A Suitcase Full of Pasta
Luanne started hosting with EIL UK in 2023. She told us about the joy of welcoming international students into her home and her recent trip to Italy to a very special 18th birthday celebration.
Can you tell us a little bit about your family background? It’s taken you a few turns along the road to get to where you are today. Where did life begin and what’s led you to where you are now?
Luanne: I was born in North Carolina, in America to a Greek father and an American mother. My dad served in the army and then he worked in aviation and logistics, so we moved around to all sorts of places. One of my big passions growing up was playing the piano, so I went to university and completed a music education degree. Then in my 30s I found myself newly divorced with two small children and I met somebody that lived in England. All of a sudden, I’m starting a whole new chapter in my life, and I’ve now been in the UK almost 25 years! My kids have pretty much grown up here. They have English accents, whereas I still sound like I just got off the plane. Over the years I’ve worked in schools and in the heritage sector. Nowadays, I bake cakes for special occasions and for a local café as well as teaching and playing piano.
What prompted your interest in EIL and hosting international students?
Luanne: Well, I was working at a local museum when EIL brought a group of German students for a visit, and I got talking to the Local Coordinator about his experiences of hosting and working with young people. He told me that you have a stronger connection with some than others. Over 15 years he’s had numerous friendships that he continued, and he has visited many ex-students and their families. As he said, some people think that not knowing another language yourself might be a barrier. He had hosted French, Germans, Italians, and said that even if the student has a limited grasp of English, there’s always miming and pointing at things. Nowadays there is also Google Translate, which makes it so much easier. Because of my family heritage I do speak some Greek, but that hasn’t been any use with the students I’ve hosted!
So, you joined us in the Summer of 2023.
Luanne: That’s right. Once my DBS certificate was issued, my daughter and I hosted for the first time in October 2023. The student was a 14-year-old German girl in year 10 at high school and she was so lovely. She brought with her a German board game as a gift for us. And so, every night after dinner, we opened it up and played the game. It really helped to break the ice and improve our communication. I was determined to win but she was always better than me. We still get a message every now and then from her and we received Christmas cards from her family.
After that, I accepted a six-month placement in January 2024, with an Italian student named Fabiana from Naples. She was a little older, 16 when she arrived, and was enrolled at our local Sixth Form. In fact, she celebrated her 17th birthday in February, and she invited five of her friends from school over to the house where we made Neapolitan pizza to Fabiana’s family recipe. The girls all brought gifts with them, and we also made a birthday cake together.
Some of the students get homesick. They miss their family and friends, and particularly on a day like your birthday, it’s a really good idea to make a fuss of them. How do you help them to settle in?
Luanne: When Fabiana arrived, she was very upfront about how she was feeling. She made it clear that it wasn’t that she didn’t like being here, but she just missed her family. So, we’d have a regular sit down, have a cup of tea, eat some chocolate, and then I’d say, “I think you need to have a chat with your mum and dad and just tell them you’re okay and be honest with them and just say you missed them, but you’re gonna get through this.” In fact, we made a little calendar at that time because I think she found looking at the whole 6 months a bit daunting. We broke it down into weeks and every Friday we would cross it off the calendar and say, “Made it through another week.” There were some tears and we got through a lot of tissues, but I knew she was beginning to settle down after we had a chat one day and I said to her “You have to stop crying soon because we’re running out of tissues.” She smiled and said, “That was a joke?” and we both started laughing. After a while, it just kind of tapered off and she started to feel a little bit more at home.
It also helped that her English was getting better, and she started doing things with the other Italian students who were here. She seemed to be the one that organised a lot of their trips out. She was an excellent student, and she took a music class. One of the great pleasures for me was listening to her playing the piano upstairs while I was in the kitchen preparing our dinner.
That’s great! As an organisation, we believe it is beneficial for students to have an activity or a social event outside school, and possibly even outside the host’s home. After all, one of the guiding principles of EIL programmes, as well as education in general, is to increase the students’ self-confidence and their independence. The examples you just gave are a great way of showing that the students blossom in different ways.
So, have you kept contact with Fabiana?
Luanne: We had a few video calls with her parents and her aunts during her stay, and it was lovely to meet the family that way. Then, about halfway through the experience, Fabiana’s mum said “I really doubted whether my daughter would finish the six months. I wanted her to finish it, but it was because of you Luanne, and the things that you did for her, that she was able to continue.” That really meant a lot to me.
They then sent some lovely things from Italy for Easter, huge Easter eggs and a beautiful Italian Easter cake. In the last couple of weeks leading up to her leaving, we were trying to get gifts together for the family and then trying to figure out how to put all the extra clothes her parents sent over while she was here, into her suitcase. By this time, I had already received an invitation to visit Fabiana’s family in Italy, so we boxed up her winter clothes and agreed that I would return them once we had arranged the visit.
It really was something like Cinderella
So, you travelled to Italy in February this year to celebrate Fabiana’s 18th birthday. How did you enjoy the visit?
Luanne: It was a very quick trip as my second Italian student, Angelica, was already here and EIL arranged for her to stay with another host for that weekend. My daughter and I flew out on the Friday. We packed all our things in one suitcase and then we took another suitcase with all Fabiana’s clothes in it. We also had gifts for her birthday and for her family.
Fabiana and her dad picked us up at Naples airport and we drove for about an hour towards the mountainous region. We got to the house, had a nice big long hug and we were just welcomed into the family. That evening we shared a meal with all of the family, including Fabiana’s two aunts. We also managed some conversation with the help of Google Translate. It was so cute when Fabiana eventually opened the suitcase. She was pulling out her clothes saying, “I forgot I even had this.”
Saturday was the day of the birthday party, and it really was unlike anything I’ve seen before. The Italians really seem to go all out to celebrate. The event took place at this beautifully lit up, gorgeous hotel and there was a huge display with an inflatable 18 and a cake and plenty to drink. Once the guests had gathered, Fabiana came down a big, graceful staircase in her ball gown. She stood to have her photograph taken and there was also a videographer filming and a DJ playing music. It really was like something from Cinderella.
We sat down for a meal and at one point service was stopped so that we could all watch a video about Fabiana’s life, with music and friends and relatives talking about her. I was so thrilled that some of the photos were of her time with me in England. It was absolutely amazing. The food just kept coming, I thought we were done after the third course and then another pasta course came out. I did have a little menu, but obviously it was in Italian, so Fabiana’s dad kept translating it and telling me, “We have this one next.”
We got home at about 2am and so we were very late getting up the next day. We did go out eventually, though. I had a whole, empty suitcase to take home and I said to Fabiana’s mum, “Is there a place where I can go and buy pasta?” So, we went to their local supermarket, and I was just grabbing everything, “Ohh, that looks nice, I’ll have some of that.” We took a lot of pasta and gifts home in that empty suitcase. Really, I wish I could have stayed longer because these aren’t just people I’ve met, they are friends for life now. And that’s the beauty of hosting.
These girls are my daughters from another family
Sounds brilliant! And you’ve mentioned that you are hosting another Italian student at the moment?
Luanne: Yes, in January I welcomed Angelica to my home and she’s so bubbly and sweet. She is doing really well in school. She’s made lots of friends and she’s been singing with a local choir. Angelique and my daughter have a great relationship as well and she’s met my son who lives in Exeter.
What do you think has been the main benefit of hosting for you personally?
Luanne: Well, sometimes it’s a bit lonely being here on your own when you get to be this age and your children leave home and become more independent. I’ve always been a mummy type and feel that I still have a lot of love to share. The students I have hosted have been completely different characters. Fabiana was studying sciences and is interested in pathology and criminology, whereas Angelica is much more geared towards the arts and drama. I feel that hosting is like having another child, and these girls are my daughters from another family. EIL has done such an amazing job matching me with these students because we have really clicked.
