Group gives students home for holidays

Have room for more at the table?\nWith Thanksgiving approaching, students are leaving campus to return to their homes all over the country. But there are some who can't. \nBecause it's such a short break, international students often times don't have much choice but to pay $25 to stay in Eigenmann Hall during the recess. That's why for more than 50 years Bloomington Worldwide Friendship, Inc. has been helping these students find families with which to spend the holidays, and they are now seeking volunteers. \n"Given the distance associated with travel, many students who are with us from around the world are not able to be with family over the holiday," said Chris Viers, associate dean for International Programs and director of International Services. "Students enjoy the opportunity to spend time with Bloomington families while taking a break from studies and staying in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere."\nLast year, about 40 families volunteered, said Basil Wentworth, chair of BWF's Holiday Hosts Committee. But Wentworth said they need hosts now more than ever.\n"I'm desperate for community hosts," Wentworth said. "The sooner they get to me, the happier the students will be."\nStudents say they benefit from spending time with American families. \nJaromir Paril, a graduate student from the Czech Republic, has been at IU since August. Although he has studied in the United States before, he has never spent an entire school year away from home. But Paril said he plans to spend the break with his BWF family.\n"Some people can enrich or change students' lives, attitudes or future," Paril said. "The knowledge that there are people from BWF who are open to foreign cultures helps me to learn more about life here. The shared excitement of learning is the best part of being together with Americans for me."\nKimberly Ruff, public relations and committee chair of BWF, has been a host for seven years and will be hosting Paril this year. Ruff, who lived in Germany for five years and England for nine, said she always appreciated when families invited her to stay in their homes while she was overseas.\n"It gives me a lot of pleasure to do it and see they appreciate it," Ruff said. "There is nothing like opening up your house and having your family members being a part of it, too. It's really a broader kind of sharing, and it means a lot." \nRuff said the BWF's key program, however, is the Friends Program, for which they will recruit this month. For a semester, international students are matched with families or adults who are interested in having friendships with them. Students do not live with volunteers, but they meet with their new friends four to five times a semester where they often have meals together, go to plays or even take trips to Brown County. \nMany families who have participated in the Friends Program have maintained their friendships with students for many years, and have even flown overseas to be in their weddings or to visit their home countries. \n"It's a nice way to have friends all over the world," Ruff said. "It makes life more interesting and worthwhile.\n-- Contact staff writer Lindsay Lyon at lrlyon@indiana.edu.