We have got to take better care of our exchange students

[Kaligraphic]

Okay, so I help with a Friday night activity with a local Christian fellowship I'm in. That's not part of this narrative, it's just so that you won't all jump on me for being out so late.

Anyway, last Friday, after the event was all cleaned up, I went to go hang out with one of my friends from the fellowship. It was about 2AM or so, a little after, so technically Saturday morning. I got to my friend's house, and what should I find shivering and sniffling, crouched practically outside his doorstep, but a Japanese girl. An exchange student, apparently. (I stopped to find out what was the matter. It's not every day you encounter miserable-looking foreign girls in the middle of the night.) Seems she'd got back too late and her host family had locked her out.

Okay, three words were pretty much going through my mind at this point, and if I tell you they were "whiskey", "tango", and "foxtrot", well, I'm guessing you can figure out what I mean. It seems she'd already been shivering out there for a couple of hours, thinking she was in some horrible trouble or something.

Now, this wasn't exactly the best area of town to be a tiny Japanese girl locked out in the middle of the night in. (Not that I've been one, I'm just saying.) No cell phone, a couple of weeks familiarity with the U.S., and already out on the street? Not a good thing.

As a country, we simply can't be treating our exchange students like that. They'll end up going home and voting to nuke us or something. Maybe not, but still - it's far too harsh for a first offense, particularly for a student with a limited command of English.

In this particular case, it ended okay. I had my cell phone on me, so we got someone from her travel agency to come out and pick her up. (Still took until 5AM to get there) The thing is, this shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. I mean, seriously. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

[sharien chan]

That's horrible. Then again I also know people who do that to their own kids...

[Sheenar]

As a person who is involved in international student ministry (not to mention that I work in my university's International Office), I must say that I am appalled that her host family would do this. They should definitely not be a host family in the future. Weren't they even concerned about her? Tell you university's international office about this. They'll take care of her and possibly find her a new host family.
I lived with an exchange student last year (oh, how I love the Koreans) and we always made sure all the roommates were home before we deadbolted the door.

I encounter frequently the delicate relations between foreign universities and ours. This may be the type of incident that could hurt the relations between the university she's from and your university. I just feel so bad for this girl --host families should really take it seriously--they have a vital part and it's important they do it well and show hospitality.

But I'm glad you found somewhere for her to go and that she's safe now.

[K. Ayato]

Poor girl. Thank God you were around when she was alone and that she's ok now.

[jaems-kun]

O.o If I found a cold, shivering japanese girl on the street.... I'd keep her!

[ShiroiHikari]

Geez! That's outrageous! Grr! And other angry expressions!

No, seriously. What were they thinking? Did they want her to catch pnuemonia, and then go back to Japan and tell everybody that Americans are all so-and-sos? If I were her parents, I'd probably take some kind of legal action if I could.

[EricTheFred]

I don't know if a call to the police was in order, but a call to the Japanese consulate or embassy sure might have been appropriate. If you encounter her again, make sure she has your number and their number.
You hear about mistreated foreigners all the time, usually in the person of illegals, but sometimes others. The Japanese as a people tend to try to avoid making a fuss for themselves, and this might leave her particularly vulnerable to mistreatment. I hope she has someone to help her if it ever becomes necessary.

[LadyRushia]

Geez, that family should be arrested. Why host students if you're going to treat them that way? I hosted a Chinese student last year and lived with a Chinese student over the summer and not once did I ever think anything like this could happen. I've heard about it vaguely, but that's just wrong.

[uc pseudonym]

That's almost incredible. Had she attempted to get their attention and been ignored? Regardless, it was terribly irresponsible of her host family not to wait for her to get back.

Meanwhile, I want to post something else but I will forbear because this is CAA and I am a moderator. So I'll confine myself to quotations:

O.o If I found a cold, shivering japanese girl on the street.... I'd keep her!

Now, this wasn't exactly the best area of town to be a tiny Japanese girl locked out in the middle of the night in.

[jaems-kun]

Meh, my classmates were treated the same way when we were in japan. If you weren't in the dorms by 10 pm, they locked you out, newbie or not. Though I was only there for the summer, I'm not sure if that policy would still be in effect by winter.

[termyt]

Well, before we hang the host family out to dry, I wonder if the girl even tried to get their attention. Japanese are not known for being overly assertive - at least not by American standards.

I just don't see her pounding loudly on the door.

However, if I were a host to an exchange student, I think I'd be a bit more aware of where they are.

[Shilohan ninja]

I don't care who you are, that's just plain rude and disrespectful to do they kind of thing to someone you don't know very well, especially someone from another country or culture.
My family once housed a Japanese exchange student for two weeks and really got to know him (which made for an emotional goodby *tear*) and we never did anything close to that kind of extreme to him, ever.
I don't care how you've been raised, that's just flatout stupid. If you pulled something like that in my nieghborhood you'd have gotten publically austricised for inhumane cruelty. That kind of thing is regular Belvue bate.