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Health & Fitness

The Benefits of Hosting an International Visitor

For those of us who love to learn about new cultures, interact with people, enjoy traveling and just genuinely like interacting with people; hosting an international visitor in your home is a great way to experience all of the above.  

Hosting an international visitor increases cross-cultural understanding and fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between the host and visitor.  Hosts are able to experience a new culture right in their own home and the immersive experience of a homestay teaches visitors about everyday life in the U.S.by providing a unique learning setting outside of the classroom.  Hosts with children at home find that hosting a visitor and interacting with someone from another country are wonderful learning experiences for their children.   Children living with international visitors are exposed to different cultural traditions, new activities and thought provoking discussions.

Global Immersions, Inc. has been in the homestay business for thirteen years.  Its founder Patty Brownlee is a seasoned International Educator whose work and travels have taken her across the globe.  She loves connecting locals with individuals from around the world and is dedicated to raising cross-cultural awareness and promoting intercultural understanding.

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Global Immersions’ hosts attest to the benefits of the homestay experience.

My host experience so far has been great. My children are having fun with the students. I had a student from China who stayed with us for ten months - now she is like a daughter to me, and like a sister to my son and daughter.- Host from Milton

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Hosting international students is very gratifying. To host a student who is in the U.S. for the first time, to make them feel comfortable and to converse about the differences in culture is satisfying and informational.  – Host from Newton

Hosting international students has been an enriching experience for our whole family. It has allowed us to be armchair travelers. Also, we have had the chance to visit a few of our former students when we traveled to Mexico and Japan. –Host from Roslindale, MA

Global Immersions has recently taken on a new exciting endeavor and is working to find hosts best suited and interested in hosting international high school students for the upcoming school year.

Global Immersions Homestay offers short and long-term hosting opportunities in the Boston metro area.  Visit www.globalimmersions.com for more information or call 617-484-4055.

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