Thinking about homestay students today. We currently have a young man from Japan, in a three-month program at the local university, and another young man from China, who is a chaperone for a group of ESL (English as a Second Language) students going to the university for three weeks.
Both of them are quite likeable. It is a privilege to host them. Being short-term students, it is a novelty for them to be in Canada, and they are interested in sightseeing and learning about our way of life.
It takes a little patience to communicate with them, but it is worthwhile and rewarding. This morning one of them showed us pictures of his little daughter. Then, over breakfast he said he wanted to know how people earn a living here, because he sees people walking around enjoying life everywhere, not seeming to be working. We explained that here on the island a lot of people are tourists, especially in Victoria where he was yesterday visiting Butchart Gardens. We told him about our own jobs. I work part time in an office, and my husband is retired, but had fun explaining in simple English with a roll of paper towels for a prop, how he used to fall trees, and the trees go on a ship to China. Martin (English nickname) said he used to work on a big ship in China, and told us all about that.
Our other student came to the beach with us the other day for a picnic and a swim. He was intrigued by the barnacles in a little rock pool, which were shooting out their little black tongues to eat.
Our homestay students usually want to come to church with us too, sometimes only once out of curiosity, and sometimes more often. They seem to sense the Spirit of God there, in the worship, singing, prayer, readings, teachings, and in the warmth and friendliness of the people they meet.
Being homestay hosts is generally very rewarding, especially with those students who like to interact with us, but sometimes we have hosted students who are here to study for several years and see homestay as just cheap room and board. Once they purchase their own cars, they live by their own schedules and want minimal contact with us. In my opinion such independent students would be better to get their own suites to live in, perhaps as peer stay or shared accommodation. That way they can do their own cooking and eat whatever they want whenever they want, and come and go all day and all night without disturbing members of a host family.
One student who stayed with us for almost a year was very special to Sid, as they loved to sing and play ukuleles together. Sid took Akira to buy a ukulele and taught him how to play it. You can check them out on YouTube at Akira & Sid.
