Sophomore Georgia West is spending her last few days alone cleaning up her house. She was preparing for a change very few people get to experience. West, during the month of February became a host for a French exchange student, Chloé Courtine.

“Having someone from another country living with you is very nerve wracking because I’m a very tidy person; I like to keep things clean,” West said.

French exchange students stayed with host families from February 3 and left on February 23. In that time they went to school and learned American customs and experienced the everyday life of an American teenager in high school.

“I decided to come to the U.S. to discover the culture because I’ve only seen this country in movies, so by coming here I’ll get a different idea of what the U.S. is. It’s interesting to discover a new country so far from my country,” Courtine said.

The process of preparing consisted of applying to become a host early first semester and then playing the waiting game. Patience wore out according to West and she spent the last night tidying up her house and while she was cleaning, Courtine was on a bus to Bellevue from Chicago.

“It was stressful getting here because my flight got cancelled last minute, but we were able to find a new flight. The traveling was very long, we had to sleep in Chicago and then we had a 9 hour bus ride. I just have to get used to the jet lag,”  Courtine said.

While Courtine was visiting, West has a list of activities she was to check off so Courtine can get the full American experience. The girls attended events such as choir concerts together and musical rehearsals.

“Besides going to school, I’m planning on taking her to the zoo and going to the Durham and going shopping in downtown Omaha, hopefully, if the weather permits. On our 4-day weekend, we’re going up to my grandma’s ranch for a real country Nebraska experience,” West said.

To become a host, a student should be taking a French class of any level and go through an application process, which includes references and a home visit from the teacher, Nora Boyd, to make sure it will be a good match for the family.

“The process of applying to become a host family wasn’t hard. Boyd talked about it in class and she gave me all the information. I showed my parents and they were really excited. We had to do it online and answer a few questions. It was really easy and I would encourage other people to do it as well,” West said.