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The airport has been busy these last few weeks shuttling exchange students back and forth. Students from overseas who have been attending area high schools and living with host families are leaving to return to their home countries. American students are returning from their studies abroad. Many of them have forged lifelong bonds.

High school guidance counselors and agencies involved in educational exchanges are already looking for the next batch of host families for the hundreds of international students on waiting lists to study here.

According to national statistics, just over 29,000 international students came to the United States for the 2007-08 school year while 2,255 American students went abroad. Wisconsin ranked sixth in the nation for the number of students hosted at 1,262. Texas ranked first at 2,090.

It’s not too late to sign up to be a host family for students for the 2008-09 school year at area high schools. Most schools will allow families to sign up as late as the day school starts, but it is preferable to have it all buttoned down by early July.

Holmen High School Principal Bernie Ferry said the school usually has up to five exchange students per school year.

For Jackie Dirks, who who coordinates exchange students for Onalaska High School, looking for host families is a year-round job. OHS usually has eight to 10 students but have had more than that occasionally.

Part of Dirks’ job is to work with exchange students at OHS, but she also works part-time as a representative for a student exchange organization that processes exchange students. Students cannot take part in an exchange without going through a certified agency.

Dirks said families considering hosting should visit the Web site of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (www.csiet.org) that lists organizations approved by governing agencies. Families can then get on the site and register to be a host family.

Dirks helps families with the application and warns them not to do it if they object to background checks.

Dirks recommends that families need to make sure the company they go with has a local representative. “You can get so caught up in issues and not have someone close you can go for help. It’s important to have someone as local as possible.”

Dirks not only helps find host families for the students, she and her family have hosted students. One of the boys her family hosted has been accepted at UW-La Crosse, so he’ll be returning to the area.

“It is so rewarding,” she said. “It’s hard to put it all in words. It’s hard to put them on the plane to go home. I sent one home yesterday and couldn’t keep from crying. Just to see them smile, know they’ve got a good home and they have a good time.”

As a person with experience matching students and families, Dirks has a few pointers on how to make the students and the families more comfortable in the process. First, she said, students can share a room, but they must have their own bed.

Most of all, Dirks said, treat them like one of the family, with the same rules, the same fun, the same meals, etc. But it is also important to give the student a chance to teach the host family about their culture.

“One of the first things I’ll ask a family interested in hosting is what are their interests and pastimes,” Dirks said. “Are their kids in band or sports? I’ll then review portfolios of student candidates to find what the student is interested in and then give the family choices. It’s important to read the application and find out different things about the students, like allergies, hobbies, favorite things like sports or music. It’s also important to find out how well they speak English. Then I try to find a family that matches the student’s interest.”

One of the important things when considering a student is to match them with other students of the same age and maybe even the same gender so there is some comfort level and a higher likelihood they will be interested in the same activities.

One thing many families worry about, Dirks said, is that they will have to pay the expenses of the student. “They come with their own money,” Dirks said. “Host families only have to supply them with breakfast, dinner and transportation. All the clothing and games and whatever else the student wants to buy, they pay for themselves.”

Dirks said parents of the international student sign an agreement to put a certain amount of money into an account each month the student can access. In addition, students must have their own insurance, including health insurance and lost luggage insurance, and they must get the standard immunizations and physicals before coming to the United States.

The students are coming mostly to improve their English and learn about other cultures. It was Jovita Jahn’s first experience as a foreign exchange student from Germany this year. “I got a lot of experience,” she said. “I came to learn about the American way of life and to improve my English.”

She attended OHS and recently returned to Germany.

What the 17-year-old felt were remarkable differences between the German way of life and the American way of life were issues about family and school discipline. “Families in Germany are really close together. We talk more, travel on weekends together, do more together than here,” she said.

She was also surprised at the lack of discipline in the classrooms. “Some people don’t take notes, they just sleep,” Jahn said. “I was shocked at first because the teacher ignored them. But after a time, I did it too.”

She said in Germany 50 percent of the grade was class participation. “It’s better to listen and participate,” she said.

Jahn is excited her host family is going to come to her country. “I made a lot of good friends and some of them will come to visit this summer,” she said. “And my host family is coming in October to visit me. I really like my host family.”

German student Christian Wiese had a different experience, however, while staying with hosts Warren and Renee Pickar while he attended West Salem High School. He was surprised by how much time the family stayed together and how much the community was involved with the students.

“The community is really good,” said the 18-year old. “Everything is about cheering for the schools, people helping at the school, all the volunteering.”

He said the host family was “really cool.” They took him on his first hunting trip.

Wiese is a twin and the Pickars had twins, although they were older. Wiese was accepted to UW-La Crosse for the fall and will be returning to the area for the fall semester.

Warren Pickar said the key to hosting is to keep an open mind. “Make your house an open house and treat him like one of your own. Try to set boundaries and expectations.”

Pickar said he learned more patience with an exchange student and to stop and think about the things he spends time on. “We probably assumed so much,” he said. “We do things so automatically and don’t think about what we do and how we do it or why. He makes us pause and think about why. It’s kind of interesting.”

Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student can call one of the high schools or go to www.csiet.org to find a representative from a certified agency.