My family is a “Friendship Family” for MSU’s International Student Office. A few years ago, we were assigned a Russian-speaking student from Kazakhstan who is studying Community Health through a Muskie Fellowship at MSU. This relationship helped the student learn about American culture and family life. In turn, it helped my family learn about and appreciate another culture and family life patterns. We spent about two hours each month with each other, experiencing family dinners, church dinners, dental appointments, and more. The experience also helped me to be continually aware of how others perceive ideas and behaviors in our American college culture.
Here are some photos of our students.