LdiJ and I Have differences on another section of the forum.
It is NOT cultural differences to host international university students who asked to attend Thanksgiving dinner with a local family refuse to eat Turkey and trimmings and expect to have a meal of their home country cuisine cooked especially for them as we are sitting down for the meal.
It is not a cultural difference to have international high school students riding with you on a tour of local museums disappear and leave the museum in a car driven ay local high school student (against the rules) and have the chaparones/drivers/teachers frantically trying to find them. Who would have expected that we needed to post adults at all of the exits to keep exchange students from leaving without permission.
It is not a cultural difference to have a male high school student throw a first rate hissy fit like a three year old - or at least a 13 year old girl - because we did not drop everything to do what he wanted to do at that very instant. It was on the schedule already just not when he wanted to do it.
I could go on.
On the other had, we hosted a faculty member and his family for a semester and still exchange emails and birthday telephone calls over 20 years later. They are some of our most treasured friends. We call their children "our (their country) daughters". I would let them live with me long term in an instant!
I do hope OP finds a situation that meets expectations; it is best for all. It certainly would not be in my family as I would never allow teens I did not know to be responsible and trustworthy to be isolated in their bedrooms with phones and computers. I am so mean that my door slammer lost his bedroom door. I just wish I could confiscate my irresponsible adult child's phone and keys like I did when he was younger. Every family needs a challenging member.
It is NOT cultural differences to host international university students who asked to attend Thanksgiving dinner with a local family refuse to eat Turkey and trimmings and expect to have a meal of their home country cuisine cooked especially for them as we are sitting down for the meal.
It is not a cultural difference to have international high school students riding with you on a tour of local museums disappear and leave the museum in a car driven ay local high school student (against the rules) and have the chaparones/drivers/teachers frantically trying to find them. Who would have expected that we needed to post adults at all of the exits to keep exchange students from leaving without permission.
It is not a cultural difference to have a male high school student throw a first rate hissy fit like a three year old - or at least a 13 year old girl - because we did not drop everything to do what he wanted to do at that very instant. It was on the schedule already just not when he wanted to do it.
I could go on.
On the other had, we hosted a faculty member and his family for a semester and still exchange emails and birthday telephone calls over 20 years later. They are some of our most treasured friends. We call their children "our (their country) daughters". I would let them live with me long term in an instant!
I do hope OP finds a situation that meets expectations; it is best for all. It certainly would not be in my family as I would never allow teens I did not know to be responsible and trustworthy to be isolated in their bedrooms with phones and computers. I am so mean that my door slammer lost his bedroom door. I just wish I could confiscate my irresponsible adult child's phone and keys like I did when he was younger. Every family needs a challenging member.