Five Tips For A Great Volunteer Abroad Homestay

100% of the tutors who join the Conversation Corps, live in a homestay.  And 90% of the tutors who are chosen as a Conversation Partner live in a homestay.  That's why, when we read Traveldudes' Blog post on 5 Tips for a Volunteer Abroad Homestay, we wanted to call your attention to it.

Zablon, from www.volunteercapitalcentre.org wrote and contributed the post, and as far as we're concerned, it's a keeper.  Zablon lists five great ideas to make your homestay successful and easy.

As Zablon points out, "Homestays are a great way to experience the culture."

The homestays mentioned in the post include activities such as cooking, washing dishes, clothes, and cleaning.  The homestays on Conversation Corps do not include those activities.  You certainly can cook your own food if it's OK with the family, and you are expected to keep your room clean and tidy.  And of course wash your own clothes.  But as a member of the Corps or as a Conversation Partner, domestic chores (cooking or cleaning for the family and watching after the children) are not allowed.  Also, at GeoVisions, your accommodation and meals are included in your program fee.

What does happen, similarly on Conversation Corps or Conversation Partner, is that as a volunteer living with a host family, "you will get a new family to live with, in that you will have host parents, host brothers, host siblings and sometimes host nephews and nieces."

If you have time, please click the link and read Zablon's post on Traveldudes.  If you don't have the time, here are the five tips that will make your homestay more enjoyable:

1. Bring Gifts.  "While you are at home, look for inexpensive gifts which can only be found in your home country."
2. Be Open Minded.  "Things are bound to be different."  From the type of food to the family activities, you are a guest.
3. Honor Sleep Schedules.  One of the chief complaints GeoVisions receives is tutors sleeping late.  "Some cultures find it offensive to still be in bed when everyone has woken up."
4. Accept and Appreciate Kind Gestures.  Saying "thank you" goes a long way.
5. Leaving A Positive Impression.  A homestay presents you an opportunity to form a lifelong friendship.

At GeoVisions, Conversation Corps and most Conversation Partner programs include homestays.  What's the difference between the two programs?  When you join the Conversation Corps, you live with a family and tutor the family in conversational English.  When you become a Conversation Partner, you will live with a family but you will leave the house each day to tutor a group outside the home in conversational English.  Conversation Partners tutor at police departments, tourist offices, national parks and many other places where groups of individuals want to practice their English.

Have you had experience with a homestay?  Could you add to the list in this post to make a homestay more fun and successful?  We'd love to hear from you in our comments section, below.