People thought we were crazy when we said we were going to host an exchange student. They wanted to commit us when we said we were going to host two students our second year. It is hard to imagine bringing in two strange and foreign teenagers to live with you for 10 months but once you do it you understand. Especially if you are like us and do not have any kids of your own and live in an area where it is hard to place exchange students (though prior to Covid-19 interest on hosting was going up).
Our first year we had one student. Our second and third we had two students at one time. Our forth year coming up will be also be a double placement. Why? Because we are crazy of course! Haha! Seriously, we talked to our first student about it when we were deciding. She was a bit lonely here being the only exchange student at the school, her best friend in America was another exchange student at a school about an hour away. She had lots of friends at school and people wanting to get to know her but there wasn’t anyone that understood what it was like to be a strange person in a strange land. She told us that she loved her year but yes a double placement would have been nice in our situation (the rural lack of other exchange students school). So we said “okay, lets do it!”
Now when we decided to double host we already had a student placed with us and had been talking to her for months. So first thing was to check with her if she would be cool with having an exchange student sister. She said yes, gave us some things to think about (countries where their languages were too similar and such). And then we started searching for a second student. We found her a few weeks later and she was perfect match for our family. The two young ladies got a long so well, they even visited each other over Christmas this year.
Students have to approve a double placement. Some do not want to share and we have encountered that. We have seen where having two exchange students might be holding one back, having too much of a crutch to lean on. But once we got passed that they all flourish in their own ways. We have been exceptionally lucky in the fact that all our girls have loved each other (not that they didn’t have their sisterly-I-hate-you moments haha). In our organization there is a spot on the interview notes that says if a student is open to a double placement, so look for that, but they still need to approve it.
When choosing students for a double placement a lot more thought needs to go into it. They not only need to match you and your family well but also each other. You don’t want two students who hate each other living in your house for almost a year. So we pick the first student (after careful study) and really get into her application/video so that we feel that we have a little understanding of her. And then we go and look at other students that would match with us and then decide if they would go well together. It is a lot longer of a process for the second student. For example: if the first student is more sporty or artsy we try to find a second student that is the same, not exactly but close (if one student says sports = life and the other hates sports, there will be a problem).
When picking students I’ve always gone with gut instinct, I mean I read the application and watch the video closely, but I usually know quickly after watching their videos (which is how we have chosen most of our students). Some people go about it more methodically and have to analyze every detail. I figure half the application is either bullshit or old news (it can be filled out 2 years prior to them arriving at your home). Videos give you more of a sense of who they are, not how their schedule is or what their home town is like, but who they are: because the details change but base personality usually does not. So far my gut is 5 for 5 that have lived with us, even if we had some issues the overall years have been great. And I believe strongly that our two coming up will also be fantastic (they are already super close). Fun fact: we got input on our second student for class of 21 from our students for class of 20. We were showing them some videos (along with their own, so that they can cringe at themselves hahaha) and my husband and one of the girls picked the next video and I was skeptical at first (because we had never hosted an Asian student and hadn’t talked about it), but by the end of the video I loved her and I think she is going to be a perfect addition.
So yeah, double placements have their perks. Built-in friend, someone that understands what they are going through, additional entertainment so you are not the only one they are staring at when bored. Now given, if they do not get along, it will not be the best situation. But if they do, it is a fun year. You get to learn about a second culture and they get to learn from each other. Just make sure they are both getting as much as they can out of the exchange experience; they need to grow on their own, a little crutch is fine but they need challenge themselves too. I do think we will ever go back to hosting just one student at a time, we love hosting double placements!