30 years ago, we hosted our very first exchange student.  Suyako Sakai.  It was an excellent experience for our family.  She taught us Japanese customs and cooked us Japanese food and brought us matching Japanese clothing that she and her mother made.  She put on her traditional costume and did a Japanese dance for us with her fan.  Quite a few years later, I finally was able to visit her family in Japan.  They treated me like royalty.  We have continued to keep in touch through the years, once even, her Mother and two friends came to stay with us.  Well, for the first time, we were so happy to have her stop in for a visit with her husband. They were on their way to Mississippi for a job he has there for a while with his company. They only had time to stay for a day, but it was a fantastic day with them.  We drove up the gorge to the falls and ended with dinner at Riverview while we watched the Sandy river pass by.  It was so nice to see her all grown up and to know that her time with us has meant as much to her as it did to us.  

It was such a good experience for us that we ended up hosting students from all over the world.  At last count, we had had 65 internationals live in our home.  That is including the students themselves and also the times that the student's family or friends came later on. (For example, our Italian boy came back with 4 friends and his brother and stayed about 2 weeks.) Some of them stayed a full school year, some only three weeks.  Each one was so special to us and enriched our family.  I am still in touch with almost every one of them.