1 Jordanian + 1 Ukrainian = 2x the Adventure
7 teens in one Minnesota home? "You betcha!"
Even though we are veteran host parents (Jana and Diana are students #9 and #10), it always amazes us how much fun we have experiencing our culture with our family and exchange students. Even more amazing is watching our children develop forever bonds with new exchange sisters.
Jana, a YES student from Jordan, is teaching us about the Middle East and her religion of Islam. Jana enjoys sharing her culture with us and finds our attempts at speaking Arabic quite entertaining! In return, we are teaching her some traditional Minnesotan such as “uff-da” and "you betcha".
We are teaching her some traditional Minnesotan such as “uff-da” and "you betcha".
Diana, a FLEX student from Ukraine, was originally planning to join our family for the 2020/21 program year but was unable to due to COVID. We were excited to see she was still available when we decided to host again for 2021/22. We picked her twice to join our family, and she fits in so well!
We are planning a Ukrainian dinner after the Thanksgiving holiday with our neighbors, and she is excited to share some of her traditional Ukrainian foods with all of us. Our family has had many adventures already since Jana and Diana have joined us. There are SEVEN teenagers in our home this school year!
—Megan Nelson (MN), host mom of Jana (YES, Jordan) and Diana (FLEX, Ukraine)
