Visit China (profile created 18. February 2010)

About our family :
We do have 4 children : Pierre xxx yo Sylvie xxx yo Lucie xxx yo Vincent xxx yo
We are all French, our culture is french, but we have an international background.
Pierre was born in Germany, Vincent is Born in Brazil
We lived in France, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, and we are now living in China.
Sophie has not professional occupation. And myself Stephan do have a job in engineering.

Where do we live :
We leave in Shanghai (china).
We are outside of the big city, there is no skyscraper nearby our house.
Our house is located in a compound. This is a set of home in a close area, with entry filtered and guarded. The inner street of the compound also have their guards to check all the moves nearby the houses and in the street.

Our house :
It is quiet big, each kids has it own room.
The attic is arranged and has two more beds.

What do our children do after school :
Children are back from school around 17:00.
They first have a collation prepared by Sophie.
Then do some homework, and then still have time to chat or surf or watch tv
Diner is around 19:00, all together around the table, without tv or radio.
This is the privileged moment to exchange about our events of the day

What does a "normal week" at your home look like?
From Monday to Friday is the “working week”, weekend is for not working occupation :-)
During the week, we wake up at 6:15, have copious breakfast and leave home at 7:15 to take a bus for school.
Back home for 17:00, diner 19:00, bed room time 20:30 except for Pierre older, that can extend to 22:00

Activities our family does...
Occupation at home are mostly “electronic” (game, chat, surf, tv).
During the weekend, some social game (cards game, board game) are used by the kids
Sylvie and Lucie like to go shopping or to spend time with their friends, in their home or in our house
Vincent play Chineese Kung Fu on Wednesday.
Sylvie is singing in a chorale
Pierre plays basketball whenever he can, and sometime has some party with his friend.
A significant part of the timer is spent in the kitchen to cook, and in dining room. We seldom go outside to restaurant, and get food delivery only once a week. We greatly prefer to have the home made cook.
It is very safe and easy to go out and visit places in Shanghai, even for kids.
They can now take the taxi on their own, our use our driver if they go to some unknown place

Did we have exchange students before :
no

Do we practice any religion :
no, religion is taken as a private consideration, we do not practice, we do not display our religions and eachone keeps his belief for himself.

About drugs :
No concession : no drugs, no alcohol, no smoke for the kids
We do smoke tobacco, but in separate rooms as the one of the kids.
We do seldom drink alcohol (e.g. a good wine during an exceptional diner).

To which school would your child go if it stays with you :
We do intend only to exchange children during vacation.

How far is the school from our home? :
at 30 minutes from home by foot, and at 5 minutes with the school bus.

Do our children go to the same school?
Yes, all to the same school

Would our child like to come to your country / city
definitely yes, Pierre is strongly attracted by u.s.a.
In fact, he plans to ge there one fist month to meet the local way of life and the culture there.
And later one, when finished the high school in the French system, he would renew is 13th grade in u.s.a for one year.

Would we like to exchange in parallel or one after the other?
one after the other

How long would your child like to stay?
3 weeks as a start, the last 3 weeks of july

How long can our child stay with us?
One month as a start, in august

Would there be any expenses for you?
No expenses

Will your child have a room for her- / himself?
Yes, either in the attic arranged for that, or if he prefer could share the room with one of the kids. But in any case it would be in his own bed, and the bathroom can be closed to preserve some intimacy for toilet and clothes changing.

Which rules will your child have to obey to?
Difficult to summarize here; our kids find the list is very long :-)
But it is all based on mutual respect for a better harmonious leaving together, with some additional rules for safety and to grant an equilibrium of life to prepare their future.

Are there any eating restrictions our family has?
None

When our child comes to you: what do you need to know or take into consideration?
Absolutely no particular considerations. You would do with Pierre as with your own kids

Will there be grown-up supervision when the students come home from school?
There is usually my wife or our house personnel at home with the kids.
It may occur that kids are left alone for a short while (to go to buy bread, or some other kind of very short leaves)
There are guards in the street, and a emergency hot line that grant very quick presence in case of need

Will your child participate in family activities? ...also on weekends?
Of course, with great pleasure. But we would consult him/her before planing them, as we do with other kids.

What kind of housework is your child expected to help with?
Same as for all kids : do clean his own room, do fold his bed every morning before leaving, help to dress/undress the table, do put thing in order after each activity before starting another one.

Would it be o.k. if you visited our family upfront to get to know each other better?
Of course, with great pleasure. If you cannot visit us by yourself, but have some relative nearby our house you could also ask them to visit us to know also better the family your kids could join in the future.

pierre 16 ans this summer to spend 3 weeks with my familly in france-bretagne, then 3 weeks in your familly in usa.