Host Profile of Dave Dittemore
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.
Our "Host Profiles" recognize and feature the wonderful hosts in our community whose generosity means the world to our students. Here's Dave Dittemore, sharing his story of what hosting means to him!
Name: Dave Dittemore
Location: Northeast Tacoma
How long have you hosted students through FIUTS? I’ve been hosting for about six years.
What countries have you hosted students from? Iran, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Great Britain, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, France, Germany.
What made you decide to become a host? I used to sing in Seattle Peace Chorus with a FIUTS staff member. I'm interested in world peace (Member of Veterans for Peace - spent a year in Viet Nam '69-'70).
What’s your favorite local place to bring your host students? I like to take students to the Tacoma Glass museum and watch it being made. Also the Tacoma History museum - it shows Chinese workers on the Transcontinental Railroad, in the fishing industry, and recounts the rejection of Chinese from Seattle.
What’s your favorite activity to do with your host students? . I enjoy preparing food they probably haven't had before. And I have had several enjoyable hikes on Mt. Rainier with students.
Has a host student ever cooked a dish from their home country to share with you? If so, what did they make? Often a student will help me with preparing a meal, even emptying the dishwasher (I need to ask their mother if they're so helpful at home?). I was invited to the apartment of two of my Chinese students the next year, and they cooked me a complete Chinese dinner. I was very grateful.
What is your all-time favorite memory of hosting an international student?
Having a dozen students and friends for Thanksgiving at my home a year ago.
What's your favorite part of U.S. culture to share with your host students? I think it is important to talk about the reality of our nation - the people begging in our streets and our involvements in other countries.
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from your hosting experience? I've enjoyed all the students I've hosted. I suspect that only outstanding students get the opportunity, but of course each has their own personality. And I've learned that they also care about the world they are inheriting. My last four guys visited me last weekend to deliver some gifts to me and my cat. We also watched The Martian - a movie with good hope for the future. It was neat that they are from Germany, Great Britain and China - as were the characters in the story!
Have you stayed in touch with any of your host students long-term? I have had contacts with some. A Chinese student's mother decided that I would be the best to teach him to drive - and he successfully got his license! I enjoyed a good-bye meal with a student from Mongolia through another program last spring on his way to Washington, D.C. and a job with the World Bank. I also maintained a friendship with another Mongolian student here at the same time, who got his degree at Central Washington and is now studying in Japan. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit both of their parents when they visited the U.S.
Interested in a rewarding experience with UW international students? We are actively looking for hosts to welcome students into their homes for Thanksgiving Dinner. Contact bea@fiuts.org for more information or if you're a new host, fill out an application today! Students will be matched by Nov 19/20.