Our Exchange Student

As the boys have got older I have (usually under duress) had quite a few friends sleeping over.  This is normally fine as I know the children and apart from the grumpy and over tired son that I need to contend with on the following morning, it is very rare to have any problems.  I have even managed to have a friend of mine staying with us for a couple of days, but for some reason my family always refuse to sleep here!

On Saturday I have a visitor arriving for six days.  He is a foreign exchange student who has limited English and who I have never met before.  I am sure he is lovely because my eldest stayed with his family last year and they were exceptionally kind and hospitable, but in some ways this makes the return leg even more daunting.  

As I know nothing about  this person how do I know what he is like in the morning?  On a school day I cannot cope with another Duvet Boy as there will be an extra person to get out of the door (OMG that makes 5 boys!).  Will he understand the urgency of being on time for the train?  He doesn't need public transport and with only an older brother away at university is probably not used to the shenanigans that go in my house.  He also needs a packed lunch, but I don't know what he likes to eat.  I don't want him to be hungry and for him to complain to his family that he wasn't fed!

I know that his school have organised some lovely trips into London but also feel we need to do our bit over the weekend.  My eldest was talking of a gathering of all the English and Spanish students on the Saturday evening but who knows what will be organised.  We are doing a tour of Wembley Stadium on Sunday as he loves football and perhaps I can persuade my other half that this is a good Father's Day present for him too?!

If it is a bit daunting for us it must be quite unnerving for him to be living in a strange house for a week.  I am sure the noise will be quite a shock and also long the days.  Every evening he needs collecting him from the station at a different time, and although I understand that different tours take varying amounts of time, logistically it is a nightmare.  The collection can be between 5 and 9pm, so there will be rotas going to make sure he is ok and I will be praying that there are no problems with the underground.

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I am hoping that we will be able to improve his English and that perhaps he will learn less swear words than my eldest on his trip!  To be fair my son's week away definitely helped his Spanish and his confidence improved dramatically.  If we can do the same for his friend we will have done well.  

Now all I need to do is make sure his bed is made up, there is relative calm on his arrival (at least for a little bit) and ensure I have stocked enough food that he likes in the fridge.  Hopefully then we will be fine.