With there being no school on weekends, aren’t you a little curious about how international students spend their weekends?
For this post we asked students currently doing a homestay abroad as well as students with previous homestay experience just how they spend their weekends.
For those interested in how to get the most out of your weekend during your homestay, this is for you!
How Days Off Are Spent During a Homestay
Here’s a brief summary of how everyone spends their weekend!
Participate in school extracurricular activities.
Go out with their host family.
Participate in family events (if the host family invites them.)
Be lazy at home.
Hang Out with Friends
A lot of the students we asked mostly hangout with friends they made at school.
Los Angeles has many must-see places to visit, including cafes, a large variety of shops, and Instagram hotspots!
There are even outdoor activities such as spending the day at the beach or going hiking to see the Hollywood sign, both of which are recommended to outdoorsy people who like nature.
Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills are all once in a lifetime must-visit areas for anyone!
Participate in Extracurricular School Activies
There are schools that offer a wide variety of activities, such as hosting movie nights, providing free English lessons, and taking students to local events in the area around the school. Some schools even take their students on trips to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Las Vegas on the weekends!
If you attend a school which offers a wide variety of activities, then it seems your weekends would be more on the exciting, fun-filled side. These types of schools are popular, so they often have a large student body.
On top of that, it will also be easy for you to make friends!
Going Out With the Host Family
There are many students who go out to the movies, food events, hiking, or shopping with their host family on weekends.
Go to Family Events
There are many special holidays in America, such as Halloween, Christmas, and Thanksgiving where families get together and celebrate.
It’s kind of like how families in Japan get together and celebrate New Years and Obon.
During homestays, host families are known to sometimes invite their host students to celebrate these types of events with them.
Going Out With Your Host Family: Things to Know
Just because you are doing a homestay and live with your host family, do not expect to always be invited to go out everywhere with them.
The students we asked have had a wide variety of experiences when it comes to going out with their host families, but all of them agreed it’s important to be aware of this single fact.
Take an Active Approach
America is a place where you have to be direct with what you want. If you don’t say anything, no one is going to know what you’re thinking or want to do.
If you want to go out with your host family, try asking them first.
There are no host families who will always be willing to take you out to places all the time. America does not have a culture of “reading the air” like Japan does, so if there is something you want to do it is very important to say so.
Be Considerate of Their Situation
During the week, most host family members are working or going to school. There are many host families who want to use the weekends to relax or finish up any unfinished errands they need to take care of.
Don’t just only think about and say what you want to do, but be considerate about the lives and situations of your host family as well.
Be Likeable!
First of all, this isn’t talking about being likeable in a flirtatious sense or anything like that! (Lol)
If you’re a student with whom your host family can feel comfortable with, then they will probably invite you out to do many things with them.
Host family members are humans too. If you don’t obey the house rules, disturb the order of the house, or act rudely, then probably you won’t get invited anywhere.
Summary
You might be thinking that during a homestay your host family will be willing to do anything for you no matter what, but that is a big mistake. A homestay is not a hotel, and your host family members are not maids.
Doing a homestay with a host family means obeying the rules and respecting each other.
As long as you keep this in mind, your host family will come to treat you as one of their own.
Don’t cloud yourself with thoughts about having no confidence in your English ability, and because of that you can’t say what you want to say. Instead, what’s more important is the effort you put into communicating your feelings, which will in turn lead to positive action.
So now, we have gone over some advice and experiences from both current and former homestay participants.
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact us!
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