Two of my children have a fascination for Europe and would love to travel there. However, given the falling dollar and high costs, that's not likely to happen anytime soon. So one day last winter my family mentioned a new foreign exchange student program, and in a weak moment I agreed to try it.
The result was a somewhat unequal substitute for a European trip — yet a fascinating experience nonetheless — in which a German student lived with my family for just three weeks, March 13-April 3.
I ended up being very pleasantly surprised. Having Hannah Duchscherer, 17, from Oberweyer — near Frankfurt, Germany — come to our home was a great experience and the next best thing to going to Europe ourselves.
Once you get past those uncomfortable moments of silence in the first few days and relax, I'd recommend other families consider hosting a foreign student.
In my younger days, exchange students stayed with a host family the entire school year. Now it can be as little as three weeks.
There were a few minor glitches — for example, making living space for her, and the fact that initially she didn't understand the word "dog," and our canine didn't make a good first impression by growling.
Yet Hannah proved to be regular teenager — she loved shopping, movies, games and hanging out with friends. She was a very well-mannered and extra-courteous teen, too. Other than occasional explanations, she required less care than my other children and was a ray of sunshine in the sometimes drudgery and routine of life.
There was sometimes a little language hurdle during her short stay, but it ended up reminding me that people are people in numerous common areas.
Hannah attended Layton High School with my daughter, Elizabeth, on seven different days. She observed that schoolteachers here were very liberal in comparison to their German counterparts. However, she said Utah teachers dished out much more homework.
She traveled with part of my family on a three-day, whirlwind trip to two Utah national parks, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
Utah's scenery was great, she said, but she didn't enjoy the extra-cold spring here. She also expressed appreciation for the many youth activities The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered.
She said she will especially miss all the variety U.S. stores have, as well as their lower overall prices than in Germany.
"We don't eat so such cheese," she said, pointing out the apparent fascination here with that food.
She especially loved Oreo cookies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and Frosted Flakes cereal. She didn't care too much for Utah's fry sauce, though.
Hannah said she knew Americans were friendly, but they proved to be even more so than she expected.
All my family kept the house and their rooms neater, and best behavior was the rule of every day. My family also spent more time together during those three weeks, which conveniently included college spring break and public school Easter break. We sat down more as a family and ate together, too.
The only truly difficult part was when Hannah left — it was very sad to say goodbye.
"I liked the experience," my daughter, Elizabeth, said, "'cause I learned a lot about German culture and she helped me with my German class."
My wife, LeAnn, was also enthusiastic about the experience.
"I got to have another daughter," she said. "It was fun to see a different culture."
We'll be considering a similar exchange student experience in the future.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com