EF Educational Homestay Programs offers foreign students an educational adventure

What’s as American as “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?”

To 69 bright-eyed international exchange students, the answer might as well be “Redmond, Washington.”

The 14-to-18-year-olds from France, Spain and Hong Kong arrived July 8. Redmond Junior High (RJH) is the hub for their activities. Weekdays, they attend English language and American culture classes from 9 a.m.-noon. After lunch, they take a field trip. Evenings and weekends are spent with host families in Redmond, Bellevue or Woodinville. They’ll depart on August 5.

This is the third year that EF Educational Homestay Programs has brought foreign students to Redmond for a summer educational adventure “and an insight into American family life,” explained Jessica Falkner-Horine, a teacher at Redmond Elementary and organizer of the exchange students’ activities.

Before the Redmond Reporter’s visit, the teens had already rented paddle boats on Green Lake, toured the University of Washington campus, attended a Mariners game and more. On July 23, they were eagerly checking out room assignments for an upcoming journey to Seaside, Oregon as well as reviewing brochures for that afternoon’s trek to the Seattle Premium Outlets mall.

“They’re just starting to break away from hanging out with others from their own country. They’re halfway through the program, making new international friends and getting attached to their host families. When they leave, they all cry. As the buses pull away, it’s a big boo-hoo fest,” said Falkner-Horine.

Escorts from the foreign countries come with the respective groups and students rotate among several teachers from the Lake Washington and Issaquah School Districts. Classes are mixed between nationalities and English language levels. All conversation between students and teachers is in English.

“We work on vocabulary and learning by doing,” explained Audrey Falkner, who is Falkner-Horine’s mom and a teacher from the Futures School, a Lake Washington School District (LWSD) Choice school on the Juanita High School campus.

In Falkner’s first English class on July 23, the topic was superlatives such as “most” or “least.” Students bantered about which inventions were the most useful: the computer, the laptop, the mobile/cell phone, the vacuum, the vaccine or the DVD.

Next door in a culture class, Holly Owen, a substitute teacher for the LWSD, asked students, “What is the American dream?”

Responses included, “To be President of the United States. ... To be famous. ... Hollywood.”

They talked about striving for success with lingo such as “having the guts ... giving it a shot ... making it big.”

But playing American game shows for “fantastic cash and prizes or parting gifts” — in reality, things like dollar bills, Matchbox cars and Hershey’s chocolate bars — was the huge hit of the morning.

During a round of “Family Feud,” the teens chuckled over prompts such as, “Name Something Toy Dolls Do That Makes Them Seem Like a Real Baby.”

They correctly guessed, “Talk ... crawl ... wet pants ... cry ...” and so on.

Two rounds of “Deal or No Deal” had them giddy with excitement.

After the games, Owen told us, “Earlier, we talked about grunge music and I wrote down the Top 10 songs from the era. They wrote them all down so they can download them onto their computers. We’ve talked about different American cities, different accents. They practiced saying, ‘Y’all,’ and ‘Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Square,” she laughed.

The most amazing thing about working with these students, said Falkner, “is that the sameness is what stands out. No matter where they’re from, kids are kids. They are the same. The world would be a better place if everyone could do this.”

Also, Falkner added, “Redmond has been so gracious to us. The schools, the businesses, the host families. Some of the kids are staying with affluent families in big, beautiful homes. Some are in very modest homes, but everywhere, there is the same spirit of generosity.”

Next summer, it’s anticipated that students from at least four foreign countries will come to Redmond. All students come with their own spending money and insurance and “this is a great opportunity for your family to experience a new culture and develop life-long friendships,” said Falkner-Horine.

For information, e-mail jfalkner@lwsd.org or call (425) 830-9978.

Contact Redmond Reporter Reporter Mary Stevens Decker at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5052.

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