Building Multicultural Awareness through International Education Homestays

“Having the International Student Program offers a unique lens through which we have the opportunity to reassess our values, judgements and assumptions,” said Penka Slavova, Director of International Student Programs at Germantown Friends School (GFS), a Quaker PreK-12 independent school in Philadelphia, PA.

GFS offers an International Student Program (ISP) to promote connections among cultures, welcoming students from outside the United States to be a part of the community.

Through homestays and participation in the full school program and schedule, international students are offered a true educational experience.

Penka is joined by ISP students Eva, Nicole, and Annie to answer a few important questions about the benefits, challenges, and joys associated with this unique experience.

What is the goal of ISP?

Penka: We encourage and foster connections between cultures. Living and learning together if the perfect way to think locally in order to act globally, or rather we are thinking globally and thus we act locally by encouraging international enrollment and finding homestays within our immediate community.

Our program is unique because we are the only school in our area which manages their own homestay. We have no agency to serve as an intermediary. We have a direct and close relationship with host families, students and biological families. We are the epicenter that supports students academically, emotionally, and socially while also corresponding directly and having regular check-ins with their host parents and bio parents.

Why is ISP valuable for students, families, the community?

Penka: It is a pure celebration of diversity and global perspective. It is also a way to truly cross internal boundaries and push through assumptions, especially as we often believe that our individualistic culture is superior to collective cultures.

Is it important to you for people to know you are an international student?

Eva: As human-beings, we all share a sense of universality despite different cultural origins. But at least for me, the locality prominently manifests in language. English is my second language. I have always been self-conscious about not being able to fully command the language. I go through the intricate circuits of reluctance before the mere attempt to voice a thought, and most of the time I prematurely kill off my expressions. The hardest part of my transition to this community is language. My language equates to my world.

Nicole: I’m proud to have come from a background of a vast cultural, economic and political value and to continue my journey in an incredible school learning about a culture that has earned respect and prominence across the world. I have always been eager to meet new people and know about the values they represent that echoes with their own identities. My identity as a Chinese international student will always be an integral part of my conception of myself and a part of how I want people to see me. I’m more than happy to be an honest medium through which people can learn about Chinese culture.

How does school celebrate an individual student’s uniqueness and culture?

Penka: At GFS, we hold events that recognize culture and traditions, lift up voices through events, offer affinity groups, and host many opportunities in and out of class that encourage dialogue. This past year, we hosted a Lunar New Year celebration for the entire school community; students led a Unity Day to talk about cultural and racial differences and challenges; and launched an Ambassadors Program to allow students to be leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion work on campus.

Eva: GFS integrates a lot of culturally-aware events and activities into the student life. My favorite one has been the Lunar New Year celebration. It took much planning and effort, for that I’m very grateful for the ISP program. The opportunity to celebrate the culture I had forfeited, in a sense, when I left home, was redemptive and endearing.

What do you love about this experience?

Creating a mini-community within our larger one. Learning so much from the international students in terms of cultural perspective. Really getting to know the families that I work with, biological and host families. Connecting and knowing the kids through special events, outings and weekly check-ins. Seeing students have first impressions of things that we take for granted.

Nicole: What I love about being in the ISP community is that it gives me a sense of belonging from the very first day. Joining a new school as a sophomore means that I was facing an already established social network as a newcomer, but the ISP program welcomed me full-heartedly and made it all easier. It serves as an entry way into the social circle of GFS so that I can start my high school journey with people who understand and care about what I am going through. I feel so grateful for the all the ISP members for their support and generosity in giving me advice and providing me with resources. In fact, I secured my Junior Project opportunity through the help of my friend’s host mother. We had a conversation during a dinner party about the difficulties I ran into during the process of reaching out to a contact. She happened to know a professional in my interested field of career and introduced me to her. One of the advantages of living with parents is that we are privileged with the extensive acquaintance network established by our parents. But now, even without my biological parents, the resources I’m exposed to are nothing short of extraordinary.

What is challenging?

Penka: Placing kids with the just right family. Challenges are expected, an adjustment period is a given but you want these difficulties to help everyone grow and become closer.

Annie: Language is the biggest challenge. The vocabulary and skills, such as listening and speaking, are not the problem; it’s the daily conversation that’s actually hard for me. Because the idioms themselves reflect the culture. You have to understand the culture very well to be able to join the conversations of American students, and at the same time the conversations help you understand the culture.

Why are these programs valuable?

Penka: They provide a safe, hands-on, nurturing, family style homestay for international students. They open our eyes to a very different way of making sacrifices for our kids.

Annie: ISP establishes a social network before students actually start their school life and provides a space for them to help each other with the knowledge that people in this circle understand each other more than other students or faculty on the campus. And some programs organized by ISP are helpful that they break this closed zone so students can integrate into the local culture.

What do you see for the future for these types of programs?

Penka: Honestly, I don’t know because in order to sustain the ISP we need host families. This has become harder and harder with the business of our lives. We are all over committed and have our kids in endless activities. Empty nesters tend to need their time to be free and spontaneous with their time. Furthermore, our demographic tends to want to host and help economically disadvantaged kids vs. well off Chinese students. I believe this is a missed opportunity for many folks in our community. The Chinese students are motivated, hard working, extremely bright, kind, funny, open. Most importantly having this program provides us with an unique lens through which we have the opportunity to reassess our values, judgements and assumptions.

As a homestay parent, what was special about your experience?

Teri Gemberling Johnson: We were Homestay parents for Anthony Luo for two years. We enjoyed many rich conversations around the dinner table, and our family with Anthony shared many wonderful musical moments at home, at school, and in Philadelphia concert halls. We were all enriched by the cross-cultural experience we shared together.

Brandon Jones: Hosting Gloria was a wonderful and rewarding experience for our family. Having two younger children at home, Gloria quickly became a big sister that our children grew to love. ​We thoroughly enjoyed our time as a Home Stay Family for the International Student Program.

Carol Loeffler: The GFS homestay experience was rich and full of laughter and learning for our family. We had the good fortune of not only getting know Eric, but also his mother and father. When I look back on our time together, I can’t help but smile. While we may have felt nervous opening our home to a “stranger” I can’t help but think it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. It was truly a wonderful time for our entire family! Eric will forever be a part of our family, no matter how near or far apart we are.

About Germantown Friends School

Founded in 1845, Germantown Friends School is a Quaker, independent day school for students in grades ECP-12, located in the historic neighborhood of Germantown in Northwestern Philadelphia. Dedicated to reaching that of God in every person, our mission is to seek truth, challenge the intellect, honor differences, embrace the city, and nurture each student’s mind, body and spirit. For more information, visit germantownfriends.org.

To learn more about ISP, visit the Germantown Friends School website.