ICES Newsletter Posts & Articles
What’s happening at ICES?
The ICES Newsletters are filled with stories and testimonials from students and host families, as well as public news articles. This will give you a brief insight of what ICES cultural exchange and academic programs have to offer our participants. Select any of the posts below to read more about recent activities and what ICES students and host families say about their experiences!
Check Out Older Posts & Articles:
- ICES Newsletter Posts 2019
ICES Newsletter Posts 2018
ICES Newsletter Posts 2017 - ICES Newsletter Posts 2016
ICES Newsletter Posts 2015
ICES Newsletter Posts 2014
The process of making a quilt
The process of making a quilt Santiago’s host mom has sent us the story when Santiago undertook the project of redecorating his bedroom (with his host family’s permission) to make it his own. ...
You’d better live, discover and feel it yourself
You’d better live, discover and feel it yourself While my brothers were going to their big destinations for their exchange year, my nine-year-old self was thinking: “Wow! What ...
Our Experience with Foreign Exchange Students Through ICES
Our Experience with Foreign Exchange Students Through ICES This is the third school year my family has hosted foreign exchange students. We were a bit hesitant about it at first because we had no ...
Getting to know the American culture
Getting to know the American culture This is my third month in America and I can’t believe how fast it’s going. I am having wonderful time and I already have a lot of ...
ICES students experience Halloween
ICES students experience Halloween On the night of October 31st, Halloween takes place, one of the most emblematic and “terrifying” traditions that you will endure during your ...
She jumped right in and tackled the challenges
She jumped right in and tackled the challenges Yanina is our foreign exchange student form Langquaid, Germany. She has been living with our family in Westville, Indiana for about three months and ...
The perfect example of what an exemplary exchange student should encompass
The perfect example of what an exemplary exchange student should encompass Martina is a 17 year old, bright young lady here for a semester from Italy. Like many exchange students, she was quite ...
Luca fits into our family beautifully
Luca fits into our family beautifully Luca is an absolute gem to have around. She does amazing in school and we never have to prompt her to do homework. She has received lots of excellent ...
To say we have been impressed is an understatement
To say we have been impressed is an understatement This has been our first exchange student 2020 and to say we have been impressed is an understatement. Pol from Barcelona Spain is making his ...
AMERICAN HALLOWEEN
AMERICAN HALLOWEEN As exchange students, we get to see and experience a lot of new things we had never before. Despite of the virus being in the air, Halloween, an American typical ...
I’m extremely proud of these students and the school district that has welcomed them
I’m extremely proud of these students and the school district that has welcomed them The United Local School District in Northeast Ohio may be a small, rural, school, but it is seeing big things ...
ICES exchange student volunteering with feeding the homeless
ICES exchange student volunteering with feeding the homeless Tonight we took the “Love Shack” out for the first time since March. Our exchange student Jan was so helpful and really enjoyed ...
Jake has changed our family’s views on other cultures
Jake has changed our family’s views on other cultures Jakub is from the Czech Republic, staying in Saginaw Michigan in the small town of Chesaning. Jake has taken huge steps into understanding ...
Being an exchange student is all about accepting the unexpected
Being an exchange student is all about accepting the unexpected Being an exchange student is all about accepting the unexpected twists and turns that come about during the year. When Ilja left ...
Adding more stories to our lives
Adding more stories to our lives We have so many stories to tell from our year with our first exchange student, Elisa from Germany. We had never thought about hosting a student until an ICES ...
A hockey player – finally!
A hockey player – finally! We are huge hockey fans. It may seem weird to be hockey fans in the middle of the Mojave Desert – Las Vegas, but many of us here in Vegas came from somewhere else ...
My first days in America
My first days in America My first days in America were full of fun. I spent a lot of time with my host family as we traveled together and they showed me some places in Tomball, Texas where ...
Studying Abroad Changed my Perspective on Life
Studying Abroad Changed my Perspective on Life I would highly recommend that anyone who is tired of doing the same thing that everyone else is doing, go on an exchange year. I’ve always loved to ...
Vietnamese exchange student in Patterson
Vietnamese exchange student in Patterson Patterson Irrigator, Patterson, California, May 28, 2020 by Cee Cee Howell / author Ngan Doan, known by her new American family and friends as “Nan,” has ...
Our very first experience as a host family
Our very first experience as a host family We are a family of 6. We have 3 children of our own 1 boy and 2 girls ages 6,5 and 2 and 1 Foster child age 9. I came across a post on Facebook about ...
Someday I’ll celebrate Mother’s Day
Someday I’ll celebrate Mother’s Day Today is mother’s day! So blessed to know so many great ones and I hope they all had a great day! As a woman who’s battled infertility, ...
Exchange Student Program Enriches Lives of Guests, Hosts and Those around Them
Exchange Student Program Enriches Lives of Guests, Hosts and Those around Them Juniata Sentinel, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, May 6, 2020 by Paige Smith / writer I have always been fascinated by ...
Definitely the best experience I could get as a teenager in 21st century
Definitely the best experience I could get as a teenager in 21st century You have to be a little crazy, and say “yes” to everything I had the best year of my life here. I got the best host ...
Coronavirus impact on exchange students
Coronavirus impact on exchange students WFMJ.com, Youngstown, Ohio, April 2020 Phone interview with Debbie VanWinkle, ICES field staff in Ohio Some students are thousands of miles at home while ...
Italian foreign exchange student finds strength during pandemic in San Antonio
Italian foreign exchange student finds strength during pandemic in San Antonio KENS5-TV, San Antonio, Texas, April 24, 2020 by Mat Gaskins / author Rebecca Padellini, originally from Florence, ...
Exchange students in central Indiana miss experiences due to virus restrictions
Exchange students in central Indiana miss experiences due to virus restrictions WISHTV.com, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 20, 2020 by Staff Reports The impact of coronavirus restrictions has been ...
Michigan City exchange student gets to have her prom experience
Michigan City exchange student gets to have her prom experience The Michigan City News-Dispatch, Indiana, March 25, 2020 by Jim Peters, staff writer It’s a modern-day Cinderella story, and the ...
For international students away from home, coronavirus is ‘scary’ and ‘stressful’
For international students away from home, coronavirus is ‘scary’ and ‘stressful’ USA Today, Orgon, March 20, 2020 by Lindsay Schnell USA Today interviewed our French ...
Sisters by heart forever
Sisters by heart forever My husband and I are empty nesters and have hosted several double placements but these girls are truly sisters. They have done everything together. They have taken this ...
ICES Exchange Students are popular at Kindergarten
ICES Exchange Students are popular at Kindergarten Lorenzo was able to come to my Kindergarten classroom during Read Across America Week. I chose a group of books that I thought my class would ...
Amazing opportunity to experience another culture
Amazing opportunity to experience another culture On June of 2019 I took a voyage to Sardina, Italy. I’m extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to travel across the world. Most ...
Brazilian exchange student finds second family in Rigby
Brazilian exchange student finds second family in Rigby Post Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho, February 24, 2020 by Brennen Kauffman Moving to another hemisphere, from tropical South America to ...
Local foreign exchange student recognized as Student of the Month
Local foreign exchange student recognized as Student of the Month The Jessamine Journal, Nicholasville, Kentucky, February 21, 2020 International Cultural Exchange Services (ICES) has named Lina ...
USA is a place where dreams come true
USA is a place where dreams come true My name is Ema and I am an exchange student from Slovakia. Currently I live in Oklahoma, Cashion with my host family, Cates. Normally people talk ...
It All Started with My Exchange in the USA
It All Started With My Exchange in the USA Don’t say it won’t work until you have tried it! Here I am, living in Taipei, two and a half years after I finished my high school exchange in ...
Letter from natural parents in Germany
Letter from natural parents in Germany Dear Burbach Family, Rena is back home for more than a week. We are so happy that she had such a beautiful, exciting, interesting and intensive time in Gays ...
More Copper Country families needed to host ICES students
More Copper Country families needed to host ICES students TV 6 / Upper Michigan’s Source, Houghton, Michigan, February 6, 2020 by Remi Murrey When Amelie Adler heard she’d spend a year in ...
Jonesboro welcomes Spanish teen
Jonesboro welcomes Spanish teen The Sun, Jonesboro, Arkansas, January 27, 2020 by Alex Gladden, Sun Staff Writer Before Julia Matheu-Corominas arrived in the United States, she didn’t know ...
Neuntefel loves to travel
Neuntefel loves to travel The Eclipse, Flint, Michigan, January 27, 2020 by Jonathen Hart, Sports Editor Senior Julia Neuntefel came from Austria to complete a semester of high school in America. ...
Maltempi is happy making friends, setting goals
Maltempi is happy making friends, setting goals The Eclipse, Flint, Michigan, January 21, 2020 by Hope Wills, Special Projects Editor Traveling from Rio Claro, Brazil to Flint, Michigan, senior ...
Family hosts student from the Canary Islands
Family hosts student from the Canary Islands KAIT / Region 8 News, Jonesboro, Arkansas, January 16, 2020 by Jurnee Taylor / A program in town is calling on you for help, asking you to open your ...
I’m thankful for my life in Oklahoma
I’m thankful for my life in Oklahoma My name is Katka and I am an exchange student from Slovakia, but I live in Oklahoma right now with my host family. At first I flew to LA where I met my ...
My goal was to have the best experience possible
My goal was to have the best experience possible This week people asked me about my goals for 2020. I have never been a person that sets herself goals at the end of a year. I set myself ...
Putnam County’s Luna Gonzales
Putnam County’s Luna Gonzales News Tribune, Illinois, January 6, 2020 Athlete of the week Year:Junior (foreign exchange student from Spain) Sport:Wrestling What is your favorite ...
Youth exchange has changed our life, forever
Youth exchange has changed our life, forever Our family hosted Izzy from Thailand in 2016. She quickly gained the nickname, Yang while she was living with us. We were so blessed to get to have ...
Today it is exactly 4 months since I came to the US, to Texas
Today it is exactly 4 months since I came to the US, to Texas Almost every day something excited happens and I don’t even have time to talk about it with my friends and family in Slovakia. ...
Foreign exchange students help at homeless shelter
Foreign exchange students help at homeless shelter News Tribune, La Salle, Illinois, December 7, 2019 by Goldie Rapp, author From high school with love A group of five area foreign exchange ...
Exploring a new country
Exploring a new country Estacada News, Oregon, Tuesday December 03, 2019 by Emily Lindstrand, author Three Spanish exchange students are spending school year at Estacada High School through ICES ...
I joined the volleyball team at my school and I love it
I joined the volleyball team at my school and I love it “My name is Celia and I’m staying with the Ramsey’s at Harbor Beach, Michigan. I joined the volleyball team at my school and I love ...
An experience I won’t forget
An experience I won’t forget “I’m having a great time in America and it’s an experience I won’t forget. I love my family. I have many good experiences here but my ...
We finally made the choice to be a host family
We finally made the choice to be a host family Our experience with the International exchange program has been absolutely wonderful! We are so glad that we finally made the choice to be a host ...
They are teaching me a lot about American culture
They are teaching me a lot about American culture When on August, 8 I arrived at the airport and I saw them with a giant poster and two balloons I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, ...
Mumford exchange students find fun, friendships
Mumford exchange students find fun, friendships DetroitDialogue.com, November 7, 2019 by Raechel Davis & Daija Thomas Mustang Voice America is not quite what German exchange student Til ...
I got to know my family a little bit more
I got to know my family a little bit more My family and I went to Lansing to see the hot air Ballons in my first week in the USA. It was so much fun and I also feel like it was kind of ...
Leo’s road to semi-state part of worldwide journey
Leo’s road to semi-state part of worldwide journey Parkview Health, Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 25, 2019 What has become a season of firsts for the the Leo High School boys soccer team has ...
Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to living here because it’s so different
Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to living here because it’s so different My exchange life here is great, but sometimes it’s hard to adjust to living here because it’s so different. I’m doing ...
Everything was decorated about scary things
Everything was decorated about scary things So last weekend I went to past tense with my host family. There was a haunted house, a corn maze and a hayride. Everything was decorated about ...
My best experience so far was Homecoming
My best experience so far was Homecoming I am staying in Michigan with my host family. The host family here has a lot of siblings and two dogs. We have done many things so far. I went to ...
Shawnee exchange student a net success in girls tennis
Shawnee exchange student a net success in girls tennis Springfield News-Sun, Ohio, October 09, 2019 by Greg Billing / Contributing Writer When she steps onto the court at the Lindner Family ...
Jaime, Spanish exchange student in Oregon, is making headlines
Jaime, Spanish exchange student in Oregon, is making headlines Siuslaw improves to 6-0, beats Junction City Exploding Whale Sports, Oregon, October 8, 2019 The Siuslaw Vikings soccer team ...
I have the best host family in the world
I have the best host family in the world Hi, My name is Tereza and I am an exchange student from Slovakia. It has already been almost three months since I came to the USA. I have the best ...
My best decision
My best decision Everything seemed different from the moment I decided to go on an exchange year. At first, it sounded weird to go to a different country where I would live with a family I ...
My favorite experiences
My favorite experiences I’ve thinking about an exchange for a year. Actually my father said to me be an exchange student, because he wants me to grow up as a person, to be more ...
The moment when I found out I can do everything I want
The moment when I found out I can do everything I want Hello, My name is Sara and I am from Slovakia. I was placed in Carl Junction in Missouri. I started running 2 months ago. Before I ...
Student Orientation in Oregon
Student Orientation in Oregon Our student orientation was held in Central Oregon area on September 14-15th. The first day we had a Smokejumpers Tour, the student orientation and a wonderful BBQ ...
I was interested about going to United States
I was interested about going to United States I will be an exchange student for 10 months. I was interested about going to United States to study and I ask my parents … and all happened. ...
Exchange student making immediate impact on Molalla volleyball program
Exchange student making immediate impact on Molalla volleyball program Molalla Pioneer, Oregon, September 23, 2019 by Derek Wiley / author In her first high school start, Romero, from ...
Excited to be coming back to the United States for college
Excited to be coming back to the United States for college Sherlock and Eddy had a great year in Chico and made lots of friends. They are both avid soccer players and found a group to ...
Everything is great here
Everything is great here Hello, My name is Sara and I am from Slovakia. I was placed in Carl Junction in Missouri. It is a city that has about 7,500 inhabitants. I only have my host mom ...
My host family is the best
My host family is the best It is about 2 weeks since I have come to the USA, to Texas. I’m not gonna lie- beginnings are not easy. (And airplanes are not created for sleeping). When ...
Yesterday was the first day of my exchange year
Yesterday was the first day of my exchange year Hi, My name is Lea and yesterday was the first day of my exchange year. I flew all the way from Bratislava, Slovakia to Idaho Falls and then ...
You’ll have a new member of your family who will forever be a part of you
You’ll have a new member of your family who will forever be a part of you “Last year at this time, we were about a week into being a host family for the very first time. It was not at ...
My experience has been amazing
My experience has been amazing “I’m Gadea, a Spanish girl that is staying a month in a great family in Boca Ratón, Florida. My experience has been amazing and I’m having ...
Quinn hopes to grow international exchange program
Quinn hopes to grow international exchange program Owensboro Times, Owensboro, Kentucky, August 12, 2019 by Laura Murphy / author In her third year serving as the Field Manager of Kentucky ...