Host Profile: Martin pays it forward
We love our homestay hosts and are proud to have a big and diverse hosting community! FIUTS hosts come from around the world, live all over the Puget Sound region, and range from first-time volunteers to hosts who have been welcoming students to their homes for decades.
This month we're featuring a profile of one of our most dedicated hosts. Read on to learn about why Martin has been hosting students through FIUTS for almost three decades!
Host Name: Martin Bickeboeller
Location: Lake City
How long have you hosted students through FIUTS? 26 years
What countries have you hosted students from? Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Réunion, Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland
What made you decide to host? I was myself a FIUTS student from 1982 - 1986, love the experience and believe in giving back. I enjoy the excitement and curiosity of the students and their thankfulness being invited into my family. They are giving back a lot with respect sharing about their countries and customs. I believe this low level of exchange greatly helps us to become one community of nations, reducing adversarial aspects.
What’s your favorite local place to bring your host students? One place in Winter is Kerry Park on Lower Queen Anne overlooking downtown. The students love to take pictures from this place.
What’s your favorite activity to do with your host students? Thanksgiving dinner with the students, the weekend before the actual day. By this time the students have gotten accustomed to the University and the town and can share a lot of their perspectives and experiences. At the same, the feel a great tradition first hand. I always invite them to come early to prepare the meal together.
Has a host student ever cooked a dish from their home country to share with you? Most of the students have cooked meals from their home country after getting recipes from their grandmothers. This ranged from a super hot Chinese full meal with many dishes from Wuhan and Shanghai to Swedish meatballs, Spaetzle, Polish sausages, and many other foreign dishes. The students have a love / hate relationship to this idea. Many are not very experienced cooks and want to shine, all succeed in their way, some after considerable worries. And it allows us to laugh together.
What's your favorite part of U.S. culture to share with your host students? The openness of bringing in guests, as shown with Thanksgiving.
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from your hosting experience? Paying forward with donating your time brings unexpected rewards. An example. In the early 1990's we hosted a student Thorsten from Germany. We picked him up from the airport with both my young daughers at that time in the car. Nearly 20 years later, Thorsten picked up one of my daughters in his car from the airport in Germany to host her for a few days before she moved into a dorm at a German University. He had 2 young daughters in his car for the pickup. We have many other experiences in unexpected ways. Connections across the world are so rewarding.
Have you stayed in touch with any of your host students long-term? With some of the students we have great contacts, others we have lost the connection. But sometimes they come back. A couple years ago our student from Finland showed up unannounced at my door, 15 years later.
Thanksgiving 2014 with the current FIUTS Students, I did not host all. Top row from Left: Luyi, Nick, Bowan, Joe (all from China), Ben (Australia), Peter (Sweden), Maria (Ireland), Dominique (Germany), Martin, Bottom Row, neighbor Frank, Sam (son-in-law), Marisa (daughter), Basia (Partner)
Thank you, Martin, for being a part of FIUTS! If you're a FIUTS host and would like to be profiled in this blog, click here. Interested in becoming a host? Learn more about our Homestay and Friendship Programs here.