Suggestions For Community Hosts
Get In Touch. Determine if you can their preferred method of electronic communication (text vs e-mail) text. We try to match new students with hosts during the summer, giving you the opportunity to start a correspondence and to get to know each other a bit before your student arrives. In some cases meeting a student's plane on arrival will be a nice welcome. Please stay in touch: silence kills a relationship.
Determine with your student the best way to keep in touch and use it frequently. We find texting or email is useful for most situations, avoiding telephone tag.
We suggest that, soon after your student arrives, a brief tour of downtown Brunswick will be useful. Locate a pharmacy, a bank, grocery store, cleaners, the downtown Walk-in Clinic, the Greyhound bus stop, and the Concord Bus and Amtrak stop (the Visitors Center). LL Bean outlet (when having a sale), Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift shop are great places for inexpensive warm clothing etc.. A trip to Cook's Corner, Topsham or Freeport could be in order. And, encourage them to learn about all of Bowdoin’s many student support programs.
Your Home. Make your student feel welcome in your home. An occasional home-cooked meal, celebrating your student's birthday or sharing a special family occasion, a quiet weekend in a spare bedroom away from a noisy dorm--you can find many such opportunities to offer a home away from home. Many hosts invite their students and others staying on campus for Thanksgiving dinner.
Practical Help. We hope our students will feel free to ask for help with transportation to or from a bus or plane or with fixing a minor problem with a bike. Summer storage of possessions is often needed and appreciated.
Gifts. The question of gifts often arises. Students from some countries bring gifts but expect no gifts in return. A modest gift at a birthday or at graduation is appropriate, but not required. Large gifts or loans of money are not advisable. A host’s principal gift is to be there for their student, to offer support and help when needed.
Finally it should be noted that our students are very busy at Bowdoin. Once we have helped them with initial needs and they become more self- reliant, we may not hear from them as often. Some relationships become very close and may last a lifetime--some may not. But remember: your participation has been of value and is much appreciated. Our reward is in the joy of shared experiences and customs, and in most cases, gaining an extended family from another part of the world.
