OFM_ForeignExchange_3_19_ExpDept 2 / 22 / 19 2 : 55 PM Page 4 “ The girls were so together like a family , ” she says . “ I had so much fun . ” Sina Homann , a 15 - year - old exchange student from Germany , says she also likes participating in sports in America . At Hagerty High School , she ran cross country in the fall and is now doing track and field . “ It’s great … the school spirit you have here , ” she says . “ I’m not used to it because in Germany there is not a school spirit like that . ” Homann says she wanted to come to the United States to see what it was really like . “ In Germany you see a lot of American influ - ence , ” she says . “ So , you see a lot of movies . … You hear the music from here . … You kind of see glimpses of it everywhere you go but you just don’t know how it really is . ” When she found out she was going to Orlando , she was excited because she doesn’t like the cold weather of her home country . Her time in Florida has also led her to believe that the weather really does have a strong effect on temperament . “ In Germany the weather isn’t so good and my theory is because the weather is so much better here , people are so much happier here and nicer and more open , ” she says . Open to New Cultures Cathy White , community engagement manager for YFU , says cultural exchange programs can be catalysts for positive global change . “ Those bonds of family and friendship can last for a lifetime and lead to an understanding and respect of other cultures , ” she says . When it comes to the exchange process , host families are , of course , able to select who comes to stay with them and many people do look to have a student from a certain country because they want to learn more about that place , often one connected to their own heritage . The most popular country YFU host families request students from is Ger - many , according to White . Chapman suggest that new hosts be open to having children from all different places , though . “ Because you never know what you’re going to learn from [ someone’s ] culture , ” she says . “ So , I would say , I would never try to be selective . ” Weatherly has advice for prospective hosts too . “ Don’t treat [ the exchange student ] like a guest but treat them like a member of your family , ” he says . “ And the rewards are huge because you get out of it another member of your family . ” He’s already preparing for later this year when he’ll have two new students . One of the exchange students is coming from Japan , a country that Weatherly has never hosted someone from . Chapman is also thinking about later this year . Specifically , this June when Dittrich will pack up and go back to her home country . “ I’m hoping that the experiences that we have with Anni now will carry on much longer than just this one year she’s here , ” Chapman says . “ And that she goes back with a very positive experience of Americans . ” ORLANDOFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM march 2019 ORLANDO FAMILY 15