Share Your Home, Change the World Host a YFU Exchange Student

Take a leap of faith this year! Consider opening your heart and your home to a Youth for Understanding high school exchange student for a semester! You would provide a place to live, three meals a day, encouragement, guidance and love to your new exchange son/daughter. It is a typical family living experience--NOT a tourist/travel opportunity. Families come in all shapes and sizes, with and without children of all ages. The students come with their own spending money, health insurance, and the commitment to live according to the rules and values of your family and Youth for Understanding (www.yfu-usa.org). Students can share a room with a host sibling. For detailed information on these students (AND MORE) and to see if hosting might be right for you,

Call Laura Hammer at 231-327-2123 or Email at lhammer@yfu.org

These kids love to play traditional musical instruments
An excellent student, Steffen's favorite subjects in school are English, languages, history and geography. His family likes to travel and Steffen, 16, from Germany, appreciates being in countries with languages and cultures different from his own. Although he has visited a few countries in Europe, he says spending a year in the US will be a "huge step" for him. Steffen and his parents enjoy playing board games together and he builds model cars and railways with his Dad. A member of a soccer team and an avid player, Steffen has also been refereeing games this past year. He plays the keyboard and has been playing in a band the past two years. He hopes to be able to continue his involvement in music while in the US. Steffen is happy to attend church with his host family. Steffen says that becoming a part of his host family and school is important and fascinating to him. T5000 Ana Maria is a 16 year old girl from Colombia. She gets along very well with her older brothers but she is especially close to her mother with whom she enjoys shopping, going to the spa, going to the movies, eating ice cream and taking dance classes. With her father, she enjoys bike riding. Together as a family they enjoy camping, walking and sightseeing. Ana Maria loves time with her friends too. When she asked them how they would describe her to future host family, they said she is cheerful, funny, thoughtful, honest and responsible. She enjoys lots of hobbies and trying new things. She especially loves painting, reading, dancing and soccer. Ana Maria recognizes her year in USA as a great opportunity and she thanks you for welcoming her into your family. Being introduced to new cultures and speaking foreign languages is what Elsa,15, from Germany, is all about.. Currently, Elsa lives at home with her parents and 2 brothers. They spend time together as a family hiking in the Summer and skiing in the Winter. At home, Elsa helps out with laundry. Elsa is in the 10th grade at her academic gymnasium and has excellent grades. Her favorite subjects are English and French. She also loves music. She has played the recorder for many years and has recently taken up the clarinet. Elsa enjoys playing with groups of musicians as well as with her parents, who are also musicians! When alone, Elsa likes to read English literature; especially Jane Austen. Elsa has been on four different, short term (2 weeks) exchanges to French-speaking Switzerland. Her teacher writes that Elsa is the most motivated student in class and is able to motivate others as well. Elsa hopes that you will become motivated as well and invite her to be a part of your family very soon!

Steffen Germany

Ana Maria Columbia

Elsa Germany

Share Your Home, Change the World Host a YFU Exchange Student
An active young lady and animal lover from Germany, 15 year Katja, loves horse-back riding and hopes to be able to continue riding while on exchange. Nick-named Kaddi, other interests of hers include: photography, swimming, bicycling, baking; listening to music; shopping and other animals. After dinner, her family could often be found playing board games like Monopoly and playing badminton. To support her family, Kaddi assists with the gardening, ironing, house cleaning, feeding the animals and preparing her own lunch after school. To earn money, she delivers papers and cleans stables. With her friends, Kaddi also volunteers twice a month at church with the confirmation class preparing breakfast, singing, and participating in discussions on subjects like fairness, poverty, war or charity. Open to new activities and challenges, Kaddi states, For me an exchange year in the USA means being part of a family and experiencing the American way of Life and the High School Spirit. Are you willing to ride along with Kaddi on this adventure of her life? Le Jun, 16, from China, prefers to be called Crystal by her family and friends. As an avid long distance runner and swimmer, maybe she'll find a place in the cross country or swim team. At school,she has excellent grades, and belongs to the choir, drama club and Model UN. In her spare time, Crystal likes to play the piano and the guitar, sing, create small gifts for her family and friends, play bridge, act in plays, recite poems, and go hiking. She loves to sing and get swept away by the emotion in a song. She considers her school a fun place to learn where they might adapt famous books into dramas to better understand them. She says she will probably be a research scientist, but her dream would be to be an actress. Her family likes to travel, climb mountains, talk about current affairs, go shopping, and watch movies/TV. As a host family, she thanks you a million times for your kindness. Afraid of dogs, she is fine with other indoor pets. Focused, reflective, thoughtful and detailed, this how 16 year old Kelvina or Vheenah from Ghana, is described. She says that change is the only constant and her desire to be part of the exchange program is a good example of this. A very good student, athlete, and church secretary is how she is described. She likes to spend time with her family watching movies, playing music and sports. Soccer, hockey, shot put and javelin are her favorite activities. Attending church is very important to her. Vheenahs teachers describe her as responsible with good leadership skills. She is eager to come on exchange to the US because it is a place of great industrialization and great thinkers who believe in great possibilities. Vheenah hopes to learn from you and she hopes that you will also love to know more about her country. I have many hobbies like drawing, listening and making music, reading and writing books, and sports. Nina, 15 from Germany, loves to read and write, and is ready to see if the images in books and movies are true with her own eyes. She and her friends often write stories which they share with each other. After swimming with a team for many years, Nina decided to concentrate on her studies. Nina also enjoys sports of all kinds, especially ball sports (basketball, volleyball, handball, soccer, etc). She belongs to a paramedics group and has received first aid certificates as well as participated in first aid competitions. Nina is especially interested in American schools and views her exchange year as a unique chance to gain experience and see the world from a different perspective. She has 2 younger sisters. Nina thanks you for giving her this chance to spend a year in the USA and become a part of your family. She hopes to have a wonderful time together making many new experiences.

Katja Germany

Le Jun

Kelvina Ghana

Nina Germany

For more information on these students please contact Laura Hammer 231-327-2123 or lhammer@yfu.org

Share Your Home, Change the World Host a YFU Exchange Student
Into field and ice hockey, tennis, soccer and playing the piano, Simon, 17 from Belgium, also enjoys organizing free time activities with friends like paintball, karting or airsoft but also video games and music festivals. Depending the the season, you can also find him skiing, snowboarding or surfing. Simon studies languages at school, and besides his native Dutch and French, he takes Latin, Spanish and German. Hes hoping for a career in languages which will enable him to travel. Last summer, he went to the Congo for a humanitarian aid project. Simon is in his last year of scouts too. Hes never been to the USA and is excited by the chance to see our beautiful nature and amazing cities. Of his upcoming year in the USA, he writes I hope this experience will make me richer in what Ive seen of the world and human relationships. Also, I hope you are as excited as I am for this exchange year, which Im sure, will be unbelievable. From Germany, Matthias (15) is described as an open minded, friendly, happy, and humorous person. Matthias and his family enjoy going skiing, spending holidays together, going on walks, and eating dinner together. They also have a cottage in the country and spend their weekends there doing work on the property and the house. He enjoys meeting up with friends, taking dancing lessons, playing field hockey, listening to music, reading books, interested in computers, and cars and anything to do with engines. While he is enjoying his time here in the United States he would like to continue jogging, going to the gym, and playing the trombone while on exchange. If my new school will offer an orchestra [class] I would like to talk with you about the possibility to bring my trombone with me. Im looking very much forward to my year in your family and in your wonderful country. I hope that Ill get [to be] part of your family and that Ill be a good and interesting son for you. It would be awesome if someday you could see my family and my country too.T8000

Si mon Belgium Graduated student

Matthais Germany

For more information on these students please contact Laura Hammer 231-327-2123 or lhammer@yfu.org