Thank you to all our host families!

Last week, FIUTS hosted a very special event: our 75th Host Family Appreciation Dinner. Just think of it: we had the pleasure and honor of hosting the hosts, the opportunity to express our deep gratitude to multiple families in our community, some of whom have been hosting international students since 1964. 

This event was organized by our wonderful Manager of Education Programs, Olena Vlasova. After the event, I asked Olena how she felt about hosting the event and this is what she had to say:

It was my big joy to find myself in a room surrounded by people who share one and the same passion—that is, providing a warm, safe place for students and opening the doors not only to their homes, but also to their hearts to complete strangers who come from all over the world. 

My heart filled with admiration and excitement to see so many people who believe in FIUTS mission of promoting international understanding through students. Being with FIUTS for just one year, and also being a host family, I was so happy to have an opportunity to give back to the community that gives so much to students year after year, student after student.

No matter whether you are a lifelong host, or it was your first time hosting this year, families make such a huge contribution to each program that it's impossible to repay it. At the same time, hearing the stories of why people decide to host, how different these stories are, and at the same time, how similar, made me appreciate these families even more. It reminded me that it's a win-win for everyone, host families get as much from the process of hosting as the students do, it is the principle of reciprocity in action, we exchange energy, ideas, opinions, and, of course, culture. We all want to extend a hand of friendship to other human beings no matter where they come from, we want to show them hospitality, kindness, generosity and make memories together, all of these motivations seem so right, in the world of wrongs, so uniting, in the world of conflict and division. Hosting comes with its challenges, of course, it requires patience and is always a learning experience, but it always expands our horizons even if most of the host families have already travelled the world. It was great to hear how our host families have seen multiple countries and met people from different spots of the planet, some families had an experience as an exchange student and were treated kindly in the past, and they are motivated to pay it forward. We keep encouraging the students we work with to pay it forward, this is the most important aspect of hosting for me, creating this circle of kindness that gets paid forward somewhere on the planet, even if it is many years later.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the appreciation dinner, as well as to every family in our homestay community who couldn't join us that night. We appreciate all of you!