To my dear host family,

I'm happy to introduce myself, my name is Emelyne. I'm 16 years old. My birthday is in November. I live in a house with my parents and my sister ( she is 12 years old and her name is Elena). My dad is a plumber, his name is David, he has his own business and my mum, called Laurence, is doing his paperworks. I mean she is the secretary of my dad's company. My dad is 42 and my mum is a little bit younger than him, she is 38. I have 3 different dogs. A rhodesian, a french bulldog and a border collie. My dog is the border collie, her name is Pepita, It's black and white and it's very kind. We live in a house in the countryside surrounded by farms and there are around 100 people in the neighborhood. The closest city counts approximately 12 000 people. My native language is French. I have a very good relationship with my parents. They are young and very understanding. We have a very close relationship and we trust each other. I can tell them everything and they are always there for me and my sister. I still have my 4 grandparents. I feel very lucky about that and I try to visit them every week. I get along very well with my sister. We are in the same school.

The school I go to is about 5 min drive from my house. It is a very big school with 1500 students. Every morning, from Monday to Friday, my mum drives us to school at 8.15 am. The classes start at 8.30 am. I have 4 different topics in the morning. Each class lasts 50 min. In the afternoon, we usually have 4 other topics and school finishes at 4.30pm. I'm in my 11th school year ( in Belgium, we have 6 years in High school). We don't wear school uniforms. This year I choose math, Dutch and English. My favorite subject is math. Later I would like to study Economics at University. 2 times a week, after school, I have tennis or dance courses. I really like dancing and playing tennis. I hope I’ll have the chance to play in the US. Everyday I do my homeworks for about 3 hours according to the evaluation. During the weekend, I work as a student in a restaurant to have some pocket money. I'm a very smiley person. I'm very sociable and I'm always happy to meet new people. I'm very conscientious and I never give up. I chose the USA firstly because I would like to improve my English and secondly I'm very attracted by the culture and by discovering your lifestyle.I would like to share with my host family my happiness, my daily routine and also share my own culture and my lifestyle from my home country. I would like to thank you very much in advance for welcoming me into your family and to include me in your daily life and to help me to go through this great experience. I'm looking forward to meeting you all soon. Emelyne

Dear future host family, 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience a gap year in the USA. My name is Timo, and I am from the western part of Germany. Currently, I live with my parents, my two cats, and my younger sister. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends. We often hang out together, watch soccer matches, go shopping, or play games. I also listen to a lot of English music, which is one of the reasons I want to spend a gap year in the USA. Additionally, I am interested in fashion and enjoy following trends. In my school, I am learning Spanish and Latin, and I attend a class with focus on Mathematics, Science and technic. Last summer, I had the chance to visit the southwestern states of the USA. This experience made me realize how much I enjoy the lifestyle and the people there, which inspired my desire to spend a gap year in the USA. I am open to new experiences and excited to immerse myself in new cultures, visit an American school to learn how the school system works, make new friends, and explore all that the USA has to offer. 

I am looking forward to having a great time in the USA. 

Best wishes,

Timo

Hello family!

I'm Marina, I am 14 years old but I’ll be 15 on the 2nd of November.

Thanks for reading my introductory letter. I hope we have something in common, maybe you will be my host family next year.

We are a family of 4, my mom, Cristina works at a bank and she loves cooking, my dad, Miguel who is a professional photographer, he is also good at fixing things, my sister, Paula is 18 years old, she goes to college at Madrid she iis studying business administration and management and she likes dancing.

We have a Dalmatian dog, she is 4 years old and is called Uma, she is really active and loves playing with her ball.

Talking about me, I am a brunette girl, of medium height, I like fashion I would love to have my own fashion company when I grow up

I consider myself an outgoing person, funny, creative, cautious, enthusiastic and cheerful.I like to fight for my opinion and defend what I believe is right.

I love playing volleyball, I have played it for 3 years now. I'm in a second division autonomous team, I play as an outside hitter. I also ride horses as a hobby. I do show jumping.

I love animals, my favorite is the giraffe. I hope to be able to play volleyball or ride horses there if it is possible.

I am pretty good at school, I have great marks at every subject. If I set my mind to get a good grade in something, I can achieve it. I also like cooking, traveling, spending time with my family and friends, going shopping and listening to music. 

My favorite food is Pasta the best one for me is “spaghetti carbonara”. 

I went to the USA 2 years ago with my family and it was great. We went to see my sister when she finished her exchange year and we made a route of the United States.

I went to Michigan, Chicago and New York. It was really fun and the food was great there. 

I am really looking forward to going there, I want to live the American experience, have a great time with my host family and make friends. 

Thanks for reading my letter and for considering me to be your host daughter for a year. 

Dear Future Host Family,

First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Carlotta and my nickname is Lotti. I am a curious, communicative and open-minded person who loves playing soccer, meeting up with friends or doing things with my family. I live with my family in a small town and have a sister and a brother named Minna and Toni. My parents' names are Jan and Elke. I have a very good relationship with my family and love doing things with them, such as playing sports, going to the soccer stadium or playing games, cooking or spending time with them.

I often do things with my friends, for example we like to go into town, play soccer or just meet up. My hobbies are skiing, cooking, baking, wakeboarding and my favorite hobby is definitely SOCCER. I play soccer on a girls' team in my hometown. We all get on so well as a team that we also do things together outside of training or meet up without a coach to practice.  I'm glad that I have training three times a week plus a game on the weekend. My team is one of the best teams in our league. I would love to continue playing soccer or doing sports in the USA to keep fit. Also, sports, especially team sports, are a great way to meet new people with the same interests.

In the future, I would like to become a teacher in an elementary school and I have already done a two-week internship in this field. I would also like to travel to many countries and learn about other cultures.

When I am not at school, my hobbies are on the agenda and I do various things around the house like folding laundry, loading and unloading the dishwasher, cooking or taking care of my brother and sister.

My favorite classes at school are Sports, Social Studies and International Education. International Education is a club that I have once a week at school. In the club we do exchange programs with other schools and I had the great opportunity to participate in a week-long exchange to Italy and Poland. Next year I will be going to Spain.

I would love to do an exchange in the USA because I would like to gain new experiences, make new friends and get to know new countries, cultures and of course family life in the USA. I would also like to improve my English. I see the exchange as a great opportunity to grow personally and also language-wise. I have no doubt that this experience will be in my memory for the rest of my life, because it is something very special to get to know and experience everyday life in another country and even on another continent.

I am already looking forward to getting to know you soon, and I am very grateful that I may become a member of your family.

Love, Carlotta :)

Dear Host Family, thanks for hosting me,

My name is Lucas, I am 15 years old and will have 16 next year, and I am anxious to introduce myself to you and potentially become a part of your family during my stay. Nowadays I live with my parents and my dog Bella, and I also have brother but he does not live with me anymore, he already graduated in law.

Currently I live in Curitiba, capital of Paraná, state localized on the southern region on Brazil, a city known for its green space and modern building that care about nature, Brazil is a big and diverse country, who is multicultural, we have famous parties like Carnaval with music and dancing, beautiful beaches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians are very friendly and love soccer as me.

My routine is basically the same every week, I wake up around 6am (really early duo to my school schedule) and go to school who begins on 7:20am, always come home at point, and stay on home most of the time. My passion is sports in general but my favorite one is soccer, I would love to share more about Brazil and its language with you, I love discovering new places and I am very adaptable, I have traveled two times to Europe, but with no doubts my favorite place was USA, who I went this year, 2024, to Atlanta and other time some years ago on Miami, Orlando and New York. I used to make apart of my school basketball team, but them I moved for another school,

This exchange is a very important thing for me, my primary goal with this exchange is to fully immerse myself on the american culture, understand how society works there and to improve my English seeking fluency, I want to see things from new perspectives, make lifelong friends, and grow academically and personally, I would love to have a funny and happy family with siblings. These experiences will really help me in my future plans.