Hosting Italy and Indonesia – A World of Discovery Under One Roof

We’d like to share a little bit about our experiences while hosting students through AFS. There’s so much to talk about, and it’s hard to keep our story short while sharing all the good experiences. What we’ve written about is really only a small part of our experience, and we hope it captures the best of the highlights.

We were introduced to AFS through our local highschool when they reached out to the community looking for families willing to host exchange students. We’ve never hosted students before, and were unsure what to expect, but we were excited to give it a go. Reading the various profiles of students who seemed so excited about visiting a new country inspired us, and we felt like we could help make this experience possible for someone. The most compelling reason for us to host is knowing that we can help to create opportunities for students to visit New Zealand, while learning heaps from their home country too.

We hosted Marco from Italy in Term 3 of 2025, and this year we hosted Vittoria from Italy, and Quinza from Indonesia. The girls lived with us for 3 months, which seemed to have raced past in what felt like only a few weeks.

Having someone live with you who comes from a different county brings about many different experiences. Some were really good, and others, well… interesting. Having multiple students at the same time doubles the fun! In these 3 short months, we enjoyed learning about Italian and Indonesian cultures, and how they differ from what we consider normal. From routines that start at 3 in the morning until 23:00 at night for religious practice, to 6 or 7-day school weeks, we’ve certainly gained loads of insight to how life differs across the globe. We are fascinated by how our extended new-found family lives in their home countries.

Sharing a bit of our culture and hearing the student’s feedback on it is another highlight. Whenever we shared something with the students that we truly appreciate, and saw the same or an even better liking through their reactions, we were reminded of another great benefit of hosting. Inevitably, not everything about these cultures are appealing to everyone, and the dislikes are often accompanied by some good laughs, as well as an opportunity to get to know each other better.

We were fortunate to experience some of the popular food from Italy and Indonesia. Most of it was quite enjoyable, so much so that we requested recipes for these. This included pizza from Italy with the dough made at home by Vittoria, and Perkedels (deep-fried potato mashed and mixed with meat before being rolled into a ball and dipped into an egg wash), from Indonesia, made at home by Quinza. There were also some, rather peculiar dishes. The night before one of the girls planned to cook for the whole family, she conjured up a strange concoction, summoning an aroma that we did not believe to be food. Suddenly we were worried about the next evening’s meal to be prepared by the same hands. Fortunately, the meal that next evening was lovely, new, and refreshing!

These included the first time seeing and playing in the snow, first time in thermal baths and first school ball (which is the only school ball that one of the students will get to attend). Seeing the joy in these students’ faces as they experienced a lot of firsts was one of the highlights of our hosting experience. It deepens our appreciation for the beautiful country we live in and everything we get to experience.

Early in their stay, the girls put themselves out there and joined in the Anti-bullying activities of Chazelle’s school. They painted and decorated their own shirts, and wore them proudly to support the cause. Both did a great job and looked fantastic in their unique tees.

About 2 months into their stay, our students asked to go kayaking. After checking that their swimming skills were up to scratch, we set off to Ohiwa harbor. This was a great adventure, and the girls enjoyed being out on the water. The trip out went really well. The trip back to shore got a little interesting though. While my main concerns were around the girls accidentally falling off the kayak, I never even remotely considered the possibility that they might want to jump in voluntarily! To my surprise, this is exactly what one of them did. Fortunately, the water was shallow enough to stand in, and she had a life jacket on, so there was no real need for alarm. We were around 150 meters away from shore though, and we were making little progress while she walked/swam back. After determining that we weren’t getting anywhere, I assisted her in getting back on her kayak, but ended up getting dragged down too! Despite my best efforts to stay dry that day, fate had other plans. We’re still laughing about that today.

We built great relationships with Vittoria and Quinza, and enjoyed their company during their stay. It feels like we had to say goodbye to part of our family when we wished them farewell at the airport, but we know that we’ll always have a place in their hearts and homes, as they will in ours.