This week both the International Business and the Crossing Borders students prepared for their upcoming home stays. First there was a discussion or “training” on what is appropriate at the house, what is culturally acceptable or culturally different, and how maintain interaction with the families. For example food and meals, privacy, noise, greetings, family dynamics, guests and friends, going out, safety and health, bathroom, telephone, student as guest versus family members, humor, mannerisms and ways we carry our bodies and gifts were all topics discussed in the home stay preparation.
After discussing each topic individually people who have been in those certain situations before shared their experiences and what they did in the situation to make it better. One student shared about a bathroom situation where the students were forgetting that it was not good to flush the toilet paper and that signs started popping up reminding the students to throw the paper in the trash bin. Another huge theme that was brought up during this chat was communication. The main topic was that no matter what situation you are in it is always important to remember to communicate in order to feel comfortable in the house. While this talk was extremely helpful in most areas I feel like it failed to express that all situations will be somewhat different and even if you study and prepare yourself based on these examples your situation may be extremely different.
Christina and Marisela facilitate the building of the house of hopes and fears. 
