Friendship Families, offered through the University of Idaho International Programs Office, hosted its annual Welcome Reception on Tuesday for international students to mingle with local families and other students on campus.
“We have so much to learn from the international students and scholars and researchers,” said Susan Bender, IPO executive director. “Being connected in this way is very important.”
Friendship Families believes the relationship between international students, host families and the community is much like the relationship between the branches, trunk and roots of a tree. Each plays an important role and provides the others with strength, support and energy — a concept that Friendship Families has incorporated into its new logo design of a tree growing out into space from all the continents of the Earth.
After the initial welcome message, the reception gave several international students a chance for brief introductions and shared stories about their culture.
The reception also gave host families a chance to meet their new guests for the first time.
“When we first did it, we were nervous about it, but it’s turned out to be a positive experience for us, our family and the students,” said Joe Pallin, a photographer with UI Photographic Services. “It was just a real pleasure.”
Pallin’s family first hosted two students simultaneously — one from Italy through the local rotary club, and one from Taiwan through Friendship Families. Pallin said the experience was especially positive for his children, who were able to connect with students close to their own age through conversation and sharing meals.
Pallin’s family will host another student this semester, Khaled Almuaqel, from Saudi Arabia. Almuaqel studies accounting and came to UI to improve his English.
“The English language is the language for all the world,” Almuaqel said.
The English language was a motivator for many of the students present at the reception, including Almuaqel’s nephew Aziz Almuaqel, and Livia Li, from China.
“I wanted to learn something to make me better,” said Li, who spent a year studying English through UI’s American Language and Culture Program before enrolling as a full-time student last fall. “I like small towns, so Idaho and Moscow is one school I looked at.”
Another draw for Friendship Families is community integration.
“It’s a pattern that some international students fall into, and that is that they only hang out with each other,” said Elitza Kotzeva, IPO international outreach coordinator. “It’s hard to make them mingle, even with other international students. Having a family that can patiently listen to you and your English is helpful, because a lot of these students go back to the dorms and only hang out with each other.”
Kotzeva said that there are about 50 families who participate in the program, many of whom are staff members at UI or part of the retired community, and who host up to seven students at a time. The program links these families with interested students already on campus or through the ALCP.
“We advertise prolifically,” Kotzeva said. “We have the American Language and Culture Program, and we also have contact information for international students, so we contact them through email.”
Friendship Families has information for potential host families and international students looking to join the program at uidaho.edu/international.
Daniel Durand can be reached at [email protected]