Youngsters enjoy homestay programs

JAKARTA (JP): "I hope I meet Brandon and Brenda when I go to Los Angeles," 16-year-old Penny Juwita exclaimed while attending a briefing with her chaperon at the LIA Foundation last weekend.

Brandon (played by actor Jason Priestly) and Brenda (Shanen Doherty) are favorite characters from the famous TV series Beverly Hills, which is very popular among teenagers worldwide.

Like many other youngsters, Penny believes all of America is identical to Hollywood, a place where people may easily bump into their favorite movie stars.

Penny Juwita is a year-two student at SMA 70 high school in Jakarta. She is one of a group of participants from a four-week Homestay program, organized by LIA, which will take place at the California Riverside University, in the United States from June 19 to July 19.

"Taking part in the homestay will be very interesting. I can study English and, at the same time, I can spend my holidays in some beautiful places," Penny explained.

But, she admitted, she felt a little apprehensive about her foster parents and teachers.

"I am afraid that we will not be able to communicate properly because my English is not very good," Penny sighed.

Martopo, Penny's mother, considers the homestay program important in giving students an opportunity to learn other languages and cultures. "The most important thing is to train students to be more independent and responsible," Martopo said.

She said that she had heard of the homestay program from her relatives and friends, whose children have taken part in the program. But lack of funds has prevented Martopo from including her children in previous programs. "Now, we have enough money and fortunately one of Penny's cousins is also joining this program," Martopo said.

Admitting that she was feeling a little anxious as her daughter's departure draws nearer, Martopo said she has to encourage her daughter.

Another parent, Yenny Mudianti Budiman, also expressed mixed feelings. Safitri Milasari is her only daughter. "Sometimes, she acts like a baby. I hope that the program will give her an opportunity to be more independent," Yenny said. She added that she investigated homestay programs organized by various travel agencies, but that she finally chose to join the one organized by LIA.

"The LIA homestay program is quite well organized. The schedules are precise and the most important thing is that my daughter will also have fun. After all, it's her school holiday," she said.

Damai Median, 16, and her sister, who is a year older, went to Cambridge, England, last year. They are going to San Francisco later this month for a similar program. Their younger brother is going to Sydney. All are arranged by the Education First International School.

"Our parents encourage us to join the programs, saying it is a good way to spend our holidays," she said.

Education First charges each student US$3,950 for a three-week homestay program in San Francisco. When Damai and her sister went to England last year, they were charged about $3,500 each.

Damai said the greatest advantage of joining the program was that she could improve her English and have the valuable experience of living overseas. And she could learn to be independent.

Damai plans to take part in a similar program in Australia next year.

"God willing, I want to continue my studies in Australia after graduating from senior high school," she said.

Damai, who is in her first year at Muhamadiyah senior high school, said that there were 43 students in her group, who went to Cambridge last year.

"We were divided into three classes and studied English in a hotel. I forget the name of the hotel," she said.

The course was held three hours a day, four or five days a week, for three weeks.

Damai was away for four weeks, which included a four-day sightseeing trip to Paris. She called her parents every other day "so they would not worry."

In Cambridge, Damai, together with three other students, one from Indonesia, one from Sweden and one from Italy, stayed with an English family.

"My host family thought Bali was in Singapore. I had to make great efforts to convince them that it is in Indonesia," Damai, who still corresponds with her host family, recalled.

The only bad experience during her stay in Europe was when she lost her wallet while watching the famous Picadilli Circus in London.

Bernadette, 22, a student at the Atmajaya Catholic University, joined the homestay program when she was still in high school. Five years later, the memory is still fresh in her mind.

"It was my mother's idea. It was recommended to her by a friend, whose daughter had taken a summer course in Australia," she said.

Bernadette registered at the Dian Educasindo education agency for the homestay program in Australia.

"But there were only three people who registered for the program in Australia, while the minimum number of students in a group is ten. They asked me if I would go to America and I agreed," she said.

Along with about 20 other students, Bernadette went to California, where they participated in a three-week course at the International English Institute in Fresno, California. The students were divided into two groups.

"I thought there would be students from other countries in my class but it turned out that all the students were Indonesian," she said.

Her new classmates were students who had gone to the United States under the arrangements of the Jakarta-based Hai youth magazine.

She studied English for three hours in the mornings.

"The first weekend we went to the Yosemite National Park. We spent the second weekend in San Francisco, and on the third weekend, we went to Los Angeles, as well as Disneyland and Universal Studios," she said.

Bernadette, and another Indonesian female student, stayed in Clovis, a small town closed to Fresno, with a single parent and her nine-year-old daughter. Even though she had not been informed about the condition of her host family, Bernadette said she was not surprised to know that she would live with a divorcee.

"I know there are many single parents in America," she said.

When she returned to Indonesia, Bernadette tried to keep in touch with her host family, who had been very nice to her.

"But they did not answer my letter. My ex-roommate said they did not answer her letter, either. From time to time they received students who went there under the homestay program. I guess it was routine for them, so they were not enthusiastic about writing back," she said. (raw/sim)