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Newport News Now

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Newport News Now is a daily e-newsletter that launched in March 2016. Articles that ran in our newsletter between March 2016 and March 2018 are available on these pages. Newsletters produced beginning in April 2018 can be viewed on our new daily newsletter page.

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Jun 26

Homestay Hosts Needed in July for International College Students!

Posted on June 26, 2017 at 4:19 PM by Communications Department

Weekend Hosts are needed for July 14 - 16

For the 4th summer in a row, Sister Cities of Newport News and Christopher Newport University are welcoming 25 students and one faculty member from China’s University of Electronic Science and Technology who are attending a two-week summer program at CNU. To enhance their U.S. experience, Sister Cities of Newport News is looking for community members to host a student over the weekend of July 14-16. Hosts are not expected to “entertain” the students. The goal of a homestay is to introduce the students who are from a different culture to typical, American, daily life. Going to the grocery store, running errands, taking kids to events, attending a house of worship…hosts are encouraged to follow their normal routines.
SCNN host_SC
Homestay hosts are a vital link in successful international exchanges and are the faces and hearts of our community. You do not have to live in Newport News to be a host. Quick visits like this make lasting impressions. This email excerpt was recently sent by a Chinese student to his former host.

Dear Bill, I'm Eric, I hope you can remember me …I am one of the two students who live[d] in your house for a weekend in 2015 summer. It's been a long time since I left America…The memory of the weekend I spent in your home still deeply in my mind. And I will never forget that a good person treated me nicely and kindly. I hope I can see you again in American if I get chance….

If you have not had the chance to host an international student before, this is a great opportunity. The visit is short with no schedule to keep other than pick-up and drop off. Pick-up will be on Friday afternoon July 14 between 1 and 5 p.m. at CNU with a return to campus on Sunday July 16 after 6 p.m. Completion of a one-page Host Application is required. More information is available by calling SCNN's Executive Director, Kate Helwig at 757-926-1348 or email: info@sistercities-nn.com. Details are also available on the Sister Cities website.