Several weeks into her stay with the Rehl family of Whitehall, Ma Li, a 17-year-old Chinese student, gave her hosts a gift.
Actually, they were dried duck brains.
“It was awkward,” Rehl said of the 2010 incident. “I did not want to eat this in front of her, because I didn’t want to have to spit it out. And I realized then that this is probably similar to what she had gone through at every meal with us.”
Such a cultural “aha” moment is common for Columbus-area families who host international students enrolled in ELS, an intensive English-language program situated on the Ohio Dominican University campus on the Northeast Side.
Founded in 1961, ELS is a national program with 63 centers in 33 states and the District of Columbia, Canada and Australia. The Columbus center, which opened in August 2010, is a for-profit company paid for primarily by tuition ($1,730 for a four-week session).
Participants are high-school graduates. Most are seeking admission to an American university but require improvement in their English proficiency. About 500 students have attended the Columbus center since its founding.
Although ELS students can find their own housing, many choose to participate in the school’s home-stay program, in which they live with a central Ohio family. Interest has been so great that the program is struggling to find enough families — at present, a pool of 18 — who are willing to serve as hosts, said Daniel Stone, director of the Columbus center.
“The benefit is that the students get firsthand experience with American culture,” Stone said. “But it also accelerates the learning process. This way, they’re not just speaking English from 8:30 to 4 at the center, but they go home and they’re still in an English-speaking environment.”
That’s precisely why Filipe Albuquerque, 22, of Recife, Brazil, is participating in a home stay. Albuquerque, who has a degree in business administration, wants to learn English so he can get a better job in his country’s export industry.
He is staying with Barb Lubberger, 58, of the Clintonville neighborhood and her son, Tom Tekieli, 23.
“I’m talking with Barbara all the time — when I wake up (and) at dinner,” said Albuquerque, who arrived in July and will return home on Jan. 17. “So I think it’s a very good idea to stay in a home stay.”
Although students typically enroll in ELS for several months, home stays don’t necessarily last that long. Some families sign up for a four-week commitment, and students then either move to other home-stay homes or find their own housing.
Host families are required to provide students with a private room and suitable study space as well as transportation to and from school. Having a communal evening meal is strongly encouraged so the students can practice their English.
Many hosts go beyond the basics and expose their visitors to as much American culture as they can.
Susann Moeller of Clintonville took 22-year-old Japanese student Shunturou Kodama to the movies, to Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s house (“first time I ate turkey,” Kodama said) and to a concert at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion.
A native of Germany, Moeller came to the United States in the late 1970s. She said she has hosted international students for years.
“I’ve always been a super-curious cat,” Moeller said. “I like the cross-pollination of cultures, and having international guests makes my life more interesting.”
The Hammock family of Whitehall are also veteran hosts of both high-school exchange students and now ELS. Darryl Hammock said he and wife, Wendy, value what their children — Jontey, 17, and 14-year-old twins Juan and Ana — have gained.
“It’s pretty rewarding for our kids to experience different cultures,” he said.
The Hammocks have hosted students from five countries — South Korea, Norway, Hong Kong, Germany and, now, Mohammed Alredshoodi, 20, from Saudi Arabia.
Several visiting students have prepared meals for the family.
“I like their food,” Ana Hammock said, singling out kabsa — a traditional Saudi dish of meat, rice and spices — as one of her favorites .
ELS provides families a stipend of a few hundred dollars to cover expenses, but Rehl — who serves as the company’s home-stay coordinator — said she screens prospective families.
“We want people who are in it for the cultural experience, not someone looking for a roommate or people renting out a room,” Rehl said.
Both the families and students must adjust to differences.
Rehl said her most recent student, Ahmed Alqahtani, 24, at first was hesitant to get in the car with her. In Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to drive.
“He asked me, ‘Where’s Jake (her husband)?’ ’’ Rehl said.
Donna Villareal, 49, of the Northeast Side wondered why Saudi student Jassar Alotaibi, 19, wouldn’t drink a cup of tea she made. Finally, she realized that she had heated it in the microwave, and Alotaibi didn’t consider the water properly purified unless it had been boiled.
About 70 percent of current ELS students are Saudis — mainly because the Saudi Arabian government is encouraging its students to learn English and will subsidize their overseas stays.
Students such as Albuquerque and Alredshoodi have had to adjust to Ohio’s weather and American food.
Students are responsible for their own lunches, and Albuquerque hasn’t found a suitable replacement for his native lunch staple of rice, beans and beef. He’s not a fan of sandwiches.
“I lose 9 kilos (about 20 pounds). That’s very unusual,” he said. “When people come to America, (they) usually . . . gain kilos, but I lose.
“Every day I eat bread. I must eat bread in the hamburger and bread with chicken. It’s not so good; it’s not so healthy.”
kgordon@dispatch.com
Families interested in hosting an ELS student should call the center at 614-251-7360 or visit www.els.edu/en.
http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12
