There has been a lot of unfair and biased criticism of families who welcome foreign students into t
heir homes. I should like to tell you of my own personal experiences, which are not so different fro
m my neighbors’ experience, I might add.
　　A host family is sent students by school or college and their homes are regularly inspected by the
accommodation staff. If a home is below the required standard, the family is removed from the schoo
l’s accommodation list. Apart from this, the host family is obliged to follow certain rules, as laid
down by the school.
　　The problem is that the host family cannot inspect students or refuse to accept the ones who look
dirty, unreliable or noisy. And they don’t seem to follow any rules at all in their behavior to the
host family. We are often treated like servants or hotel staff, which is rude and bad manners.
　　The fee paid to a host family only just covers the actual cost of providing meals etc. A hostess i
s lucky to make more than a pound or two "profit" on each student. One has to remember that she has
to wash their clothes, allow them to have hot baths, pay for their lighting and the heating in their
bedrooms, and cope with damage to furniture, bedding and carpets.
　　Another thing is that most of them do not want to be part of the family. They prefer to be out wit
h other students causing annoyance to local residents in the town center. They remain in their bedro
oms all morning and afternoon if they can, resting before the evening so that they can go out until
the early hours of the morning.
　　Bedrooms like pigsties(猪圈). Food, empty bottles and waste paper all go under the bed. When taken t
o task the reply is invariably that they don’t understand or that the school has told them they may
do as they wish.
　　Not only that, but we have to put up with their complaints about the food, the weather and even ou
r TV programs. It’s time foreign students were taught to be polite and to behave properly, as well a
s how to speak English!