News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Foreign exchange students Martina Figueras Molins from Spain, Davit Barbakadze from Georgia, and Martin Polak from the Czech Republic were at Alpena High School on Friday.

ALPENA — Foreign exchange student organizations are looking for host families for next year’s students, and any family with a spare room and a lot of love could be the right fit.

Host families do not have to be the idealized, two-parent married household with three teenagers, Penny Bachelder, a student exchange coordinator with International Cultural Exchange Service, USA, said. You could be a single parent, an unmarried couple, or a retired person to apply to become a host family, as long as you’re 25 or older.

There are many positives to hosting for the whole community, Bachelder said. A lot of people who live in northern Michigan do not get out of the state much, and it’s important for them to experience different cultures through the experiences of exchange students.

Exchange programs broaden the learning experiences of students at Alpena High School as well.

“It’s important for our students to realize we live in a global world,” Bachelder said. “There’s so many things they don’t understand.”

For host families, exchange students give them the chance to experience all the things about Michigan that they have grown accustomed to through fresh eyes.

One host family told Bachelder that they “just work better as a family of six,” so they continue to host students each year. Bachelder herself has hosted nine students, and her 6-year-old is learning Spanish because of it.

“They are excellent students and they bring up our academics,” Bachelder said. “They become lifelong family members.”

Bachelder added that five of her former students will be visiting her this summer.

Bachelder cleared up some of the assumptions that families make about hosting a student. Families do not have to be responsible for taking their students to popular travel destinations, for instance. Student exchange organizations give students the opportunity to travel.

Families also do not need to provide insurance or spending money. The only thing they need to provide is three meals a day, Bachelder said.

Students are vetted before coming, and the exchange organizations match students’ interests and hobbies as best they can to individual host families.

Host families are expected to treat their exchange students like a member of the family, rather than as a guest. They should be asked to do chores and take care of things around the house like anyone else, Bachelder said.

Student exchange coordinators, like Bachelder, check in on students and their families regularly to make sure everything is going well.

“(Alpena) is such a welcoming and wonderful community, I’m surprised not many people want to host,” Bachelder said.

Currently, there are three exchange students at AHS: Martina Figueras Molins from Spain, Martin Polak from the Czech Republic, and Davit Barbakadze from Georgia.

Figueras Molins is staying in a family with two host parents, two host sisters, and one host brother. Her host sisters are adults and don’t live at the house.

“They’re so nice, and I’m so grateful that they helped me,” Figueras Molins said.

Barbakadze is staying with a host mom, grandma, and two dogs.

“She’s been amazing so far, helped me with everything I needed,” he said.

Polak is staying with a family with four dogs and two cats. He has a host sister and host brother who live at the house with him and their parents, another host brother who moved to Florida, and a host sister who visits on weekends.

“My host family is really nice,” he said.

Barbakadze said his favorite class is business administration, and he wants to work in business when he grows up. Polak and Figueras Molins were not sure what they wanted to do in the future, but their favorite classes are digital media and zoology, respectively.

“We have animals — that’s not a thing in Spain,” Figueras Molins said. “We don’t have animals in the school, and I like it. We take care of the rabbits and chickens.”

The main cultural difference that all three have noticed is the availability and kinds of transportation offered. In the places they are from, they can walk almost anywhere they need to go.

“Since my program doesn’t allow me to drive, I’m very limited to asking people for rides, and going places only when someone else can take me,” Barbakadze said.

“Stuff back home is way more walkable,” Polak said.

A popular cultural phenomenon for foreign students coming to the United States is the existence of the yellow school bus. All three have been in one, and Barbakadze said he rides it to school every day. He has had an okay experience riding the bus, and it is convenient, he said.

As for extracurriculars, Polak and Barbakadze both played on the football team. Barbakadze also joined the wrestling team and is now part of the track team. Figueras Molins is just starting soccer and went skiing in the winter.

Figueras Molins attends church on Sundays, but Polak does not. Barbakadze said he goes sometimes.

“My host family doesn’t really go to church, but I’ve noticed there are so many churches around,” Polak said.

The students also mentioned that people are kind here and they have found it easy to make friends.

“A lot of lovely people, that are much friendlier than I thought they would be,” Barbakadze said.

To learn more about the program or to apply to become a host family, visit icesusa.org.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.