Williamsburg is a city bustling with people visiting from around the world, and some local families get to share the experience first-hand with foreign exchange students.
“You have to remember that these European students are still in fact just kids, kids with dreams to come to the United States, and when we host them in our homes, we’re helping make these dreams come true,” said Cassie Marez, field manager for the company Education, Travel and Culture.
Long-term stay
Education, Travel and Culture brings students from different countries in Europe and Asia to stay with volunteer Williamsburg-area families for a semester or full year. The program is just starting in the Williamsburg market, and recently placed its first student in Yorktown. However, the program already has been successful in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Newport News.
Marez first began working with the company four years ago after hosting a student herself the first time. She said the experience affected her so much that she fell in love with the it and wanted to help make the opportunity available for more people.
“There’s a huge market for these students to come here,” Marez said. “This area is so close to D.C., and it has such a rich history. It gives students a lot access to very American things.”
Star–spangled students
The students are placed in American schools and given the full experience, Marez said. The time in school is usually the students’ favorite part because they get to go to football games and homecoming— things that Marez said they had probably only seen before on television.
“Something like this breaks cultural barriers and shares the real American experience,” Marez said. “And the students, in turn, are bringing cultural awareness into the homes.”
Students in the program must pass a background check and provide letters of recommendation from their schools and proof of their English skills from their teachers.
On the family side, the program performs a background check, then tours the home to make sure the family can provide a student with a real bed, a safe space and three meals a day.
While the families are not compensated for hosting the students, the students come with their own money for things like entertainment. Mostly, though Marez said the families are just interested in having the cultural experience and the students are excited to share that with them.
“They’re so brave to come to a country so different from their own and immerse themselves in a different culture, with a family they don’t even know,” Marez said.
From Milan to Williamsburg
For families who don’t want to host a student for months at a time, though, Amersion Cultural Experiences, formerly known as Illuminations Cultural Experiences, allows Williamsburg-area families to host a student from between one to three weeks at a time.
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Students through this program mainly come from France and Italy, staying in Williamsburg for a few weeks and then travel to places like Washington, New York and Amish Country in Pennsylvania.
Susan Stallings, the company’s owner and operator, has been working with exchange students since hosting a German girl in 1995.
“Here was someone that was living a whole different way of life, and yet the connections we had were incredible,” Stallings said. “We realized that never again would we hear anything about German people and not think of this girl.”
The company began in Williamsburg as International Cultural Holidays. Stallings’ first job with the company was as a history and cultural teacher about 30 years ago.
Now Stallings runs the business, and the company brings groups of about 30 students from cities like Milan, Italy, and Lyon, France, to the Williamsburg area about six times a year.
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Receiving the colonial treatment
The exchange students visit Jamestown, Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg and other popular attractions. During their stay, the students spend mornings in classes with Stallings and other teachers learning English, history and American culture.
In addition, the students typically have the chance to spend a day in a Williamsburg-area high school, where they shadow a student to classes to experience the differences in education.
“The French teachers love it because, all of the sudden, the students aren’t just learning French from a book. They’re putting faces and stories behind the language,” Stallings said.
The students’ average age is between 16 and 19. Stallings receives full background checks on the students from their schools back home, and then host families are able to pick a student based on interests and lifestyles.
Working with the students’ teachers is what makes the difference when matching students and families, Stallings said. The teachers often have known the students for many years and are usually familiar with the students’ families as well.
After 30 years of working in this industry. Stalling says she has the recipe for success down, with families coming back multiple times each year to host students.
“I hope that after these students visit here, America will not just be a place in a news story,” Stallings said. “They will hear ‘America’ and we will be the faces and the people that they remember.”
