Every fall, the University of Oregon welcomes a new group of students who call Eugene their home for four years, among them more than 3,000 international students representing 90 countries worldwide.
While many find apartments or sign up for a residence hall, an increasing number of international students are choosing a short-term homestay experience of about five days with a local family in Eugene. For those five days, families commit to easing new students into their new environment.
Since 1950, the Friendship Foundation for International Students has been pairing local families with international students coming to study at the University of Oregon. The foundation is a nonprofit organization with loose ties to the UO.
The Friendship Foundation has three main programs: the Share Thanksgiving program, the Conversation Friend program and the short-term homestay program, which is designed to help international students transition into life in Eugene.
Approximately 200 international students participated in the homestay program during the 2014-15 academic year, and 100 participated during the 2015-16 academic year. As more international students choose to come to the UO, the homestay program has been trying to keep up with demand.
“The organization relies entirely on the commitment and goodwill of couples and families who value international exchange and cultural understanding. We really want more current UO faculty and staff, especially those with an international background, to consider supporting our homestay program,” said Robyn Carter, an international student advisor and UO liaison for the foundation.
One such couple is Dave and Linda Pompel. When the Pompel’s youngest daughter graduated from college and left home in 1996, their “empty nest” syndrome didn’t last for long. The couple had previously acted as informal hosts to international students, so volunteering for the homestay program was a natural fit.
“It exposes us to something we just wouldn’t get elsewhere,” Linda Pompel said about the homestay program.
In the past 18 years, the couple has hosted students from many countries, but they have become the “go-to place” for those from Finland. As word of their hospitality has spread, Finnish students ask for them by name.
“It has been a great thing for us. It is so much fun to be exposed to them, to create friendships and develop bonds, to feel truly that we are a family,” Dave Pompel added.
Linda Pompel keeps a large album filled with photos of the international friends they have made over the years — not just the students they have hosted in their home but also friends and parents of those students. For the couple, hosting students is more than just a one-time connection; it is creating a network of friends and family around the world.
To learn more or volunteer for the Friendship Foundation for International Students homestay program, call Robyn Carter at 541-346-1682 or view the brochure at https://isss.uoregon.edu/sites/isss1.uoregon.edu/files/20160627_ffis_brochure.pdf.
—Office of International Affairs