Families can get as much out of experience as students
Published in the April 29 – May 12, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo courtesy Julia Schmidt
Julia Schmidt, second from right, with other exchange students in Hawaii.
For more than 20 years Educatius International’s academic programs have helped international students from around the world achieve their dreams of studying abroad. The program has also helped hundreds of local families welcome a new member into their family, creating new bonds, memories and friendships that can last a lifetime.
Madelyn Mancini, the regional manager for Educatius International and part of a host family, said she gets more out of the experience than she gives.
“I do it for selfish reasons,” said the Morgan Hill mother of two. “I’m an only child and I always wanted a large family. This is how I do it. Now I have a huge family throughout the world.”
When a student comes to live with a host family, they bring their own health insurance and are responsible for any expenses outside the home. This includes things like clothes and entertainment, such as movies, presents, prom expenses and attire and yearbooks. Students are screened for their academic performance, maturity and English language level.
Hosting allows the student and the family to give and receive on so many levels, Mancini said.
Olav Johannes Tofdahl Roehnebaek, a 17-year-old junior at Live Oak High School, said he’s connected with his host family that consists of an older brother, 23, and twin brother and sister, 20.
“It was a little strange at first living with a family that’s not my own, but we’ve gotten really close and they are now like my second family,” he said.
And Mancini can attest to that fact. She’s been hosting families for 21 years and all of them are now friends on Facebook and know each other through social media, though some have met in person.
The young 17-year-old girl who stayed with her and her family 21 years ago is now a 39-year-old woman living in Russia. Mancini’s oldest son recently visited the woman, discovering Russia as they reconnected.
Things have been going well for Roehnebaek, who arrived in the United States last August.
“It’s a lot different than what I’m used to,” Roehnebaek said. “It was a little shocking at first but now I’m used to the high school experience.” Part of the difference is there are no high school sports in Norway.
He played football in Norway on a club team, but very few people come to watch. Here, he wrestles, plays rugby and is a linebacker on the football team, where the crowds are huge and loud and the “entire school shows up,” he said. “That’s really cool.”
His host family has taken him to Monterey, Santa Cruz, skiing at Dodge Ridge — “I had no idea there was even snow in California” — and to a San Francisco Giants game. “It was fun even though the Giants lost 17-0. I’ve never seen a baseball game.”
Adrienne Acosta and her family hosted Olav and she said they really enjoyed the experience.
“I knew something about Norway, but having someone here you learn more about their traditions,” she said.
The best part about the experience is the entire high school experience. “Football is a lot of fun,” he said. “The whole culture is different and really cool.”
Julia Schmidt, also from Norway, is a 17-year-old senior at LOHS. She landed in New York in July and made it west to Morgan Hill a month later and lives with the Mancini family.
She too connected with her host family and has gotten really close. They visited Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve, Disneyland and she took a trip to Hawaii with 93 other exchange students from around the United States and the world. She roomed with girls from Spain, Austria and Germany.
“That was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was an amazing experience.”
She participates in cross country and track and field. She runs the 400 meter and the 4×4 relay and throws the discus. She discovered high school is more strict in the United States. “There are more rules and regulations and more day-to-day homework.”
But she said it has been a year she’ll never forget.
“Meeting my host family, hanging out with friends at school, everything you do with friends…we’ll keep in touch forever.”
That sentiment lies in the hearts of most families and students, Mancini said.
“When each student leaves for home, they get a key to our house and they come back,” she said.
