Hi Him A-mazing,

We have had some inquiries as to home-stay gifts and what is appropriate and necessary to bring, so we wanted to share some further information about this prior to your departure.

The purpose of home-stay gifts is to share a bit of your cultures and customs with your families who host you over your time on course. It is also a way to say thank you for their hospitality and leave behind a bit of you with them. You should not spend a lot of money on your gifts or see it as an obligation.

Some ideas for gifts are:

• Any visuals that represent your home. This could be postcards, small posters, photographs, magnets, stickers, etc. Many families will hang these up in their homes and it is a great conversation starter. (Side-note: I was in a house in rural India last year and noticed they had magnets from Colorado & Illinois hanging; this family was so excited to share stories of past students who lived with them and where they came from, even if they themselves had not been to those places)
• Something of your creation, be it a drawing or poem or small carving or photograph or something knit/sewn, etc.
• art supplies
• maps of your home country/state
• puzzles
• blow up globes
• Frisbees
• playing cards with interesting images on them
• Coloring Books

Also to note: you can make gifts when you are here. Printing photographs is incredibly easy and inexpensive, especially during the urban home-stay portion of the course. You can make your families photobooks of your time with them, or make your own postcards. It is a lovely, personalized way to share your time, and thanks, with them.

Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Uttara, Aditya and Rishi