Pam is very flexible and if you MUST go out and might not be home when the student is due to arrive if you let her know well in advance (at least the day before) she can plan her run so that your student is dropped off at a convenient time. If you are unable to be home at the students arrival time, it is acceptable for one of your "old students" to be the one home to welcome the student on their arrival, or a trusted neighbour family member or friend. It is best for you to be there as the student is often very tired, confused and jet lagged and it is better that their first contact is with their host family so that feel welcome.
This is what we do when our students arrive...
Arrival:
Welcome them and try to say hello in their language. I find it is good to restrain your pets if they are enthusiastic when meeting people as some students are terrified of dogs (and cats!) and then introduce them later.
Show them their room and take all their bags into the room. We tell them what bed is theirs if its a twin room and introduce them to their room mate.
Show them their room and take all their bags into the room. We tell them what bed is theirs if its a twin room and introduce them to their room mate.
Then we show them the Bathroom – where to get towels, where to hang their towel, how to work the shower, where to put their toiletries and anything else pertinent to using the bathroom.
We make sure the tour includes the toilet (and if you have a second or third one they can use let them see that one as well)
We then introduce them to the living areas of the house such as the lounge dining and any other gathering places.
We make sure the tour includes the toilet (and if you have a second or third one they can use let them see that one as well)
We then introduce them to the living areas of the house such as the lounge dining and any other gathering places.
We also show them where to put their
shoes/umbrellas/coats (with all this rain, it can be an issue if they hide wet things in their rooms)
And lastly, we take them to the kitchen and expain what foods they can help themselves to (fruit bowl and a snack box in the pantry)
And lastly, we take them to the kitchen and expain what foods they can help themselves to (fruit bowl and a snack box in the pantry)
We always offer them food and/or cuppa as we find they might be hungry and jet lagged and too polite to ask. I usually prepare something and we sit and eat a snack and have a cuppa at a table or outside and get some basics from them. We offer them a phone call to their family to let them know they have arrived safely (most have already done so on their mobiles) and the issue of the "wi-fi" (Internet connection) usually comes up about this time.There is a whole page about this issue as its quite a big one with many solutions.
As the bulk of them are coming from a different time zone, I usually offer them a shower and suggest they have a snooze. I wake them at dinner time (many of them have traveled for over 20 hours) talk a little while longer and put them back to bed with an alarm (on their phone or in their room) to wake them and hour before their bus/train leaves in the morning for school
As the bulk of them are coming from a different time zone, I usually offer them a shower and suggest they have a snooze. I wake them at dinner time (many of them have traveled for over 20 hours) talk a little while longer and put them back to bed with an alarm (on their phone or in their room) to wake them and hour before their bus/train leaves in the morning for school
We find that students are tired and overwhelmed and often dont take on board much of what you have said even if their English is good, so we have written a student welcome letter. I leave it in their room so they can read it slowly later and refer to it when they have forgotten something (especially our names!). It has basic house info, including our name and address, phone numbers, dinner times, our pets, a blurb about spiders and other bugs (they wont hurt you, none are poisonous and we will come and rescue them if they see one in their room) and other bits and bobs of interest.
We also issue them with a set of keys and make sure they have our house phone number as well as our mobiles and we have theirs. I know other families dont as they are home most of the time and other families that have one key hidden in the back yard and all the student use that key and door to get inside. All of these options are fine.
Many phones from overseas don't work in Australia or wont call Australian numbers. Some students don't have a phone. We have an old mobile (very old, it doesn't even have a colored screen) that we have put a prepaid Optus sim card in with $5 credit on it. This ensures that we can call them if they don't come home and they can text us if they are lost while they figure out how to get their phone working. We tell them they are welcome to use the phone but need to pay for their own credit from here on in. It is a good idea for them to swap numbers with the other students in the house too!
We also have a bunch of Go-Cards each with $5 credit on them. We give them to them (and charge $10 for them- $5 for the card and $5 for the credit) so that they can get into the city on their first day. EF's orientation includes where to get a card from and how to use it. There is more information about this on the costs page.
We also issue them with a set of keys and make sure they have our house phone number as well as our mobiles and we have theirs. I know other families dont as they are home most of the time and other families that have one key hidden in the back yard and all the student use that key and door to get inside. All of these options are fine.
Many phones from overseas don't work in Australia or wont call Australian numbers. Some students don't have a phone. We have an old mobile (very old, it doesn't even have a colored screen) that we have put a prepaid Optus sim card in with $5 credit on it. This ensures that we can call them if they don't come home and they can text us if they are lost while they figure out how to get their phone working. We tell them they are welcome to use the phone but need to pay for their own credit from here on in. It is a good idea for them to swap numbers with the other students in the house too!
We also have a bunch of Go-Cards each with $5 credit on them. We give them to them (and charge $10 for them- $5 for the card and $5 for the credit) so that they can get into the city on their first day. EF's orientation includes where to get a card from and how to use it. There is more information about this on the costs page.
Some students prefer to communicate by facebook and if you are a facebook fan - friend them and start communicating that way!
I ask my students to let me know before 5pm at the latest what their dinner plans are (class finishes at 12pm for the morning classes and 5.15 for the afternoon classes) so that I can plan my evening meal.
Depending on when the student arrives, we often take two cars to Southbank in the evening and take the student to the fish and chip shop and have dinner by the "beach" at Southbank. Its a nice place to be in the evening and a place they will get to know quite well during their stay. We then drive to the school so that they can see the building. In our case, my husbands office is close to the school (not that he is there very often) and we leave one car there and drive home. In the morning my husband catches the bus with the new student into the cultural centre (showing them where to change buses at the interchanges) and walks them to school and delivers them to the front desk. They are asked to find their own way home.
If you live on a train route or have a direct bus, then this isn't a necessary step, but for us on the edges of Brisbane we have found it makes sure they get there and we don't have to leave work at 10am to rescue them from Strathpine or Browns Plains because they got on the wrong bus. It reduces their jet lagged, cultural shock stress as well and we all know that Brisbane's public transport system is not of world class quality and can be difficult for the locals to navigate! the school is good with the buses and will answer a lot of the students questions.
If you already have a student in residence, they will usually be very happy to help the new comer get to school even if they are on a different time table for their first day. Old students are wonderful at teaching the new student how to get around and what your house rules are.
Your paperwork will give you the day the your student is leaving. You will have to ask the student what time their flight is. If the communication is really bad - you can always ring the school or Pam at the transfer company and see what time she is scheduled to pick them up - be warned however, some student have not booked a transfer to the airport and will need to find a way to get there.
You are NOT obliged to take them if you don't want to. At any rate you will need to make sure that a taxi, bus, train or ride to the airport is in place for them.
Some students need to meet a group at the school, some need to meet at the airport, some want to spend 14 hours shopping at Brissy International (true story) and some are going to the DOMESTIC terminal not the international as they have a flight out of Sydney or Melbourne. Make sure you know which terminal they need to be at so they get to the right one on time.
On their last night they either want to go and party with their friends or we have a special dinner where we will take them out some where a bit posh or have a wee party at home with the friends, neighbours and relatives who have go to know them during their stay.
A few days later we send an email welcoming them back home.
We often get random emails from our old students telling us what they are up to now - its all part of the fun of hosting.
Depending on when the student arrives, we often take two cars to Southbank in the evening and take the student to the fish and chip shop and have dinner by the "beach" at Southbank. Its a nice place to be in the evening and a place they will get to know quite well during their stay. We then drive to the school so that they can see the building. In our case, my husbands office is close to the school (not that he is there very often) and we leave one car there and drive home. In the morning my husband catches the bus with the new student into the cultural centre (showing them where to change buses at the interchanges) and walks them to school and delivers them to the front desk. They are asked to find their own way home.
If you live on a train route or have a direct bus, then this isn't a necessary step, but for us on the edges of Brisbane we have found it makes sure they get there and we don't have to leave work at 10am to rescue them from Strathpine or Browns Plains because they got on the wrong bus. It reduces their jet lagged, cultural shock stress as well and we all know that Brisbane's public transport system is not of world class quality and can be difficult for the locals to navigate! the school is good with the buses and will answer a lot of the students questions.
If you already have a student in residence, they will usually be very happy to help the new comer get to school even if they are on a different time table for their first day. Old students are wonderful at teaching the new student how to get around and what your house rules are.
Departure:
Your paperwork will give you the day the your student is leaving. You will have to ask the student what time their flight is. If the communication is really bad - you can always ring the school or Pam at the transfer company and see what time she is scheduled to pick them up - be warned however, some student have not booked a transfer to the airport and will need to find a way to get there.
You are NOT obliged to take them if you don't want to. At any rate you will need to make sure that a taxi, bus, train or ride to the airport is in place for them.
Some students need to meet a group at the school, some need to meet at the airport, some want to spend 14 hours shopping at Brissy International (true story) and some are going to the DOMESTIC terminal not the international as they have a flight out of Sydney or Melbourne. Make sure you know which terminal they need to be at so they get to the right one on time.
On their last night they either want to go and party with their friends or we have a special dinner where we will take them out some where a bit posh or have a wee party at home with the friends, neighbours and relatives who have go to know them during their stay.
On the day of their departure, we make sure that we have got back:
- Keys ( we have a set in Taiwan at the moment...)
- Go card
- Phone and/or sim card.
I usually go around the house and check that they have not left anything behind (check the bathroom especially). The longer they have been with you the more likely they are to have left something in the house. I also like to sight their itinerary as we have actually taken time off work and got to the airport and tried to check the student in before discovering that she was leaving on Saturday (Australian time) not Friday (Austrian time). Her discussion with her mother had her thinking in the wrong time zones and we were 24 hours early, which was better than 24 hours late!
I also like to sight their passport before they go just to make sure they have it. Some students travelling in groups from Asian countries don't have theirs on them, they are kept by the group leader.
We usually give them a small gift of Aussie souvenirs just as they are leaving. We usually send a text just before the plane leaves wishing them a good trip home and telling them how good it was to have them stay with us.
We often get random emails from our old students telling us what they are up to now - its all part of the fun of hosting.
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