MONTEVERDE FRIENDS SCHOOL - ADDENDUM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

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5655 Monteverde, Puntarenas - Costa Rica, America Central
Phone/Fax: 011-506-645-5302
E-mail: mfschool@racsa.co.cr

ADDENDUM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Part One: For student

Tell about any other experiences you might have had away from home and what it was like for you (camp, travels, boarding school, etc.)

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Please describe a plan that you and your family have discussed to deal with feelings of homesickness or disorientation you might feel in the first weeks of your time in Monteverde

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The Monteverde Friends School runs on a very low budget so that it can stay within the means of the families who sent their children there. A lot of what we do we do with local human and natural resources. What do you think your reaction would be to a chemistry lab without much equipment or having to share a math book with another person? How about if your host family may have only ten or twenty books in total? Have you ever lived with less than what you needed? What do you think you could learn from this type of experience? What might be difficult for you?

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ADDENDUM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Part Two: For parents

Has your child ever been away from home before? Was he or she homesick? How did you react?

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Your child writes you a desperate letter in his or her first three weeks saying how unhappy he or she is. What do you imagine the series of steps you would take to help your child deal with his/her feelings?

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ACCULTURATION ISSUES FOR STUDENTS COMING FROM THE U.S.
Please print out and keep for your reference

Living in another country is a huge change for a high school student (or anyone else). Know what some of the common reactions of visiting students and volunteers are before you set out

Positive reactions

feeling proud to be independent and adventuresome
pride in self for being on one’s own
appreciation of one’s own family
appreciating the generosity of one’s new host family or host school
feeling you can be a new person in a new school. You can shed old habits or traits you don’t like.
appreciating your opportunity to join a new community and make new friends in another part of the world
learning or improving your second language
experiencing the wildly different environments of the tropical cloud forest or the cold snows of the temperate forests
finding commonalities between Quaker communities

Common negative reactions to being in a foreign culture

homesickness
helplessness
mood swings
dislike of or even anger about aspects of host culture
feeling your school or home is superior to those in your host culture
introversion, spending time alone with the door closed, declining invitations to go somewhere with host family or friends
disorientation, feeling the loss of one’s own identity
wanting to call home a lot
feeling stupid or inadequate because your can’t express yourself in your second language as well as you’d like or you can’t understand what you’re hearing
feeling squeamish or even endangered by a new ecosystem (spiders, scorpions, snakes…)
different combinations of many of these

Positive steps you can take in your new setting

know these feelings happen to just about everyone, even adults
trust that by the end of your time you will be sad to leave and happy to have had the experience—and you’ll be proud of yourself
be willing to suspend judgments about the host culture for a while, until you are able to see beyond your initial impressions
let people know how you feel whenever you can. They will not judge you for being unhappy and you will feel better sharing your thoughts.
keep busy. Go for walks, practice your second language, help a younger child at home or at school. Organize a game or a walk or let someone else know this would be helpful.
ask your host parents if you can bake cookies or a special meal for them
try to accept invitations from family and friends
spend time in a common room at your house, rather than lots of time alone in your own room
keep a journal of questions and observations about your feelings and your ideas
keep a dictionary of the new words you learn each day
spend time hiking in the reserve, listening to biologists or guides, and keeping track of the many new species you see

Steps for parents

write regularly
ask teachers and homestay questions about your child’s environment
help your child remember he or she is on an adventure and that you are proud of them
remind them that hard things get easier and give them hope that they’ll be happy soon.
consider coming to visit them close to the end of their time here
read up on the community and country your child is visiting
trust the natural process of acclimation and acculturation

For the Monteverde Friends School

designate an advisor for each student as soon as he/she arrives at school. This should be someone who can check in weekly (daily at first) with the student and be the liaison between homestay family/dorm and school and student
have an orientation for student and homestay families the first week
have some extracurricular activities the first several weeks of school that students must attend

For homestay families

plan excursions early on—don’t wait till the first vacation
consider that the use of television in your house might be something your homestay student may not feel accustomed to
have your family do things together, especially at first, such as a trip to get milkshakes or a hike in the reserve
encourage your homestay student to participate in family household chores from the beginning
send a note or photo to the student’s family when you can
be in regular touch with the student’s advisor at school

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