I can't get out of my mind.


Last summer, my GIP Argentina group was the first ever to visit El Colegio San Martin in Cordoba. In other words, they had never had visitors from any other country before. They were SO excited to host us. Because the Argentinian kids had never experienced anything like this, their school and their teachers were extremely accommodating, and they shifted their schedule around so that they could maximize their time connecting with people from a different country. Their classes that week were very short, and their homework was extremely minimal (we're talking roughly 10-15 minutes per night). Because the kids had less work, they could be far more hospitable, and we could really enjoy our time with them. They came on all of our field trips with us, we had barbecues where the kids cooked, we played pick up soccer games, we held dinner parties each night, we went to the mall, and more. For that week, the kids, the families, and even the school devoted nearly all of their attention to us.

I'm not saying Poly should replicate that model. Some families just can't afford the time or money to go out every night and make home cooked meals. But maybe we could get closer than we are right now. When Anat, a boy from Paris, came to stay with me through Poly for the week, I still had 4 hours of homework per night. And so did all of my friends. So when I got sick and couldn't spend time or go out with Anat, no one was willing to take him off of my hands and hang out with him. I was so excited to give Anat something close to the experience I was given in Argentina, but I didn't even come close. I know that our school is larger and there is more going on all the time, between the musical, sports practices, and everything else that Poly kids do on a daily basis. But this isn't fair to the exchange students who come in stay with us. Just about every student in the French group this last week had never been to Los Angeles. A lot of them may never come back again. For the one week they get to spend as a 15-16 year old in one of the most spectacular cities on earth (I'll concede that they are from Paris, so maybe not so spectacular, but for some of the other groups that come and stay with us, LA is a big deal), they have to spend a large portion of it in their bedroom in a strangers home because the kid has too much schoolwork.

But this isn't just about the exchange students experience with us - this is about our experience with them, too. I believe that hosting kids from a different country is an extremely rewarding and enriching experience. You get to exchange cultures, lives, ideas, and you make friends across the world. That is a beautiful thing. I would argue that the hosts get almost as much out of the experience as the guests do. So we wouldn't be cutting back on school for the week just to go out and play. I will never remember the Physics lab that I turned in the week Anat was here (in fact, I barely remembered it to write about it in this blog), but I will never forget hosting Anat. Some experiences are worth the sacrifices.