My wife, Debby, and I have been married 25 years and have two children, Philip who will turn 19 this week, and Rachel who is 5. (Yep, you did the math right. Fourteen years apart.:-) Anyway, two years ago, we decided to host a foreign exchange student through AFS (American Field Service=great organization). Philip was then a senior in a public school, and we hosted a boy from Iceland, Bjorn, who was a few months older than Philip. Bjorn was here for the whole school year, and the two of them got along won erfully. More stories later. Philip left for college, and since we had a semi-empty nest and were already familiar with the school, we decided to host again. This time our student was a sixteen year-old girl from Russia, Anny. In November, another exchange student in the same school (and same program) needed to change families, so we took her as well. Beatrice (a senior) was from Switzerland. The two of them enjoyed each other's company and for the most part tolerated Rachel pretty well. Rachel *loved* having two 'older sisters'. Mor stories later as well, but suffice it to say that parenting two teenage girls was a totally different experience. This year we are not hosting ourselves, but we are still involved in the local program (as a liaison family). parent conference Main Menu