Welcoming a Stranger

 We have decided to follow God's commands and welcome a stranger among us.  We've done this in a different way before by welcoming foster kids, but now that we've completed our family through adoption, we're ready for a new challenge.  Something I've always wanted to do, at least once in my life, was open my home to a foreign exchange student.  This is the year.

We're going through a group, licensed through the government, called Pacific Intercultural Exchange, or P.I.E. for short.  The process was fairly simple.  Background check, references, home inspection.  Similar to the foster care licensing process, but less rigorous.  We had to take photos of all the main areas of our home.  It's odd wondering what someone from a different part of the world will think of our home.

The girl we're hosting is from South Korea.  I've looked at generic photos online, but still don't have a good idea of what her home looks like or the city she lives in.  I'm curious to see what she'll think of how we live and the foods we eat.  We're planning lots of fun things to do with her while she's here like hiking, visiting the Royal Gorge, and river rafting.  We told our age 10 and up kids that they will be going river rafting and most of them are a little scared of the idea, but it will be a good adventure for them.  Having a 16 year old South Korean girl live with us for the school year will be an even bigger adventure.