Student OR Guest Guidelines

Introduction To Student OR Guest Guidelines:

When staying with a host family, you will become a house guest, and guests must follow homestay rules. These guidelines are some of the approaches and responsibilities to help you make your homestay experience enjoyable in a shared living environment such as homestay.

1. Dial 911 in case of an emergency to reach an ambulance or the police.
2. Keep your homestay address and host’s number in your pocket if you go out alone. Then, you should call if you get lost in the city. 
3. Always ask questions if you are unsure about something or want to know directions. For example, ask your host for assistance if you do not know how to operate house appliances, equipment, or cleaning tools.
4. Do not bring strangers to the house without permission from the host family.
5. If you want to bring a friend home, please ask your homestay family if it is all right. Also, do not forget to confirm the visiting hours with your host family.
6. Always let your host family know what time you will be home. Host families can get extremely worried about your safety.
7. If you plan to eat out, please call your host family at least two hours in advance and tell them that you will eat outside.
8. Find out when you can receive calls and how long you can keep the phone busy. If you make long-distance calls from the host family’s home, you must use a calling card or collect calls. Use your favourite messenger app over the Internet or your mobile phone to save money.
9. Students and guests seventeen of age and younger and their guardians must agree to follow a typical curfew to return home by 9 pm on weekdays and 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally, sleepovers and the absence from the homestay, such as school trips, must be pre-approved in writing by the student guardians, representative, or local custodian with the host family. 
10. While there are no pre-set curfew hours for students and guests eighteen years of age and older, students and guests must be mindful of regular sleeping hours, noise reduction during the night hours, and rest times for house members. 
11. No alcohol drinking, smoking indoors, or using recreational drugs or banned substances are allowed for students or guests at the homestay.
12. Ensure that you don’t speak loud on the phone or computer at late hours, for example, between 11 pm and 8 am. Late showers can also be disruptive in some homes due to the wood frame design of most houses. Kindly avoid taking late showers if this action disrupts any household members.
13. For washing your laundry, speak to your host family about how to use the washer and dryer, if available, and when you can wash your laundry. Most hosts will allow students to use laundry washers. Use the washer and dryer once a week or twice a month to reduce the environmental impact. Ask your host for more information about this subject.
14. When sharing a bathroom with another household member or a fellow student, please find out when the best time to shower and how long. You are responsible for providing your bathroom supplies such as towels, shampoo, body wash, toothpaste etc. You may be required to share the burden of cleaning your bathroom safely and what cleaning tools to use. Ask your host, please. Do not assume you can clean your bathroom as you did at home. You are responsible for keeping your bedroom clean and tidy during your stay. If you cannot keep your room clean, please speak to your host about the possibility of hiring a housekeeping service once a week.
15. The host family will expect good cleaning habits and good hygiene. For example, the host family usually would like you to remove your plate and utensils from the table after eating. Dispose of food leftovers in the compost and place your dishes in the dishwasher. Please do not leave your dirty dishes overnight in your room. This action may create a foul smell and invite insects and rodents to your room and the homestay. However, unless you volunteered, you are not required to do general house chores such as babysitting, gardening, cleaning, taking out the garbage or recycling, etc.
16. Don’t forget to turn off the lights when you leave your room. Would you please turn off the TV or radio when you are not using them? No loud noise is usually allowed at the homestay. Kindly be mindful when sharing a home with others.
17. You must purchase emergency and medical insurance covering medical expenses during your stay and study abroad. Contact your school or insurance provider for more details about insurance options. Ensure that you give the host a copy of insurance and emergency contact details upon arrival at the homestay.
18. Don’t operate any vehicles, machinery, or power tools to avoid injury to yourself or anyone else.
19. Neither the host family nor the agency is responsible for your medical or emergency medical expenses. Likewise, the agency does not assume responsibility for any injuries you suffered while in the host family’s care. Please consider getting insurance that covers both health care and hospitalization.
20. Should you have concerns about your stay that you cannot discuss with your hosts, please write an email to the agency representative.
21. If physical abuse occurs to a minor or a disabled person, the agency will report the incident to the police. If you suffer any injury or abuse, call 911 to speak to the police and call for an ambulance.
22. When you accompany your host family on holidays, outings, or trips, you must pay for travel arrangements, admission tickets, and personal expenses. The host family will pay for accommodation and food.
23. You will live in a multicultural society. At the agency, we make sure that we accept families from all backgrounds who are willing to speak English to improve students’ skills. 
24. Smoking is not allowed indoors in most homestays and public buildings. Please ensure your smoke outside in designated areas and do not violate the bylaws to avoid receiving fines or jail time.
25. International students must pay attention to local laws and bylaws, respect human rights and freedoms, women’s rights, freedom of speech and animal rights, environmental protection and recycling rules. Yes, freedom of speech and disrespect is not one of the same. So be careful, please. 
26. Remember these two words, “Please” and “Thank you.” They go a long way, especially with homestay hosts and the public.
27. As a house guest, international student, or temporary resident, you must demonstrate the authorities’ ability to be granted a study permit or visa to school and the country. Remember, you are also an ambassador of your country. Therefore, you must make your monthly or weekly payments on time to your host family and your tuition payments to your school without delay. You must not attempt to borrow and ask for money or vehicles from household members for any reason. You must continue demonstrating to your host family that you can always be independent, responsible, and credible. Your host family is not your immediate family and won’t replace your family, but they can be good friends and allies for years to come.
28. During the Covid-19 pandemic, returning travellers, international students, and newcomers must follow and comply with the directions of the local health authorities.
29. As a user of our agency services, you must review and accept this program’s terms and conditions and privacy policy. You must not share host family contact information and personal photos with fellow students or post anywhere online without authorization from your primary homestay host. 
30. Users of our agency services must comply and adhere to the program’s guidelines, terms and conditions.