A HOST FAMILY* FOR DIEGO
Diego Ruiz is sixteen and comes from Chile. He lives in Canada with a host family, the Browns. Diego's English is still far from perfect, and that is the reason the Browns help him so much. Each morning they drive him to school, and in the evening they go over his homework with him. They also explain Canadian customs to him. "On weekends, we visit their grandparents' farm or watch hockey at the ice rink," says Diego.(lines 1–6)
First, Diego needed a place in an exchange program*. Every teenager who applies* for the program in Chile has an interview with its director, Karen Hill. "A year abroad is not a holiday," Karen explains. "Far from home, problems come up all the time, and a teenager who gets upset easily will suffer. So I want students who welcome new ideas and can deal with problems by themselves. To check this, I give every student a little test during the interview. In the middle of our talk, I say, 'I'm sorry, but your flight to Canada has just been cancelled.' Then I watch: does the student stay calm and start planning what to do next?"(lines 7–15)
After the interview, Diego joined a weekly course with other students. Karen led his group herself. "The hardest lesson is that in someone else's home, you follow that family's rules, even rules that seem strange to you," she says. "For some teenagers, living by another family's rules is just too hard, and they leave the course before the end. Not Diego. He always asked good questions, and he was happy to try new things. Working with him was easy."(lines 16–21)
Next, Karen had to find the right family for Diego. "Many Canadian families would like to host a student," Karen says. "Every family that asks to join the program for the first time must write us a long letter about their home and their hobbies. The Browns' letter said that they spend every weekend outdoors*. Diego loves sports and nature, so I knew he would be happy with them. In a recent e-mail, he called this year the best year of his life. Nothing makes me happier than that."(lines 22–28)