Travel

Episode 47: What Effects the Coronavirus COVID-19 Has On Homestay

Helllllloooooo! Long time no chat! We were scheduled to come back in early March and then the pandemic struck. Now we are all physically distancing and staying at home, so the Homestay Kitchen had to re-work our podcasting schedule to fit our new routine. In the meantime, we thought we’d check in with you. How are you doing?

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Episode 46: End of the Student Homestay Experience

It’s coming to the end of the year and some students may be leaving or some students may be heading home just for the winter break. Either way, when it’s time to drag the luggage out and dust off that passport, we need to start thinking about our pre-departure rituals. What is it like when your student finally leaves? What strategies are you going to put into place when it comes to saying goodbye?

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Episode 43: Long Term Students vs. Short Term Students

So what defines a short term student and a long term student? Mary defined a short term student as being anywhere less than 6 months, but after she said that (and even after we finished recording this episode), we were still debating what differentiated a long term student from a short term student. Any way you look at it, hosting short term students and long term students can be very different experiences. In this episode, Mary and Erin go toe to toe on the pros and cons of hosting long term students versus short term students.

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Episode 40: Fearless Communication Skills and Owning Your Moxie with Heather Thompson

One of the major challenges of hosting international students is to navigate the language barrier. Communication is key to any relationship, so how do you have the confidence to speak your mind when your student doesn’t speak your language? At times you need to be fearless and in today’s episode we chat with Heather Thompson who shares this grit with a side of humour.

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Episode 39: 10 Steps of Culture Shock

Culture shock can come in many different forms, not just language for international students. From food, to hygiene, and even the way people dress. It’s not about what each culture is doing right or wrong, but about how things are done and are acceptable in different countries.

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Episode 38: Cultural Expectations with Master Homestay Host Tatiana Robertson

In today’s episode, we chat with Tatiana Robertson, whom Erin crowned the Master Host Mom, not once, but twice in our conversation. When you decide to host international students in your home, we know it’s not an easy decision, especially if this is your first time.

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Episode 36: Part 2 – Sending Your Kids to Study Abroad and the Homestay Industry with Jennifer Wilson from the Canada Homestay Network

This is part two of our conversation with Jennifer Wilson, the Managing Director of the Canada Homestay Network. As relationship experts, they are not only working with you as a homestay host, but also juggling relationships with agencies, student’s parents, and of course, the students themselves. However, in this episode, we hear how Jennifer’s role reverses by sharing her experience of being a parent sending her daughter to study abroad. Plus, we discuss the future of the homestay industry, and dive more into common issues that hosts might navigate through during their homestay hosting journey.

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Episode 34: Back to School and Navigating Airports

So with summer here in the Northern Hemisphere fading away, it signals the time for back to school. Which means previous students have left and new students are arriving. What does that mean for your family? Students arrive all throughout the year, but summer and September are the high seasons for student arrivals.

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Episode 33: World Student Day with Languages Canada

What if we had a day to celebrate our world’s diversity by bringing the world to your doorstep? Well you’re in luck. World Student Day is on July 26th, 2019. This free public event is happening across Canada brought to you by Languages Canada, the voice of the Canadian language education sector.

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Episode 31: How to Start Hosting International Students Today

Hot town, summer in the city! This time of year is perfect for heading outside, exploring our natural playground, and taking in all the great summer events that are ideal to be a tourist in your own hometown with your international student. If you’ve been wanting to get your feet wet with becoming a homestay host, this is the ideal time.

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