HOSTING AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT - INSTEAD OF VISITING A COUNTRY LET IT VISIT YOU.

Imagine this. You're carrying your backpack and luggage, you step out of the airport in a completey different land, strange faces, new language and absolutely no idea of the future - Fills you up with a sense of adventure and excitement doesn't it? But then it hits you, the fear that is. Almost feeling alien like because you're all by yourself. That's when we step in. And then you see a banner of your name and a bunch of people smiling and waiting for you to take you to a new home. That one smile and welcome banner can make you go from alien mode to native mode. A simple handshake between you and your hosts is not just the sign of a new friendship, its a gesture of the meeting of two complete different worlds, confluence of two cultures, the moment when you form your first contact with your new family. Wouldn't you feel so awesome when someone makes you feel at home even when your miles away from home? And believe me when you're responsible for someone's happiness, you very well will do everything to make them feel special. And nothing gives more joy than being the reason for someone's smile.

That's a fraction of what the host and a trainee feel. That's just a glimpse of what hosting a foreign exchange student feels like. Its almost like a whole new country visiting you rather than you going there. The funny part is you find how different they are so intriguing at first and then as time passes you realise how similar you are. Its the best way to learn about a country's culture from the native person itself! Its a whole new perspective. You'll probably see a country from the eyes of a citizen rather than tourist. The depth of the culture that one person holds is immense enough to keep you in a conversation about their homeland all night. You'll be surprised at how much you can learn by simply listening. It probably changes how you look at yourself. Gives you a whole new insight into yourself, there's so much scope to change, adapt, grow and develop and incorporate from them. You form a relation with a foreign land even without visiting it and probably know more about it than any tourist. Its said that education should teach you to use your mind and grow, not to fill it up with facts for a test. And a that's exactly what an exchange experience provides to both the host and trainee. Plus being responsible for someone else apart from yourself makes you grow as a person. The bond between a host and trainee is very special. You then gain a family and a home miles away.

I had a similar experience. An intern had arrived from Romania late evening and I got a call from my friend who was in charge of placing her saying she was really scared and she was crying. Since she was just a minute away I thought of going down to her and just being a friend because that's probably what she needed. When I saw her, her skin was flushed and pale, her eyes were watering, her brown hair untidily tied and she sat on her packed bags and held her phone waiting for her mom to call. I couldn't imagine how it must be feeling like in a strange land. I imagined myself in her shoes and the first thing that came to my mind was "I need a friend who'll understand". So I decided to make her feel at home by actually taking her home for two nights. She needed the comfort of a home and a family, a feeling of belonging and warmth. And the minute we moved her to my house, she was relived. The fact that someone cared about her, that someone was there made her happy. She was delighted to spend time with my family and suddenly from the devastated scared girl she went on to being the Ambassador of Romania and kept on talking. I saw the difference of how a friendly environment actually bought out her real chirpy self. And the feeling you get when you make someone happy, specially a stranger, gets you a step closer to inner peace and happiness. The world needs more smiles and look you literally got a step closer. We spent the whole night talking about each others lives and you'll be shocked at how similar and different you can be at the same time. The bond she formed with me was special, I was her first friend in a foreign land, she got the feeling of family and belonging at my home, she now trusted me and looked at me as her new family here. And I got a feeling of being responsible for someone else and it filled me with so much happiness. Well she moved out into a trainee flat and now we don't meet that often due to work. But she knows that I'm always ready to help her out and she can feel at home, she's welcome anytime. The best part? I didn't even have to tell her that, the friendship we forged was as good as family. And I realised this when she gave me special home-made Romanian jam which she had got to give to a special-someone here. I was so delighted to be her special-someone person. That jam is more than just a bottle of jelly. You can say I'm the jam and she's the bread. It can't be described how one feels when from a stranger someone goes on to be family.

So host a trainee, build a family across the world and be the reason behind someone's smile. Change a life for a change instead of going on a life changing experience.

Register here to host an Intern: http://goo.gl/ZwQnw9