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Homestay
in Australia
as
the name says, this style of accommodation is to stay in
an Australian family home with a room only for you and
with food included. In reality, the family is renting a
room in their home to you, and this room may have a
bathroom, a study desk and a wardrobe for you to keep your
belongings. The bad news is that you will have to follow
the rules of the house, and the good news is that is very
cheap. Also, you can choose a house with characteristics
similar to your way of life. Of Course, if you don't like
the house of the family for any reason, you can ask the
homestay administrator to find another one for you.
But, the money has to be paid in advance for a period of
about one month and if you decide to go away, this money
is not refundable. Sometimes it is done partially,
depending how much time of previous advice you gave to the
family. Also note, that this family will only host you,
not be responsible for you and your actions.
The
minimum time staying in an Australian homestay
is 15 days. That means you pay in advance 2 weeks, and if
you decide to jump out after the first week, you also will
say bye to your money. In the same way, if you decide
to extend your stay for another two weeks or 3 months, you
will have to pay this time in advance. It is possible to
arrange to pay your homestay family privately. If you do
this, you can probably expect a reduction in the amount of
rent you pay, as opposed to paying through your
School/College. Make sure you have an agreement in place
with the family - if possible, in writing. Many families
will reduce the rent while you are traveling around
Australia if you leave your belongings behind, or if you
intend to return to the family after travel. It is called
a holding fee.
Who
normally books a home stay in Australia? The
educational institutions or schools that offers courses
for overseas students do it through an agent. Some
independent agents have different lists of homes and
families. They always try to find a home stay for you
around the place you are studying. Both, institutions and
agents, charge a fee called a placement fee that can vary
between A$ 110 and A$ 220.( usually the same as one week
of stay). The initial payment is made to the school or to
the agent, and thereafter directly to the family. There
are some families that will negotiate the stay without
meals included for you, especially if you start to hate
it. On the other hand, to eat out costs a lot more.
Staying
in a family home - Things to know....
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Australian
families are like families all over the world, and
differ one from another in many ways. Australia is a
multicultural country with immigrants from every
country in the world, mainly from Asia and Europe.
Religious freedom complements the cultural way of
life, and cannot be imposed or recriminated.
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Australians
live in isolated familiar nucleus which means
father, mother, son and daughter, instead of with
grand parents, aunts and cousins all together. The
family maintains casual contact with other member of
the family. Recently the number of divorced parents,
solo mothers, and families without children has
increased.
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Families
in Australia don't have house keepers to take care of
the home or help in the house work. Normally both
parents work somewhere outside home. So, it is
expected from all members of the family including
students, to cooperate in the everyday routines of
cooking, cleaning, wash dishes, wash clothes, ironing,
and keeping the room nice and tidy. In the
majority of families, the son and daughter prepare the
breakfast and also a lunch to be eaten around noon.
The father or the mother prepare the dinner.
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The
food offered in a home stay
in Australia depends on the cultural background of
the family For example: Families with European
background will serve mainly European style food, and
Asian families, Asian food. But due to globalization,
and the multiculturalism in Australia, don't be
surprised to eat European food in an Asian home, and
Asian food in an European home. In Australia there are
culinary influences from the majority of countries in
the world. Another thing are the habits of each
culture. While Italian love to talk and gesticulate
during dinner time, European prefers to eat in
silence. Australian families sit to eat in group, and
talk about the day and any problems they had or have
to solve. The breakfast is constituted of cereal,
toast, fruit and a fruit juice. Lunch usually is a
sandwich , a cake, or the beloved Australian meat pie.
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The
Australian usually show theirs emotions openly,
and are not afraid to show their anger, happiness, or
sadness in front of others. Also they accept to
disagree on points of view, as long as it is done in a
non-aggressive way. In some cases it is acceptable to
discuss personal problems with other people, but
usually it stays within the family circle. The
Australian parents encourage their children to ask
please, respond thank you, and say sorry.
-
An
Australia home has a kitchen with no walls to the
living area. There are bathrooms, bedrooms and a
laundry. The bathroom may have a bathtub and shower
separated and the toilet sometimes is in another room.
Usually Australians don't like it when someone has a
shower and leaves the bathroom wet, OR, take an
eternity showering, finishing off all the hot water
from the boiler.
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Australians
teenagers are very independent,
but anyway the parents like to be kept informed where
they are going, with who, and what time they pretend
to come back. It is extremely important for someone
who is hosted in a family home to do the same. Also it
is polite to tell the family at least one day before,
if you are not coming for dinner. One of the main
activities of young adults is to talk on the phone,
and the parents usually impose some restrictions of
time to allow everybody to do the same. Local calls in
Australia are charge at a rate of around 25 cents per
call. It is expected that you pay for each call, and
some homes place a small pot beside the phone for you
to leave the money, OR you can negotiate another form
of payment. You can bring friends over to visit you,
but first get permission to do so, and keep the
parents informed for how long they will stay. Ahh!,
Don't forget to introduce your friend to the house
owners.
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Many
who come for the first time to a home stay in
Australia feel a little bit nervous for the first
couple of days. The best thing to do is to talk about
yourself, so that the family will know you better and
vice-versa. If your English isn't good enough to
explain, use a dictionary, mimics, or call someone to
translate. (your school may be able to help with
this).
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If
you pass most of your time locked in your room
they may think you don't like them. Try to spend some
time watching TV together, talking, or helping out the
family with some domestic tasks. Tell them about your
culture and ask questions about theirs.
Advantages of staying in a family
homestay:
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Faster
learning about the culture
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Make
Australian friends
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Get all
information about the city you are living
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Improve
your English (This is total immersion!)
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Spread
your culture and adjust to a new country more quickly
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Low
Cost
Disadvantages to stay in a family
homestay:
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Relative
freedom
-
Relative
privacy
List
of Homestay
& Accommodation Agencies:
Gold
Coast:
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Mary
Help never makes up her bed on a
homestay
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