The summer of 2022 is looking promising as the in-person Japan hosting program reopens in Oregon and other participating states. If your family is interested in learning about other cultures and has a willingness to share your lives and friendship with a young person from Japan, this could be a wonderful opportunity for you. The Japanese youth want to experience American culture, make new friends, and improve their English by staying with your family.
Can I Host?
The program is open to area families who have a child close in age to the Japanese youth. Families do not have to be currently involved in 4-H to participate in this program.
You don’t need a large house, or even a separate bedroom to be a host. In fact, it is best if the youth share a room with their host sibling. Host families do not need to plan special activities or incur extra expenses. Host families just need to include their new family member in their regular activities, including family trips and outings, sporting events, visiting friends and relatives, running errands and even doing chores.
Finally, each Japanese visitor will be matched to your family based on the host sibling’s gender, age, and interests so that you can have the best exchange experience possible.
The Program Provides:
• Extensive orientation programs at the local level
• A Host Family Handbook and Japanese Language Book for every host family
• The opportunity to exchange letters with the exchange student and their parents before they arrive
• Local contact people to answer questions and help during the exchange
• Group activity at the local level for host families and their Japanese youth during the visit
• English speaking Japanese chaperones who stay in Oregon with the students
• Japanese speaking Americans at the local and state level are available to help with translation
As a former program participant and volunteer coordinator, I can highly recommend hosting a Japanese youth.
