Most people in America have to wait nine months to get a new addition to their family, but business teacher Marci Boland added someone to her family in just a matter of days. She got a better deal by taking a foreign exchange student in to her family.

Last summer, Boland received an email about students from other countries who still needed a place to live. Boland talked to her family about it, and it was her son who wanted to help.

“My son Drew went to the Youth for Understanding (YFU) and that is the organization we worked with. He was looking at the profiles and narrowed the choices down,” Boland said. “The whole process of taking in the foreign exchange student took about three to four days.”

Soon foreign exchange student Linus Graf came to be the newest member of the Boland family.

Graf has his reasons to come to the United States to become a foreign exchange student.

“I came to the U.S. mostly to learn English,” Graf said. “I also came to the U.S. to learn about the culture and to learn different point of view of everything that is happening around the world.”

Boland said the process of getting a foreign exchange student was not too hard.

“People came in to our house and they asked us a bunch of questions, like ‘Where is the kid going to sleep?’ and ‘Where is his bedroom going to be?’” Boland said.

On the student side, Graf says the process was easy.

“I did some research on foreign exchange student on the Internet and I found YFU,” Graf said. “It was pretty easy because I contacted them and YFU did most of the work for me, like finding a school and a host family.”

However, there are rules that Graf has to follow in America.

“The legal age of drinking in Switzerland is 16, and he is already 18 so drinking is not a big deal to him,” Boland said. “But when he came to the U.S., we told him that he cannot drink and he was totally fine with that.”

Graft says the school in Switzerland is a lot different than the school here.

“In Switzerland, we have to learn two languages during the four years in high school, whereas here, you guys only have to learn one,” Graf said. “Also, there is less school spirit in Switzerland, and back home we don’t really care about our school, whereas here you guys go to basketball games and hang out with friends, but we don’t do that in Europe. Also, if you want to play a sport, you have to pay about a 100 bucks to join because sport is not through school.”

Graft also compared life in Switzerland to that in America.

“The biggest difference is the size of the country,” Graf said. “You can reach all the countries in Europe in between two and four hours. Here in America, the country is like the whole of Europe together. Also, in Europe, we use public transportation more while you guys drive more.”

Boland had really positive experience of her family with the foreign exchange student.

“We have learned more about the culture of Switzerland,” Boland said. “I am also learning to speak in German a little bit, although I don’t roll my r’s very well.”

Boland said Graf seems to enjoying his stay in her home.

“He says it’s been a really positive experience,” Boland said. “But he loves Switzerland and he is not going to leave his home country to live in the U.S. forever.”

Graf said there are many things he likes about America.

“I love football and also the people here are really nice, like they talk to you, and they also help you,” Graf said. “The people here are also very interested in everything.”

Graft also said the hardest part of being in America involved the language.

“In the beginning, people in America talk so fast, it was pretty hard, but now it is better,” Graf said. “But, I think the hardest part to understand is people’s emotions.”

Graf has a lot of things he like about school in the U.S.

“The best part about the school is the school sport programs and all the people who are in a sport,” Graf said. “I wish that we had that in Europe.”

Graf said he likes hanging out with friends, and watching football, as well as all the other aspect of sports in the U.S.

“Sports in Europe are a big deal but not as big in the U.S. I think that more people are interested in sports here then in Europe,” Graf said.

Boland’s family has adjusted really well with Graf in their house.

“My son keeps saying that we are getting another foreign exchange student next year and I’m like, ‘You know, Linus as been so easy because he is laid back and we are also laid back,’” Boland said.

Boland’s family has also learned a lot from Graf.

“I think my kids have realized that other countries know a lot more about us than we do about other countries,” Boland said. “My kids also know when they get to college, they will go study abroad because of how important it is to know about other countries.”

Boland said that Graf had preset ideas about America before he came here.

“He thought all Americans were fat,” Boland said. “He also thought that all we do is eat unhealthy food, and all we eat is fast food, that we don’t work out and we are lazy. He had that preconceived notion of Americans, but I think that has definitely has changed.”

Boland said her best part of Graf staying at her house was that he affected her outlook as well.

“The best part is probably just having another person in my house because it has made me more laid back about stuff,” Boland said. “When he first got here, I couldn’t yell at the kids because he was sitting right there. I am incredibly intense with my kids on grades. Now, when he is here, it has made me lighten up a tiny bit on my kid’s grade.”

Although Boland has a lot of positive experience with Graf staying in the house, there are some downsides.

“My food bill has tripled since he has been here because he is an 18-year-old male who loves meat and smoothies,” Boland said. “He eats a ton and now we don’t eat out much because our bill would triple.”

Graf also has some dislikes about America.

“I don’t like the commercials here on T.V.” Graf said. “Although we have the same commercials back at home, we have less of it. We also don’t have political commercials in Switzerland and those political commercials are really annoying.”

Boland thinks the overall experience bas been great.

“Open your house to somebody, because I think you are going to gain more from it,” Boland said.

In the end, Graf would probably want to come back to the U.S. again.

“I will probably go to college in Switzerland, then come back again to the U.S,” Graf said. “I am sure that I will go back to the U.S. again. I could imagine living here again.”