The most important thing, say youth groups, is that the host family gets on with its normal life.
"We want totally normal families," says Elina Talonen-Lintunen of the Youth For Understanding organisation. "We have very young families and families without children or families where the kids have already moved out of the house. The family members’ professional backgrounds are also diverse."
At the moment there are far more students wanting to come to Finland than places that can be arranged for them. Students stay in Finland anywhere from a few months to a year. Host families provide a place to stay and food and are not financially compensated.
Each year, around 600 students come to experience Finnish life, using a variety of exchange organisations. This year the largest groups of students have come from Germany, Japan, and other Asian countries.
Finns Feel Inadequate to Host
The requirements to become a host family are pretty minimal, but few families are interested.
Talonen-Lintunen says many Finnish families are wary of committing to taking care of a foreign teen for a whole year.
"It's true that homes in Finland are pretty small, and people feel that an exchange student can't share a room with another family member," she notes. "But this isn't necessarily an impediment to hosting an exchange student. Another thing is that mothers go to work and are usually busy."
