❤ Our host families love our international students! ❤

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Part of our daily job is to check in with students’ host families to see how our students are doing.  We hear stories that surprise or disappoint us everyday.  We also love to hear about the sweet ones.  It is simply amazing to see how well our students integrate with their host families.  Let’s hear about what The Maasz from Maranatha Christian Schools and The Falkenau from Pacific Ridge School would like to share with us.
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IEM的日常工作之一就是和我们的寄宿家庭联系和询问学生的近况。每天都有不同的故事给我们惊喜或者令我们失望。我们认为学生和寄宿家庭能够相处的好适合不容易的事,所以我们特别喜欢听到那些温馨的故事。今天,玛若納瑟学校的Maasz家庭和太平洋峻岭的Falkenau家庭想和大家分享他们的接待经历。
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Sonya and Steve have been hosting our IEM students since October 2012. When their two daughters left home for college, they started to host our students. Both Sonya and Steve were international students and later taught conversational English to ESL students. Being international students and exposed to new cultures as teachers, they share a natural inclination to understand how to make their students feel comfortable and at home with them. Sonya and Steve are an ideal host family for our two girls, Olivia and Tina attending Maranatha. They treat the girls just as their own daughters and teach them valuable life skills they may use for the rest of their lives. Thank you Sonya and Steve for making a positive difference in the girls’ lives.

自2012年,Steve和Sonya Maasz 加入了IEM并开始接待IEM的学生。Steve和Sonya两位也曾经都是国际学生,也曾担任英语老师教导国际学生日常英语会话。正因为这样的经历,Steve和Sonya更能够理解国际学生远赴外国读书的心情,是作为接待国际学生的好人选。Steve和Sonya目前接待两个在玛若納瑟学校上学的两个女孩子,Steve和Sonya把两个女孩子当作是自己的女儿一样,不仅照料她们还教导她们生活上大小事,为将来独立做准备。谢谢Steve和Sony为IEM学生的付出!

Steve and Sonia Maasz
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Steven and Sonia Maasz Family

We love hosting IEM students!   So far, we’ve had two graduates, and although we’re looking forward to Olivia’s graduation this year, we’re not eager for her departure for college.  Olivia arrived four years ago, while still in Eighth Grade, and it’s been a privilege to help her make the transition from a child to an accomplished young lady.  Tina joined us in August.  She fit in remarkably well from the start, and we hope she’ll be with us again next year.  We’ve also enjoyed meeting both girls’ families, as they, too, are delightful.

Our idea is to treat the girls as much as possible as if they were our own daughters, while making allowances for the very different world from which they come and the future they must navigate.  We think they benefit most from their experience to the extent we teach them to live and work as independently as they safely can.  Tina and Olivia have been a big help to one another as they have discovered places they like to go and activities they enjoy.  We look forward to hearing great news from both of them in future years.

我们特别享受接待IEM的学生!自从开始接待到现在,我们接待过的学生有两个已经毕业了,今年我们的Olivia就要毕业了。虽然我们对她即将完成高中学业都感到兴奋,但我们同时也还没有为她即将离开我们开始她的大学生活做好心理准备。Olivia四年前住进我们家,从她8年级到现在,我们很高兴有这么个机会帮助她从小女孩长成如今有成的年轻女子。去年8月份的时候Tina加入了我们的大家庭,我们非常喜欢她,希望下个学年能够继续接待她。我们也与两个女孩子的家人见过面,也非常喜欢她们的家人。

我们对于接待国际学生的准则是:把学生们当作是我们的亲生孩子照顾,但是也要像他们的父母一样以安全为前提,给予意见教导他们美国和中国的不同,生活中的大小事,让他们未来没有人照顾他们的时候还能够自己照顾好自己。Tina和Olivia两个女孩子平日喜欢一起出去探索新的地方和活动。希望孩子们毕业了之后还是能够和她们保持联系。
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Melissa, David and their three beautiful children, Gavin, Bella and Eden make a perfect family for Arissa attending Pacific Ridge School. They are an active family and spend lots of time outdoors together. When the water was warm, their son Gavin taught Arissa how to boogie board. Their young girls, Bella and Eden look up to Arissa and enjoy hanging out together. Melissa and David have accepted Arissa as one of their daughters and have taken an active role in her academic, social, and emotional needs. With their time, patience and support, they made this experience hosting Arissa really fun for their whole family. Thank you for making this a great year for Arissa!

Melissa, David和他们漂亮的三个孩子Gavin, Bella和Eden,再加上目前就读太平洋峻岭的Arissa的加入,真是个完美的大家庭。他们周末喜欢到处走走,参与不同的户外活动。当海水暖和的时候,大儿子Gavin会教Arissa“趴板冲浪”;两个小女儿把Arissa当大姐姐一样喜欢和她一起玩。Melissa和David也把Arissa当作是他们第3个女儿一样,尽他们所能用时间、耐心和支持帮助Arissa在学业、生活和情绪上的需求。谢谢Falkenau家庭给Arissa带来这精彩的一年。

The Falkenau Family
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Melissa and David Falkenau Family

We’ve had Arissa (or Xuan) living with us since August. There have been some ups and downs but overall a really fun experience.  Xuan speaks excellent English, has a Great sense of humor, and fits right in with our family.  Parenting an extra teenager can be a challenge – You have to be where? When? And you’re telling me now?  Along with the expected cultural differences, taking initiative, and helping without being asked is somewhat of an ongoing adjustment.  But for the most part discovering and discussing our cultural differences has been so much fun. We laugh a lot and Xuan is always happy to participate in our adventures. She has had so many new first’s here, she attends church with us, she has discovered she loves boogie boarding, next step, Surfing! She was a guest at my sister’s wedding and learned how to apply makeup and “rocked” a darling dress and heels for the event.  It’s great to share these experiences with her.  All three of our children adore her, she is very kind and patient with our little girls and is a typical crazy teenager with our son. If you were to ask Xuan, I think she would say her time has been all about the food (which she really, really enjoys), but hope the memorable experiences will leave a lasting impact on her as well. She is a lovely sweet girl and we have loved having her.

我们是从去年8月份开始接待Arissa的。尽管这过程不容易,但总的来说是一个有趣的经验。Arissa的英语说得非常好,很有幽默感,她很好地融入我们的大家庭。因为家里已经有孩子了,培育青少年是具有挑战性的:几个问题有的时候需要问好几次“你要去哪里?”,“什么时候?”,“你现在才告诉我?”加上文化上的差异和正常青少年做事的不主动等等,都是我们还在努力“修正”的地方。除此之外,探索美国和中国不同的文化真的很有趣,家里总是充满欢笑声,Arissa也乐意参加我们的休闲活动。Arissa在我们家的这段时间尝试了许多的“第一次”:周日去教堂做礼拜,发现她对趴板冲浪的喜爱(下一步冲浪!),参加美国婚礼——学着给自己化妆,穿着华丽的裙子和高跟鞋等等。家里其他三个孩子也都很爱Arissa,Arissa很善良,对待比自己年纪小的孩子也很有耐心。如果你问Arissa她在我们家都做了哪些事,她可能会说很多和吃的有关的事(她享受美食,因此这对她来说很重要)。这一年有Arissa的加入给我们家带来许多欢乐,我们也希望能够给Arissa创造难忘的回忆。
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Thank you Maasz and Falkenau for sharing your stories with us.  Our host families have been one of the important components in our High School Program.  Hundreds of students have grown into independent young adults and successfully graduated from our High School Program, we cannot do it without our host families. ❤
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Make a difference in a child’s life!

Families are desperately needed to host minor international students for this upcoming school year. Compensation is provided for Host Families.

$100 PAYMENT per referral to anyone who refers a family that successfully begins hosting with us.