CURIOUS ABOUT HOW OTHERS SEE YOU?
Have you ever wondered how people from other countries view your neighborhood of America?  Do they like Philly Cheese Steaks?  How do they rate our fast food joints?  What will they miss about America when they return to their home countries?  I was surprised by some of the answers to these questions when I posed them to seven high school students from Europe and Asia who had spent the past school year living with host families and attending the local public high school in the Philadelphia area.  (See below for some to the results).
You can discover firsthand by hosting a student ambassador from a different culture – as a Welcome Family for a couple of months or for the whole school year 2012-2013.   Volunteer host families open their hearts and their homes to well-screened teens (aged 15-18) who have been very carefully selected to represent their countries, who speak good English and who are waiting for their dream of living in America for a brief time to come true. 
How would you like to see your country and its traditions through the eyes of a foreigner?   Would you like to host a student from overseas?  To engage your family in this exciting discovery, go to the Council for International Educational Exchange websites at www.ciee.org/highschool and www.ciee.org/host or email to sheila.buckley56@gmail.com  or phone your local coordinator at 215.242.5026.
Answers to the survey:
1. Their favorite fast food place was Chipotle.
2. They thought Philly Cheese Steaks were over rated and not a healthy choice; “What is this orange stuff?”  “Where is the cheese?”
3. They were struck by the extraordinary hospitality and friendliness of the American people.
4.  They were inspired by very friendly and helpful teachers in their schools. 
5. Most of all, they will miss the extraordinary experience of being welcomed as sons and daughters into all kinds of American families.