A cultural experience at home

Pacific Intercultural Exchange (PIE) is looking for Blaine area host families to welcome foreign high school students into their homes.

The students, scheduled to arrive very soon, are all between the ages of 15 and 18 years of age, are English-speaking, have their own spending money, carry health and accident insurance and are excited to share their cultural experiences with their new American families.

PIE executive director John Doty said PIE has programs to match almost every family’s needs with students who stay between one semester to a full academic year, where the students attend local schools.

“The neat thing about this is the idea of having an extended international family,” Doty said. “We have had families host students for 18 years or more and now anytime they travel, they have family.”

Interested families are encouraged to apply soon in order to allow correspondence before students arrive. Families of all types are encouraged to apply and they will be matched to the students based on common interests and lifestyles through an informal in-home meeting. Families are able to review applications and choose the best candidates.

For the upcoming programs, PIE has students from Germany, the former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Finland, Hungary, Korea, Switzerland, Mexico, Italy, Paraguay, Australia, Yugoslavia, China, Belgium, Vietnam and many other countries.

PIE is a non-profit, educational organization that has sponsored over 20,000 students from 40 countries since its founding in 1975.

Blaine families interested in learning more or arranging for a meeting with a community representative may call PIE at 800/631-1818. .
.

Back to Top