Homestay

As a Trinity family, we feel incredibly fortunate to have had Japanese homestay students through Tyler International, from Reitaku (Tokyo and Mukogawa High School, in our home over the past four years. Not only is it a tremendously unique cultural experience for your own family, it is also incredibly rewarding to know that you have contributed so positively to young Japanese students’ Australian experience. We have found all of our Japanese Homestay students to be very polite, helpful and kind. Often, this is their first time away from home and absent from their families. Providing them with a warm and welcoming Aussie environment for them to come home to each day means more to them and their family, than words can express. Prior to committing to a Homestay student for the very first time, we had all agreed as a family that it would be a lovely thing to do.

From our perspective, we never looked back once we became involved and saw what a wonderful experience it is for everyone involved.

We were fortunate to have a very special Japanese student be a part of our family earlier this year. Upon meeting her at Trinity, our children instantly accepted “Nana” as a sister, holding her hand within seconds of being introduced.  This bond blossomed with every day that passed and neither age, language nor culture was a barrier to the beautiful relationship that soon developed.  Having not been to Japan, it was exciting for us all to gain an insight into Nana’s life and it inspired us to provide her with a wonderful experience in Australia.  Why do it again?  Answers from my children: “So I can play with her” and “Because I loved Nana.  She is so nice.” That’s enough for me! 

The initial arrival of our homestay students is always interesting and viewed with great anticipation, not to mention a great learning experience for all concerned – for the student and especially for our family in general. Not only do we exchange cultural values but we love to share our home and amazing Gold Coast City.  We have also had the pleasure of hosting some teachers and leaders who are here to look after their own students in our City through Tyler International’s programs. We find them extremely fun and very entertaining.  Some of our fondest memories is also of our youngest homestay students who were only 11 years old. They were so helpful and cute – such a fantastic experience.

I would like to say thank you to Tyler International for helping us to understand different cultures further by having students in our home. I have been a homestay family for Tyler International for five years now, welcoming school aged students from Japan, China and Korea. We have had students for short and long-term homestay (5 Weeks). 

I have been super impressed with the fantastic communication that we receive from Angela and her staff. We know in advance as to what in the students’ program is, so we know what is expected from us and can plan ahead as a family. Having the homestay matching list of other homestay parents and their students is so beneficial when wanting to organise something we can all do together as families.

The staff at Tyler International are helpful when something goes wrong, as it sometimes does, they are always there to support us and their students. The students themselves are aware of our expectations and are well prepared for some of the cultural differences in their Australian home life, encouraging all to positively connect, communicate and interact with all our family members.

I have and will continue to recommend to other Australian families to host an international student with Tyler International.  It’s truly an awesome experience for the old and young.

Our family had our first taste of homestay this year with two different groups of international students. It was a wonderful experience for our whole family and really good for our children to acknowledge cultural differences and learn to be respectful of other cultures. Tyler International were highly organised and professional in every aspect of the homestay experience and provided a well-rounded program to showcase the best of the Gold Coast and Australian culture which our students loved. We will definitely offer our home to homestay students again.

We have worked alongside Tyler International for over three years and we have found them to be efficient and diligent in all aspects of taking excellent care of overseas students. We were introduced to them through Trinity Lutheran College were our son attends. Taking care of overseas students is a huge responsibility and commitment and Tyler International clearly understands this and are in constant communication with the students and the Homestay families throughout the programs. We have observed the students are always calm and happy and fully aware of the program set for them despite any language barrier. We as a family are always willing and happy to work alongside Tyler International’s professional work ethic.

We have welcomed many Chinese and Japanese students into our home  through Tyler international. Angela and her team make it an enjoyable experience for home stay families and an extremely memorable experience for the students. Angela’s professional manner and consistent communication with the  homestay family makes everything easy and because of that, I’m more than happy to welcome more students into our home to provide them with a caring, fun, Australian family experience.