Growing up, my parents opened our home to several exchange students.  Some of my Aunts and Uncles also hosted students.  30 years ago, in 1995, the Westlake High School AFS (American Field Service) advisor was looking for a host family for a young lady from New Zealand. I went home and discussed it with Dan and our boys (ages 7,10, & 11).  We agreed to open our home to Nicola Edwards from Christchurch, NZ.   We could not have imagined how that would change our lives and lead to so many new friends and families.

What a wonderful year it turned out to be.  We were able to enjoy so many things with her in Cleveland. She loved Westlake High School; she was active in the band, played on the tennis team, and enjoyed field trips with other exchange students.  She made many friends and did well academically. She served as a big sister to our boys.  She loved shopping, Playhouse Square, Cedar Point, and Indians games, to name a few.  While here with AFS, she visited NYC, Boston, and LA.  Together as a family, we had great trips to Toronto, Orlando, Tampa, the beaches in South Carolina, and Niagara Falls. 

Tears flowed when we said goodbye in January 1996.  Three years later, we traveled to New Zealand and spent Christmas with her family.  We got to tour both North and South New Zealand and also visit her father, who lived in Sydney, Australia. It was a wonderful experience to visit Nicola and her family in both countries and see and learn about their cultures and traditions.

We always kept in touch and were able to get together a few times over the past 30 years.  This July, we had a 30-year reunion with both of our families on an Alaskan cruise.  There were 21 of us and we all had so much fun.  Nicola and her partner, Greg, were invited to our son's wedding in September, but traveling again appeared out of the question.  To our surprise, three weeks after the cruise, they decided they were coming to Ohio for the wedding, a trip of 35 plus hours (Nicola and Greg live in South Western Australia). That was very special. 

The week after the wedding, we took them to old and new places such as Niagara Falls, the Rock Hall, a Guardians game, and visited many breweries in the Cleveland area.  Once again, saying goodbye was hard. We are planning to visit them in Australia in the near future.

If you ever have the opportunity to host an exchange student, we would highly encourage you to serve as a host family.  It was an enriching experience for us and our boys, and now both of our daughters-in-law and our granddaughters have a wonderful connection to this amazing New Zealand "Kiwi".

 Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions. Dorothy and Dan Beyer