[Rick Lee]

Even after I was in college, my folks hosted the sisters of two of the exchange students we'd hosted when I was in high school. Our families are still very close and their folks call my folks once in a while to chat. Right after I came home from my first exchange (I did it both in hs and college), there was a German au pair across the street from us. We became great friends and I got to keep my German in shape between trips to the Fatherland. My folks became the go-to house for all the local German au pairs' car and home emergencies.

BTW, I was kicked out of the house by the first family I lived with two weeks before I was to return home. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because the second family was from E. Germany and that facilitated my being able to go visit their old village on my next trip, still before the Wall came down. I made up with the first family the following summer and we're all still great friends. Their son just bought his second 911, a 71 T. I brought him Wayne's 101 Projects book on my trip there last year.

But truth be told, in a student exchange, the student and the host family tend to learn more about themselves than each other. If you haven't had a lot of up-close experience with foreigners, it will make you think and will pique your curiosity. Imagine how silly it was when I was taking the Foreign Service exam last year and one of the essay questions was to describe an interaction I had had with a foreigner. I was stumped and.....well, we're doomed.