Host Family Packet

Idaho International Dance Festival is an annual festival sponsored by the Rexburg City Community Education and Culture Incorporated. Each summer this festival brings four to eight teams to perform and share their culture with the residents of Southeast Idaho. A lot of volunteers are needed to make Summerfest a continued success, and we appreciate the time and effort you will donate as a Host Family.

A Host Family’s main purpose is to care for their assigned performers by providing food, lodging, and transportation during Summerfest. As a Host Family, you will be given this packet with information specific for your assigned performers. This packet contains the following documents:

Host Family Packet	This packet is unique to the Host Family position and will help you better understand how to help Summerfest run smoothly.
Country Information	The Country Info Packet will provide common phrases translated. Please check the internet for info about your teams country and suggestions for foods, games, and activities.
Host Family List	The Host Family List contains the name, eating restrictions, phone number, email, and physical address of each host family and the dancers assigned to that family, as well as the Housing Coordinator and Team Guides information.
Team Schedule of Events	Each team has a different schedule of arrival and departure, rehearsal, performance, and free time detailed in the Team Schedule. The team schedule also details what the team should bring or wear to each event. This also provides detailed information for the host families for pickup/drop off times, meals, as well as what the host families are expected to provide for that event/day.
Phrase List	This is a list of helpful phrases you can use with your team. Google translate is also very helpful if you have a smartphone.

Key Words

Stage Runner: A volunteer who is at all performances and will take the performers to and from the stage.

Host Family: A local family that is housing two or more performers. This family provides performers with food, lodging, and transportation.

Housing Coordinator: The person in charge of organizing and communicating with the Host Families in your team.

Household Members: Members of the Host Families Immediate household which includes children, spouse, etc.

Team Director or Manager: The Team Director is in charge of all activities and concerns for their team members as well as performances for their country. If any concerns arise the team director should be included in discussion with the housing coordinator to resolve issues.

Team Guides: Volunteer(s) who is in charge of the performers anytime they are not with Host Families.

Team Guide Coordinator: The Team Guide Coordinator supervises all Team Guides. For any questions or concerns, contact the Lead Guide for recommendations before contacting the Summerfest Chair.

General Duties

The Host Families will help care for their assigned performers for the duration of Summerfest by providing lodging, food, and transportation.

Lodging

Bedroom

Each performer needs a bed. This cannot be a blow-up mattress, couch, sofa bed, etc. The performers work so hard – they must have a comfortable place to sleep. A single performer can sleep in a twin bed. A king, queen, or full-size bed can be shared with one additional performer. Performers may not share a bed with household members regardless of age or gender.

Because performers come from different climates, be sure to have extra blankets or pillows available. Please be sure that all bedding is clean and fresh. Due to possible allergies, try to discourage pets from jumping on the beds that have been prepared for the dancers.

If possible, empty out one or two drawers in the bedroom and/or bathroom for performers to put their things into. Make sure performers know where the iron and ironing board are located. It is likely they will need to iron their costumes. Performers costumes often take up a lot of room. Make sure there is space in a closet to hang their things.

Bathroom

Performers should have access to a bathroom with a shower and/or bathtub. The bathroom can be shared with other performers as well as household members. Each performer should be supplied with a clean washcloth and towel. Consider putting soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, hair tools (i.e. brush, comb, hairdryer, curling iron, etc), extra toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. in the bathroom for performers to use. While giving a short tour of your home, point out these items and explain that they are available to be used.

Food

Each country enjoys different foods, but they understand that they will be exposed to different foods and philosophies. Take the time to explain the food and how to eat it. Rather than asking them to eat first, demonstrate preparing your own dish so they can follow your example. A sheet containing Ideas for Meals and Snacks has been included. Please take some time to review your countries eating habits and typical cuisine, and be aware of dietary restrictions. If you wish, you may take your dancers to the grocery store and let them pick ingredients to teach you how to make food of their choice, upon availability.

Please try to provide a healthy, well-balanced meal for the performers to minimize digestive problems. You will provide breakfast for the performers each morning. Usually, performers will be rehearsing or traveling during lunch but will need you to provide the lunch. Many activities are held in the evening around dinner. Most nights you will meet your performer at an event and can have a family picnic dinner or order from a local restaurant.

Transportation

Transportation is often the most difficult service to provide. With different pick-up/drop off times and locations, it can be difficult to be in the right place and right time. The Summerfest team will do everything possible to make transporting dancers simple. Remind performers that seat belts are required by law for everyone riding in the car. Take time to explain your family car rules (i.e. no eating in the car, no feet on the seats, no smoking, etc.).

Performers will need to be dropped off at a specific location each morning and picked up in the late evening. There are also times where performers will need to be picked up for free time during the day.

Make sure performers know exactly what time the car needs to leave to arrive on time. Feel free to give them a ten, thirty, minute warning. Ask the other performer to help encourage promptness. If you have difficulties getting your performers out the door on time, ask the Housing Director for recommendations. The Housing Director can ask the Team Guide to discuss any problems with their Performance Director.

If performers are being bussed there is only an estimated time of pick up based on traffic, bus, performances, etc. In these instances, the Team Guide will text the Housing Coordinator 30 minutes before arrival. The Housing Coordinator will then pass that information on to all Host Families. Hopefully, this will minimize the amount of time you need to wait for performers to arrive.

Meeting Your Performers

Arrive to pick up your performers with enough time to meet the other Host Families as well as the Housing Coordinator. The Housing Coordinator is your main contact for your questions and/or concerns. The Housing Coordinator will send you reminders about pick ups and drop offs as well as help to plan the Host Family Party.

Take time to introduce yourself to the Team Guide as well. The Team Guide will take care of your performers throughout the day. Be sure to communicate with the Team Guide to understand the schedule and any concerns about your performers. Consider inviting the Team Guide to the Host Family Party or additional activities.

Once the performers have all arrived, your name will be called and your performers will come forward to meet you. Make eye contact and learn their names. Let them know that you are excited to have them in your home and that you will take care of them during Summerfest. Help them gather their luggage and take them to your home.

Breaking the Ice

Hosting performers will open your family to another culture and provide you with a sense of fulfillment from helping performers enrich their lives. At first, performers will probably be very excited but remember they may experience some culture shock due to the performance schedule, the challenge of communicating in a new language, a time change, and unfamiliar surroundings. You can help your performers feel at home by treating them as members of your family, asking them questions about their culture, and helping them learn your language. To help performers relax in their new situation, you can do the following things:

- - - Show performers around the house, pointing out important things, such as the bathroom, their bedroom, and the kitchen.
      - Help performers feel at home by pointing out where the snacks are located so that if they are hungry, they know where the food is.
      - Introduce performers to family members. Be sure to tell performers what to call you. Often, performers will refer to their Host Families as Mom/Dad.

- - - Explain the rules of the house.

At the very beginning, go over basic rules of the house. Not because performers are likely to be wild, but because there is a lot of new things being thrown at them, and it helps not to have to guess how things are done. If there is a language barrier, try using sign language or pictures to communicate with your performers. Some examples are listed below:

“You’re sharing a bathroom with two other people, so please limit your showers to less than 10 minutes.”

“When riding in the car, always wear your seatbelt.”

“We need to leave 15 minutes early so we can drop you off on time.”

“Please do not smoke in the house”

- - - Help performers feel at home by letting them use the Internet or television.

Help performers log on to the wifi network. If they do not have a smartphone, consider allowing them to use a computer for email or Skype. Show them how to use the television and let them watch a program or movie they are familiar with.

- - - Learn about performers by asking about their families or favorite foods.

Ask performers if they have pictures of their families. Take time to look at these closely and ask questions about the people and activities that are important to them. Learning about their favorite foods or what they typically eat will help you know what you can feed them while they are visiting.

- - - Plan interesting activities.

Part of the reason performers choose to participate in Summerfest is to learn how people live their daily lives. Doing everyday things with your performers will help them feel more at home rather than feeling like a tourist. Take them to the dollar store or to pick up groceries. Walk around with them for a while to make sure they are comfortable and then give them some time to wander around on their own. Be sure to set up a specific time and place to meet before you separate. Take time to review the Country Recommendation packet for ideas specific to your country. Feel free to contact other host families to share/exchange ideas or to plan activities together.

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