Foreign Exchange Students

Over a period of ten years, our family hosted/facilitated the visits of many exchange students from other countries.  Twelve of these students particularly impacted our life.  They were from Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, France, the Netherlands, and Ecuador.

During this time, we worked for various exchange agencies and eventually became district representatives.  We are the ones who interviewed prospective families in an attempt to forge the "perfect match" between exchange students and their furture host families.

One evening, after returning from work, Susan and I listened to the messages on our answering machine.  One of them was from a man who wanted to host a student who lived in a country known for wildlife, fishing and hunting.

Everyone who has ever hosted a foreign exchange student hopes that a lasting bond of friendship is formed.  And ... if the bond is extremely positive, a visit to the student's home country is nearly assured.

We should have known to anticipate a problem when responding to this particular message because the strains of "Deliverance" were playing in the background and the man sounded as if he may have denture deficiencies.

Even so, we called him, and methodically went through the initial intake list, asking the obligatory questions.  He sounded like a man's man -- a kind of a red-neck guy who likes white socks and Blue Ribbon beer -- the kind of a a guy who has a 4WD pickup with a Hemi, heavy-duty shocks, heavy-duty bumpers, a hoist on the front and a camper shell.  The kind of a guy who wears plaid shirts, Levis, steel-toed boots and a ball cap.

After completing the list of questions, Susan asked him, "Now with all this background information, from what country were you thinking of finding a student?"

His reply, "Alaska."

And so during this last Presidential race, we understood more clearly how it is that Sarah Palin can see Russia from her kitchen window.