My thought is- You give and you get!!! I believe that you will "give" her so much while she is here and you will "get" even more while she's here and when she goes back home. Congrats to your family on this great experience and to Enrica as well.

David, Out of all of the so called "P.C" folks in this area (Madison) I can't believe there are not more comments on this. Again I say good for you and enjoy the year.

We have been involved in exchange students for over 39 years, as a teacher/adviser, host parents etc. For the most part, it has been wonderful. We are leaving June 15 to visit a student we hosted at age 56 and one who was in D'ton over 30 years ago. We toured Japan with former students. We hosted Tobias from Germany when our children were gone and he was so interested in so many things so it was a perfect match. Talk, talk, and then talk some more to keep those lines of communication open. The only hard thing is that sometime you need to have a little spat with your own family and that is sometimes a little difficult. They sometimes have a hard time being in a smaller community. If you need a reprieve, contact us and we can plan an activity with her. Enjoy your time!!!

A good friend of ours has done this for years. They are an early 30's couple and live the full life as they stay as part of the family. Always going on spring vacations and it stays with them a lifetime. Several of the girls have asked years later if they could come back for a week in the summer even. One got married here several years later to a young man she dated at school. My wife and I have met most of them and I'll tell you, you and your friends will learn as much as she does. Good luck and enjoy it.

I can relate to this on two levels. My husband's family was an AFS host family to a student from Sweden in the late 1970's. Olof is still referred to as their Swedish brother and they correspond regularly. Olof has visited all of the extended family in the US, and my in-laws have visited Olof in Sweden. There is a strong bond there. I can also relate on the flip side in some ways as well. While my now 13 year old is too young for the AFS program, she spent 21 days in Italy and Greece as a student ambassador for People to People, which was started by Pres. Eisenhower. It was hard to let her go, but the group has an excellent program and she had the experiences of a lifetime. She saw the Colosseum, Pompeii, mad pizza in Sicily and went to Zeus Cave and the Parthenon in Greece. She also did several service projects while there as well. It opened her eyes to the world beyond WI, and your Italian exchange student will forever appreciate her time with your family. Best Wishes!