Time Flies When Hosting is Fun
A blog from a regular IH Bristol host family, Jonathan and Gail:
"June marks our fifth anniversary as a host family for students at International House! We’re really pleased that our ‘fifth anniversary guest’ will be Cecilia, one of three delightful Italian teenagers who stayed with us last year, coming back for her second summer in Bristol.
In the past five years we have hosted a wide range of students from those in their early teens to early retired, and have many fond memories of welcoming them into our home. We’ve had guests from Europe, South America and South East Asia.
Our most recent pair is Esther (14) and Mia (12) from South Korea and China who came as part of the Guangzhou group. On their first afternoon we climbed Cabot Tower, visited the Georgian House and explored the Harbourside, Queens Square and Castle Park. Their enthusiasm was infectious and they took over 100 photos to share with their friends back home.
Each evening we enjoyed chatting to them about their lessons and afternoon activities. If you like cooking, hosting is a great reason to knock up some classic British dinners - Cottage Pie, roast chicken and Toad in the hole all went down well last week. And they loved porridge for breakfast!
After a week of fun our house seems a little empty since we dropped them off on Sunday morning, but we are looking forward to hosting some more students over the summer months. If you have a spare room in your house, you and your children could also benefit from the hosting experience."
- Jonathan and Gail, IH Bristol hosts since 2011