March 11, 2025 • 33 mins
We're diving deep into the transformative power of cultural exchange, as our guest, Emerald Johnson from the Iowa Resource for International Service, shares her insights on what it means to welcome someone from across the globe into your home.
Discover how hosting fosters unforgettable connections, bringing families together through shared experiences. You'll hear heartwarming stories about students experiencing their first snowfall or traditional Midwest community events, showcasing the bond formed between locals and exchange students. These interactions do more than illuminate cultural differences; they create lasting friendships that transcend borders.
Emerald discusses the incredible impact these programs have on both the students and the communities they visit, opening minds to new possibilities and fostering understanding in an increasingly connected world. If you've ever considered becoming a host family or simply want to learn more about cultural diplomacy, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration.
Ready to broaden your worldview and create lasting memories? Tune in and embrace the enriching adventure of hosting an international student! Don’t forget to subscribe, share your thoughts, and consider joining the vibrant community of host families.
IRIS: https://www.iris-center.org/
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emerald Johnson (00:00):
It makes me much more engaged in the
community as a single person.
If I have a kid who's neverseen cold weather or snow, I
even take them sledding.
I haven't.
I would not personally.
I'm old enough to be done withsledding.
But when I have teenagers I gosledding, you know, because
they've never done it in theirlife.
(00:20):
And if you ever see a toddlerwith snow for the first time,
how fun and cute that is.
Imagine a 17-year-old who'snever seen snow.
It is a whole nother level.
Intro (00:33):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Katrina Keuning (00:55):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I am, Katrina,your host, and I'm so excited to
be talking with Emerald Johnsontoday.
She is the Programs Manager andLead Coordinator with IRIS.
So, Emerald, would you pleasefirst of all just tell us what
is IRIS and what does that feedinto how your life plays out day
to day?
Emerald Johnson (01:16):
IRIS is Iowa Resource for International
Service.
We are a non-religiousnonprofit and we are based in
Iowa.
We facilitate internationalexchanges and some of them are
students and some of them areadults, like professional groups
, entrepreneurs, things likethat, sometimes journalists from
across the world who come intoDes Moines and do short-term
(01:37):
programs.
I'm in charge of youth programs.
We work with high schoolstudents.
They are from the YES programof the State Department and they
come in every August andthey're here until June.
We are busy.
If I'm hosting, I have them inmy home and I'm doing all the
parenting.
But if I'm not hosting, likethis year, I'm still a
(01:58):
coordinator and I do check-ins,mentoring of the families and
the kids to make sure if theyneed a little help adjusting to
each other, I'm here to helpthat and keep up with what
they're doing in school,cheering them on at the
accomplishments they have or thethings they're trying, and help
(02:18):
them overcome their smalldisappointments when things
don't go the way they thought itwould Maybe.
Friendships are hard to, youknow, establish.
And then we do orientationsthree times a year for goal
setting, growth topics,processing where you are in the
year and just you know,generally growing as humans,
(02:38):
because this is.
It's such a formative time oflife and when you change your
environment, you just you growin surprising ways.
So that's sort of what I buildmy year around.
Katrina Keuning (02:48):
There's, there's a lot, yeah, and those
formative years is a lot ofchanging.
So it's almost like a high risk, high reward, like you might
have, you might have a bad dayor whatever, but like what
you're getting out of itlong-term is so worth it and
you've got a lot of experiencebecause you've been hosting
since what?
2012?
(03:08):
.
Emerald Johnson (03:08):
Yeah, I've hosted 17 exchange daughters
since 2012.
Katrina Keuning (03:13):
Okay, so, okay.
So 17 exchange daughters since2012 and they're coming from all
over the world.
Like can you spout out a fewplaces they're from?
Emerald Johnson (03:24):
Yeah, through the YES program I've hosted from
Saudi Arabia, pakistan, egypt,thailand, ghana, philippines,
tunisia, israel, and thenBangladesh, albania, and then
I'd hosted again fromPhilippines and Pakistan, and
(03:44):
then I'd host it again fromPhilippines and Pakistan.
Katrina Keuning (03:48):
So like we were talking a little bit before the
podcast and you had a reallycool sentiment that kind of
clicked with me.
So like it was a little bitlike people are coming here that
have never heard of the QuadCities and in return, people
here are meeting folks fromcountries they've never heard of
.
So it's like you know, QC meetworld and world meet QC.
Emerald Johnson (04:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's especially well.
Adults, yes, but even our kids.
Our kids see the world throughInstagram.
They see the world through allthese social media apps and they
have snippets of it.
But meeting an actual personthat they can sit in their
classroom and talk to about whattheir world is like while
(04:34):
they're here, those connectionsare amazing.
I have had kids like my Albanianexchange daughter.
She came here and she was sosocial.
She actually just grabbedpeople at school and made a
friends group.
She built a friend group andshe didn't take no for an answer
.
And half of those kids are soexcited to go visit Albania and
(04:54):
they never would have done thatif they hadn't met her Like they
never would have.
These kids never would havethought let's go to Albania.
Like maybe they wouldn't haveeven thought to leave the
country.
This country is so big, so manyof us never leave this country,
but this program brings kidsfrom places and they, they form
(05:15):
these friendships.
And then people like I want togo to Pakistan, like that was
not a place on my bucket listwhen I was little.
You know these really.
It really opens our mind towhat is possible as far as
travel.
Katrina Keuning (05:27):
And then like in on the other side of the coin
, like you know, your Albaniandaughter like did she know she
was coming to the Quad Citieswhen she got into this program?
Emerald Johnson (05:36):
No, they don't get to choose their location.
Okay, so they get assigned.
When they get a family, they'retold your family lives in this
city, in this state, and so thenthey google it.
And when they google Iowa it'sall corn fields and pigs and you
know maybe a little bit aboutDes Moines, maybe a little bit
(05:57):
about the Mississippi River, ifit's finding quad city stuff,
but they they definitely don'tknow.
But once they get here they dolove it.
We had a kid at the end of theyear announced that he was going
to bring his if he got married.
When he gets married he wasgoing to honeymoon in Iowa
because this is where his familyis and this is his home and he
(06:19):
would want his future wife toreally know him and know his
family and a place that is sodear to his heart.
So those are the type ofimpacts that these exchange
programs have.
People from the other side ofthe world who have never heard
of Iowa go home and they havesuch an affinity for Iowa after
(06:39):
these programs.
Katrina Keuning (06:40):
So they, like you know, they come in pretty
much, just, you know, blindlyassigned, they don't know what
they're coming into and itsounds like they have.
You know they come in prettymuch, just, you know, blindly
assigned, they don't know whatthey're, what they're coming
into, and it sounds like theyhave.
Once they're here, they're ableto get like a warm welcome and
really, like you know, jive withthe area, thanks to you know,
host moms like you and hostfamilies across the state.
(07:00):
So you know what is that walkthrough, like, what is that
first week?
Like, you know, how do you helpsomebody who had, who had no
idea what they're in for, getlike, get comfortable?
Emerald Johnson (07:14):
It's different based on where you live, but,
like I'm in the Quad Cities, soI usually give them a Quad City
visitor's guide so they can havean idea about what kinds of
things even are available aroundhere.
So it'll have things like thefarmer's market.
We love going to the farmer'smarket actually, because it's
just such a vibrant, vibrantvibe and the kids love it, plus
(07:38):
the river and it's outside.
So we do the farmer's market.
We usually take some walksalong the river.
So we do the farmer's market.
We usually take some walksalong the river.
We might go to Wildcat Den to dosome hiking down.
Just it's just 20 minutes awayin Muscatine.
But that visitor's guide theycan look through at night that
(07:58):
way, because a lot of times kidsdon't know what to ask for,
because they don't know anythingabout what's available here.
Yes, so I give them thevisitor's guide just to give
them ideas and tell them to askme about it.
But we'll go to live at fivedowntown, sometimes alternating
currents, because I think that'susually in August.
So we, you know, we try to findlocal events and local things
to do.
Katrina Keuning (08:16):
So is it kind of a mix of, like, you know, you
kind of throwing offerings atthe wall hey, let's see what
you're into, and then hope,hoping that they're comfortable
enough or open enough to say,hey, I like sports, or, you know
, just kind of giving you alittle bit of idea to go off?
Emerald Johnson (08:32):
of yeah, a lot of times I'll make, because I've
done this a few times.
So I'll have a whole list ofwhat's available in our area on
a paper and I'll give it to themand I'll say, just check off
the things that soundinteresting.
You know, we try it once.
You don't like it, we don't doit again, Like you know, and so
that at least gives them an ideaof what they can ask me about.
So yeah, and then the firstweeks are obviously going to be
(08:53):
adjusting to the house,adjusting to where food is,
getting them ready for school,meeting their counselors you
know that kind of stuff too.
But we try to have some fun andour practical necessities.
Katrina Keuning (09:05):
Totally so.
They so they come here and theystart kind of getting used to
the home and you and the thingsthat like what is the Quad
Cities about, you know?
And then they've got theirclassroom experience.
So like how, how does that foldinto the program for them?
Emerald Johnson (09:20):
So their school here is entirely different than
school in the rest of the world.
Electives don't really happenin most places in the world.
You are set on a set coreschedule and you don't have
things like art classes, musicclasses, psychology.
It's mostly language, science,math, maybe business, maybe
(09:41):
computers, but you don't get asay in it, you just are assigned
classes and you go.
So coming here and getting toexplore things like auto shop or
welding, I had a daughter whodid welding and she just did it
as a random thing and she lovedit.
She was just.
I still have her welds up in my, my guest rooms because she
(10:02):
would come home and she'd be soexcited and I'm like what does
your family think about youbeing a welder?
And they're they think you knowshe's like.
They think I'm crazy, why is agirl welding?
Um.
But these kids get to try thingsthat they would never
culturally try, um, and usuallythe safe things like well, you
know they're not irresponsible,they're just getting out on a
(10:24):
limb.
So schools, the classes theytake here, are just mind opening
in those kind of ways.
In history class or even infoods class sometimes the
(10:50):
teachers have said they'd callon them specifically because it
would be interesting to hearfrom someone from that part of
the world.
And so, yeah, teachers havegiven my kids feedback that
they're really glad that they'rein their class this year,
because having them in aclassroom discussing their
culture or their religion ortheir foods is something that
isn't possible every day.
Katrina Keuning (11:12):
Yeah, how okay.
So like they're learning a lotand they're getting new
experiences.
But then, like you know, likewe were saying earlier, on the
other side, like you know, quadCities kids are are like also
learning from them.
Like how enriching would it beto have somebody who can speak
from that firsthand experiencein your classroom, in your
history class or whatever?
How amazing.
Emerald Johnson (11:33):
Yeah, and our kids also part of their program,
because they're here to beambassadors, like person to
person diplomacy.
That's what these programs areabout and our yes, students
especially.
They give presentations abouttheir country and culture to
their, to their schoolclassrooms, and especially
during international educationweek, but they do it all year
(11:55):
and then sometimes some of thelocal elementary schools will
have cultural um cultural days,world cultures days, and the
kids will go and talk there too.
So that brings that firsthandknowledge and the opportunity to
ask questions.
Katrina Keuning (12:17):
So our kids here get to ask questions about
what life is like in Morocco orin Egypt or Ghana, nigeria,
tanzania, south Africa, you, youknow all these places yeah, as
the, as your students you know,living in your house and like
going through the years, like doyou find that they, you know
that they're making friends andthey're bringing friends home
and they're like kind ofbranching out and doing their,
doing their thing yeah, um, mykids bring friends home
(12:41):
sometimes but they mostly go outum and do coffee with their
friends or fast food.
Emerald Johnson (12:48):
They like to go to Buffalo, Wild Wings and
actually the coffee houses.
I live near St Ambrose and mykids love coffee.
What is it over there by theAldi?
And they love the brood book.
They love to go to the broodbook on Harrison and cause they
(13:08):
have all those games and sothey'll just meet up and they'll
hang out and they'll they'llplay games and have coffee or
tea and they love that kind ofstuff.
So all these little localcoffee houses, it's it's.
There's not a lot of places forteens to just hang out, but
those are great places for them.
Katrina Keuning (13:23):
Yeah, I know what you're saying and that's
that's something that, like, Ithink as a as, like a region, a
community and like, even broader, like a destination, that's
something that I think we all,just as people who live here,
need to start helping projectthat.
Like you know, the Quad Citiesmight have this reputation from
the outside, looking in, likepeople haven't heard of it,
(13:45):
which isn't necessarily a badthing, but, like you, you and
your kids have found so manythings to do alternating
currents, farmer's market,coffee shops Like it's so cool
that you've been able to kind oftake the bull by the horns and
be like you're in the QuadCities and it's actually like a
super cool place to be.
You know, we're happy to haveyou and you're going to have a
great time.
Emerald Johnson (14:04):
Quad Cities has so many things to do.
We have so many local theaters.
Like, we go to shows all thetime.
We go to dinner theater atCirca.
Sometimes We'll go to improvshows.
Comedy sports is great.
Actually, bob's one of ourhosts this year, so he got a kid
so he brings her to doactivities with the improv.
(14:26):
He does a lot of outreach forteens too, so you can do teen
improv lessons and workshopsthere.
Yeah so, yeah, there's justthere's so many things.
Um, I live near Ambrose so mykids walk to Vanderveer and hang
out.
They have picnics in the parkand they, you know, sometimes
have misadventures trying towalk on that stupid pond.
(14:47):
I had to go get them.
Katrina Keuning (14:49):
Oh no, no kidding, yeah, I had kids fall
in that pond once.
Emerald Johnson (14:53):
Oh my gosh.
I was just like what are youdoing?
Good try yeah.
Katrina Keuning (14:58):
Yeah, I don't know if you know about this, but
, like something we do at the atVisiQuad Cities, we have a QC
coffee trail, so it's like afree mobile pass basically that
guides you through all thecoffee shops in the area.
So, as you like, go, you checkin it's.
You know, like I said, it's allfree and some coffee shops
offer, like you know, littlediscounts or incentives to come,
(15:20):
and then, as you complete thetrail, you get prizes along the
way and then just, I mean, Ithink it's a bragging point if,
like, you can say, yeah, I'vebeen to all you know 35 plus
coffee shops in the area andit's, it's something that
someone who's coming for anextended period of time that you
know they actually would beable to achieve it.
(15:41):
It's really easy for likelocals to do, because you've
basically got forever.
Emerald Johnson (15:46):
Does it have like a card where you punch off
the ones you've been to, or it'sall?
Katrina Keuning (15:50):
mobile actually .
So you just open your phone andit's a it's link-based.
There's nothing to download,which is something that you know
we've heard people like, causeI don't have space on my phone
for anything else.
So it's just the link and it'sjust a virtual check-in.
You know, you show the baristaand they punch in a code and
(16:10):
then you can, it tracks yourprogress for you.
So you don't have to rememberand you don't have to carry
anything extra around with youother than your phone.
Emerald Johnson (16:16):
So yeah, I bet the kids would love doing that.
Actually, we have a kid thisyear who is all about trying
every fast food, so she's got alittle list of every fast, like
this week they're going to goArby's, oh yes, arby's before.
So I mean her host mom is likeI have never gone to so much
fast food in my life.
Katrina Keuning (16:37):
So that's, that's one thing I wanted to ask
you.
So I mean you get socomfortable with these kids and
that you bring them into yourlife, they end up calling you
mom.
Emerald Johnson (16:44):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you get so comfortable with
these kids and that you bringthem into your life, they end up
calling you mom.
Yeah, yeah, I mean noteverybody.
I mean it depends on thedynamic.
I'd say about half of my kidscall me mom, maybe 60%, and
other ones would maybe call me Mor Emerald or whatever.
One of them started off feelinglike it was weird to call me mom
.
So she's like can I call you M?
(17:10):
And I said yeah, that's fine,Like I don't care what you call
me, it's just whatever you want.
But you, you can't call me.
Ma'am is my only rule, becauseto me it feels like ma'am means
you don't even care enough tolearn who I am.
Like that's the way I hear,ma'am.
So if you're living in my houseand I'm taking care of you and
I'm feeding you and I'm drivingyou around, the least you can do
is know my name.
But this girl called me M andall the kids in the area called
(17:34):
me M.
And then she said, well, theyall call you M too, and I think
I want something special.
And she said could I call youMa M?
And I said yeah, but it mighttake me a while to learn how to
answer to that.
That's me.
So she's still, she'll stillmessage me.
She's like Ma M, how are youdoing?
(17:54):
I love that.
Katrina Keuning (17:56):
Yeah, it's just yeah, that's awesome.
And so now, with your role atIris, so you're do you find that
you are kind of trying tovocalize what the program is and
like encouraging people tobecome a host family?
Emerald Johnson (18:12):
Definitely.
That's a huge problem,especially since COVID.
You know, increased cost ofliving it is not nothing to
support an extra mouth in yourhome.
So, yeah, we are definitelyalways looking for new families.
We need new families.
We cannot do this withoutfamilies willing to welcome a
(18:34):
student into their heart andinto their home and really treat
them like family.
They're not here as a guest,they're not.
You're not waiting on them,taking care of them all the time
.
Like you teach them how to dotheir own laundry, you teach
them how to, you know, maketheir own snacks and breakfast.
You know you're not their chef,you're not their maid.
You know just as much as anykid.
You know you're going to dosome cleaning up.
(18:55):
But yeah, we need families allthe time and half of my job is
when I drag all these kidsaround town and I'm going to
events.
I, my job is when I drag allthese kids around town and I'm
going to events.
I usually it's they're justthey're joining things I'd be
doing anyways.
If I'm going to the farmer'smarket, I may as well bring a
kid along.
If I'm going to go hiking, Imay as well bring a kid around.
You know, sometimes there'slibrary lectures If I have a kid
(19:19):
that's really interested inlearning, I will go to library
lectures Certain years.
I'll do a lot of those.
But yeah, if I'm going to liveat five, that's family friendly.
Bring some kids along.
Katrina Keuning (19:30):
Yeah, and so, like you know, bringing the
variety of, like a student froma different country, you know,
year after year into your home,you were kind of saying earlier,
it just adds a lot of vibrancyto your own, your own life
bubble.
Emerald Johnson (19:46):
It makes me get out too, because this year I
don't have kids.
If it's really cold I might notgo down to Ice Stravaganza, but
you know, if I have kids in myhouse I will definitely go to
Ice Stravaganza, even just totake a quick walk and see the
see this ice sculptures and buya snack.
You know, it makes me much moreengaged in the community as a
(20:10):
single person.
If I have a kid who's neverseen cold weather or snow, I
even take them sledding.
I haven't.
I would not personally.
I'm old enough to be done withsledding.
But when I have teenagers I gosledding, you know, because
they've never done it in theirlife.
And if you ever see a toddlerwith snow for the first time,
(20:32):
how funny, cute that is.
Imagine a 17 year old who'snever seen snow.
It is a whole nother level Like.
These kids are out, they'rejumping around, they're in their
pajamas outside making videosof the snowflakes falling.
It just makes life a lot.
It makes you appreciate things.
As an adult you don'tappreciate snow, it's just
(20:52):
shoveling, it's just cleaningyour car off.
But when you bring these kidsin who's never seen it and
they're building snowmen andthey've never touched snow or
they're on, you know, the reallydry snow.
I told my two kids.
I said, go outside, I'll comeout.
And I got to.
I'm going to put some snowpants on because I'm not crazy
like you guys.
And when I came out theycouldn't build a snowman.
(21:15):
And I was just like why?
Why are you not able to do this?
And then I paid attention.
I'm like, oh, the snow's toodry and they're like that's a
thing.
That's a thing, there'sdifferent types of snow.
So it just it just sort ofpoints out the things that we we
take for granted that peoplewould know because we grew up
with it.
So, yeah, I think having kidshere experiencing things like
(21:37):
snow One kid had never even hada rainstorm before.
She's from Aswan, egypt, andit's like the sixth driest city
in the world.
She'd never seen anything butlike a sprinkle.
And the first time we had athunderstorm she ran to the
window and she was making avideo and she said it's like a
scary movie, because that wouldalways be in a scary movie a
(22:02):
thunderstorm.
Katrina Keuning (22:03):
So oh my God, and she's the one that you took
to see a waterfall for the firsttime.
Emerald Johnson (22:07):
Yeah, yeah, we went to Starved Rock.
We don't take big trips.
I don't take them on big trips.
I take them on, you know, daytrips or maybe a weekend to
Chicago or St Louis, but there'sso much to do in and around the
Quad Cities that.
But yeah, we went up to StarvedRock and she was fascinated and
she was a photographer, thatwas her passion.
Intro (22:28):
So perfect.
Emerald Johnson (22:30):
Yeah, she took a little.
I still have it.
It's sitting up on my shelf.
But she took a little glassglobe and took pictures of the
waterfall through it and so itwas like the outside was the
right side up and then insidewas the inverted waterfall.
She took great pictures.
I have them on my walls.
You know I keep a lot of herthings that she did.
I have like little displays ofher photography on my walls.
Katrina Keuning (22:53):
So like it's cool that they have little leave
behinds for you and I know thatyou were saying that they stay
connected to like the QC oncethey leave.
Emerald Johnson (23:02):
Yeah, she's actually the same one.
We saw a musician when shefirst got here.
We went to Live at Five, Ithink, or something.
Yeah, I think it was Live atFive and somebody was playing.
And then we went out two orthree other times and her last
weekend in town we walked into aplace and she said it's my
favorite guitarist, like it's myfavorite QC artist, and I can't
(23:24):
think of who he is right now,but she still follows him on
Instagram and then every once ina while she'll send me like a
live video that he had postedand she'll be like I remember
being at that place that he hadposted and she'll be like I
remember being at that place.
And yeah, they follow the QuadCity downtown, the downtown
downtown Insta and they share meevents.
(23:45):
They're like you should go tothis mom, you should go to this,
it's like fun.
Katrina Keuning (23:50):
I wish I could go, oh just you know, facetime
them or something yeah yeah, Ido.
Emerald Johnson (23:56):
Sometimes I send them.
If I see that artist out andabout, I usually make a video
and send it to them.
Katrina Keuning (24:01):
That's awesome.
I bet they appreciate that.
Oh, that's so cool.
I love that they createfavorites while they're here,
you know, and the fact that,like it just opens, it opens the
door for them to come back,like the student that was going
to come back on his honeymoon,student that was going to come
back on his honeymoon I lovethat.
I hope that he does come backand brings more people and you
know it, just everything that,like these kids experience
(24:23):
totally speak to, like themission of Visit Quad Cities,
which is to make thisdestination a world-renowned
must experience place.
And it's cool to hear that,like when they come here, when
those students come here andthey get placed with a family
and they didn't know where Iowathat they walk away with really
amazing memories.
Emerald Johnson (24:44):
They do and they start realizing too that
some of my kids, like mydaughter, from Saudi Arabia you
can't really get a much moredifferent culture and lifestyle
than Saudi Arabia to the USculture and lifestyle than Saudi
Arabia to the US.
But when she was here she toldme I thought life would be
really different.
But it's just normal life andnormal people.
(25:06):
It's really nice, it's quiet.
She loved hiking, so we didtons of hiking.
She liked the lectures, so wewent to the libraries and stuff.
She liked things that werequieter and not really intense.
We've had kids from Bangladeshwho are from Dhaka, which is a
huge, overcrowded, huge city,and they were.
(25:27):
I had a two week program andthey were here and they loved
the Quad Cities.
They loved it.
There was plenty to do as faras like thrifting or going to
bookstores, because that's whata lot of them wanted to take
home thrifted stuff and becausethat's such a trend, yeah, but
they also just loved taking awalk and hearing the birds and
(25:50):
seeing, like, what neighborhoodsare like and we have a lot of
really good quality experienceslike that that are just simple
everyday life and these kidsreally appreciate it.
Katrina Keuning (26:01):
The fact that they have the opportunity to get
placed here, I think, is such apositive because, like the
Midwest does offer all fourseasons, you know of what you
know, coming from maybe a placethat has more extreme temps one
way or the other, and then toyou know, to be able to, like,
(26:22):
try and experience it all.
Emerald Johnson (26:24):
It's really cool that they get that chance
to do so and, yeah, yeah, thisyear we didn't have very much
snow and so our kids were sobummed they didn't, and but then
we got that snow last week Wasit last week or the week before
and they finally got out and I Isaid, get out there and make
your snowmen, get out there anddo your stuff.
And so I got lots of picturesof snowmen last week.
Katrina Keuning (26:47):
I love that.
I love that.
So, as you're, you know we kindof touched on it a little bit
ago, but you know, as you arekind of pitching to people what
in your mind describes like anideal host family, what kind of
bones does your house need tohave to have somebody in?
Emerald Johnson (27:06):
Realistically, as long as you have room in your
heart and your home and you'rewilling to welcome someone as
family, sort of train them alittle bit on how to actually
navigate the world, like how touse your stove you have to do
that from day one.
You can't treat them like aguest, you can't.
You know they need to feel likefamily.
But I'm single, single.
(27:28):
People host all the time and itwe have had multi-generational
families host.
Maybe they have great grandmaliving in the house or four kids
.
You know, as long as you haveroom in your car, that might be
a mitigating factor, but itreally can be anybody If you're
interested in mentoring ateenager and helping them grow
(27:53):
and having your kids learn aboutthe world from a really close
up view or just yourselflearning.
I have learned so many funnylittle things about life in
different places just fromhaving a kid in my home and
we'll be talking and having achat and then all of a sudden
we'll get onto a topic I neverwould have thought to talk about
with a random person that Ijust met and I'm just like, wow,
(28:17):
I had no idea.
So I mean, anybody can host.
We do background checks,obviously, reference checks,
obviously.
And then we have a coordinatorwho just is your go-to mentor
for the family and the kid tohelp you through the year and.
I did.
I've called my coordinator inand I've said I need help
(28:37):
understanding each other becauseI'm living with a stranger not
everybody.
When you first start hostingand have a person who you don't
know living in your space, justlike with a roommate, really at
first you're not going tounderstand each other and there
might be misunderstandings,there might be some, some
friction.
(28:58):
So I would call my, I'd call mycoordinator and I say, hey, we
need to sit down and talk andyou help us listen to each other
, and then communication almostalways solves the problem.
Once you give people thebenefit of the doubt and you
communicate literally andunderstand each other, almost
everything works itself out.
Katrina Keuning (29:17):
If someone listening has perked up and this
sounds interesting, what's stepnumber one to considering
becoming a host family?
Emerald Johnson (29:26):
You can check out our website.
You can message me.
I think my link, my info, willbe probably on the podcast.
Katrina Keuning (29:32):
Yes, I will.
I will commit in thedescription here whatever links
you throw out or websites you'rementioning now.
I will make sure that it'slisted there.
So find the description and youwill find it.
Emerald Johnson (29:45):
Yeah, you do it .
Just reach out, ask yourquestions.
I can talk about what hostingis.
I would ask you know I couldtalk to a person about what
their lifestyle is.
A lot of people think you'retoo busy, but most of our kids
want to go and do stuff.
So as long as the things youare busy with more often than
not you can bring a person with,it, can really work Some kids.
(30:10):
If you're a homebody, we couldfind you a homebody kid who
likes puzzles and board nightsand movie nights and you know,
whatever there's.
Every.
Just every person wantsdifferent things and we are
really good at matchmaking.
Usually I try to match peoplebased on like if you pick a
country, that's not always thebest way to go, but if you match
(30:33):
by hobbies and interest, youhave things to bond over.
So, like, I like to cook.
So if I have a kid who enjoysfood, blogs and likes to cook or
is curious to cook, that givesus a space to get to know each
other.
That sort of gets rid of theawkwardness.
So I would definitely talk to afamily, find out what their
(30:54):
interests are.
Find out what their interestsare.
Find out what their hobbies are.
Their general schedules?
Are their work schedules even?
And then troubleshoot like howfar do you live from the school?
What kind of options are therefor getting to and from school?
I send my kids on the city busbecause in Davenport, which is
really nice the city bus ifyou're in school is free, so
(31:16):
that solves the problem ofgetting kids to school.
Katrina Keuning (31:18):
Yeah, and it's just another like cultural
experience that they get to have.
Yeah.
Emerald Johnson (31:23):
It teaches them independent life skills and
that's a big part of what anexchange year is all about Like.
It teaches them how to step upand take on chores, contribute
to a household and showappreciation to their family
contribute to a household andshow appreciation to their
family.
Katrina Keuning (31:41):
This is so awesome.
So, per tradition on thispodcast, I'm going to have you
fill in the blank QC.
That's where the world comestogether.
I love that so much and I thinkeverything that you spoke to
just absolutely resonates withthat statement.
So I'm so excited for people tohear this and, like I said,
I'll link all of the tools inthis description of this podcast
(32:06):
and Emerald.
Thank you so much.
This was super enlightening andreally fun.
Emerald Johnson (32:11):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too.
Thanks for having me, and Ihope maybe one day you'll host
an exchange student.
Katrina Keuning (32:16):
Ooh, maybe I will.
That's a great idea, it's a lotof fun.
Yeah, it sounds like fun.
I love how I love the memoriesand how you said like you come
away with just like moments oflaughter and experiences that
you, like, wouldn't havenormally had otherwise.
Emerald Johnson (32:33):
Yeah, and even when I go to places in the Quad
Cities it triggers memories ofhaving a certain kid in that
spot.
So there's like little hiddentriggers all over the Quad
Cities that remind me of my kids.
Katrina Keuning (32:46):
Yeah, I love that Well, thank you so much
again.
I really appreciate it.
Emerald Johnson (32:50):
All right, thank you, have a great day.
Intro (32:52):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities, Thank you.
Message and data rates mayapply.
It makes me much more engaged in the
community as a single person.
If I have a kid who's neverseen cold weather or snow, I
even take them sledding.
I haven't.
I would not personally.
I'm old enough to be done withsledding.
But when I have teenagers I gosledding, you know, because
they've never done it in theirlife.
(00:20):
And if you ever see a toddlerwith snow for the first time,
how fun and cute that is.
Imagine a 17-year-old who'snever seen snow.
It is a whole nother level.
Intro (00:33):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Katrina Keuning (00:55):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I am, Katrina,your host, and I'm so excited to
be talking with Emerald Johnsontoday.
She is the Programs Manager andLead Coordinator with IRIS.
So, Emerald, would you pleasefirst of all just tell us what
is IRIS and what does that feedinto how your life plays out day
to day?
Emerald Johnson (01:16):
IRIS is Iowa Resource for International
Service.
We are a non-religiousnonprofit and we are based in
Iowa.
We facilitate internationalexchanges and some of them are
students and some of them areadults, like professional groups
, entrepreneurs, things likethat, sometimes journalists from
across the world who come intoDes Moines and do short-term
(01:37):
programs.
I'm in charge of youth programs.
We work with high schoolstudents.
They are from the YES programof the State Department and they
come in every August andthey're here until June.
We are busy.
If I'm hosting, I have them inmy home and I'm doing all the
parenting.
But if I'm not hosting, likethis year, I'm still a
(01:58):
coordinator and I do check-ins,mentoring of the families and
the kids to make sure if theyneed a little help adjusting to
each other, I'm here to helpthat and keep up with what
they're doing in school,cheering them on at the
accomplishments they have or thethings they're trying, and help
(02:18):
them overcome their smalldisappointments when things
don't go the way they thought itwould Maybe.
Friendships are hard to, youknow, establish.
And then we do orientationsthree times a year for goal
setting, growth topics,processing where you are in the
year and just you know,generally growing as humans,
(02:38):
because this is.
It's such a formative time oflife and when you change your
environment, you just you growin surprising ways.
So that's sort of what I buildmy year around.
Katrina Keuning (02:48):
There's, there's a lot, yeah, and those
formative years is a lot ofchanging.
So it's almost like a high risk, high reward, like you might
have, you might have a bad dayor whatever, but like what
you're getting out of itlong-term is so worth it and
you've got a lot of experiencebecause you've been hosting
since what?
2012?
(03:08):
.
Emerald Johnson (03:08):
Yeah, I've hosted 17 exchange daughters
since 2012.
Katrina Keuning (03:13):
Okay, so, okay.
So 17 exchange daughters since2012 and they're coming from all
over the world.
Like can you spout out a fewplaces they're from?
Emerald Johnson (03:24):
Yeah, through the YES program I've hosted from
Saudi Arabia, pakistan, egypt,thailand, ghana, philippines,
tunisia, israel, and thenBangladesh, albania, and then
I'd hosted again fromPhilippines and Pakistan, and
(03:44):
then I'd host it again fromPhilippines and Pakistan.
Katrina Keuning (03:48):
So like we were talking a little bit before the
podcast and you had a reallycool sentiment that kind of
clicked with me.
So like it was a little bitlike people are coming here that
have never heard of the QuadCities and in return, people
here are meeting folks fromcountries they've never heard of
.
So it's like you know, QC meetworld and world meet QC.
Emerald Johnson (04:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's especially well.
Adults, yes, but even our kids.
Our kids see the world throughInstagram.
They see the world through allthese social media apps and they
have snippets of it.
But meeting an actual personthat they can sit in their
classroom and talk to about whattheir world is like while
(04:34):
they're here, those connectionsare amazing.
I have had kids like my Albanianexchange daughter.
She came here and she was sosocial.
She actually just grabbedpeople at school and made a
friends group.
She built a friend group andshe didn't take no for an answer
.
And half of those kids are soexcited to go visit Albania and
(04:54):
they never would have done thatif they hadn't met her Like they
never would have.
These kids never would havethought let's go to Albania.
Like maybe they wouldn't haveeven thought to leave the
country.
This country is so big, so manyof us never leave this country,
but this program brings kidsfrom places and they, they form
(05:15):
these friendships.
And then people like I want togo to Pakistan, like that was
not a place on my bucket listwhen I was little.
You know these really.
It really opens our mind towhat is possible as far as
travel.
Katrina Keuning (05:27):
And then like in on the other side of the coin
, like you know, your Albaniandaughter like did she know she
was coming to the Quad Citieswhen she got into this program?
Emerald Johnson (05:36):
No, they don't get to choose their location.
Okay, so they get assigned.
When they get a family, they'retold your family lives in this
city, in this state, and so thenthey google it.
And when they google Iowa it'sall corn fields and pigs and you
know maybe a little bit aboutDes Moines, maybe a little bit
(05:57):
about the Mississippi River, ifit's finding quad city stuff,
but they they definitely don'tknow.
But once they get here they dolove it.
We had a kid at the end of theyear announced that he was going
to bring his if he got married.
When he gets married he wasgoing to honeymoon in Iowa
because this is where his familyis and this is his home and he
(06:19):
would want his future wife toreally know him and know his
family and a place that is sodear to his heart.
So those are the type ofimpacts that these exchange
programs have.
People from the other side ofthe world who have never heard
of Iowa go home and they havesuch an affinity for Iowa after
(06:39):
these programs.
Katrina Keuning (06:40):
So they, like you know, they come in pretty
much, just, you know, blindlyassigned, they don't know what
they're coming into and itsounds like they have.
You know they come in prettymuch, just, you know, blindly
assigned, they don't know whatthey're, what they're coming
into, and it sounds like theyhave.
Once they're here, they're ableto get like a warm welcome and
really, like you know, jive withthe area, thanks to you know,
host moms like you and hostfamilies across the state.
(07:00):
So you know what is that walkthrough, like, what is that
first week?
Like, you know, how do you helpsomebody who had, who had no
idea what they're in for, getlike, get comfortable?
Emerald Johnson (07:14):
It's different based on where you live, but,
like I'm in the Quad Cities, soI usually give them a Quad City
visitor's guide so they can havean idea about what kinds of
things even are available aroundhere.
So it'll have things like thefarmer's market.
We love going to the farmer'smarket actually, because it's
just such a vibrant, vibrantvibe and the kids love it, plus
(07:38):
the river and it's outside.
So we do the farmer's market.
We usually take some walksalong the river.
So we do the farmer's market.
We usually take some walksalong the river.
We might go to Wildcat Den to dosome hiking down.
Just it's just 20 minutes awayin Muscatine.
But that visitor's guide theycan look through at night that
(07:58):
way, because a lot of times kidsdon't know what to ask for,
because they don't know anythingabout what's available here.
Yes, so I give them thevisitor's guide just to give
them ideas and tell them to askme about it.
But we'll go to live at fivedowntown, sometimes alternating
currents, because I think that'susually in August.
So we, you know, we try to findlocal events and local things
to do.
Katrina Keuning (08:16):
So is it kind of a mix of, like, you know, you
kind of throwing offerings atthe wall hey, let's see what
you're into, and then hope,hoping that they're comfortable
enough or open enough to say,hey, I like sports, or, you know
, just kind of giving you alittle bit of idea to go off?
Emerald Johnson (08:32):
of yeah, a lot of times I'll make, because I've
done this a few times.
So I'll have a whole list ofwhat's available in our area on
a paper and I'll give it to themand I'll say, just check off
the things that soundinteresting.
You know, we try it once.
You don't like it, we don't doit again, Like you know, and so
that at least gives them an ideaof what they can ask me about.
So yeah, and then the firstweeks are obviously going to be
(08:53):
adjusting to the house,adjusting to where food is,
getting them ready for school,meeting their counselors you
know that kind of stuff too.
But we try to have some fun andour practical necessities.
Katrina Keuning (09:05):
Totally so.
They so they come here and theystart kind of getting used to
the home and you and the thingsthat like what is the Quad
Cities about, you know?
And then they've got theirclassroom experience.
So like how, how does that foldinto the program for them?
Emerald Johnson (09:20):
So their school here is entirely different than
school in the rest of the world.
Electives don't really happenin most places in the world.
You are set on a set coreschedule and you don't have
things like art classes, musicclasses, psychology.
It's mostly language, science,math, maybe business, maybe
(09:41):
computers, but you don't get asay in it, you just are assigned
classes and you go.
So coming here and getting toexplore things like auto shop or
welding, I had a daughter whodid welding and she just did it
as a random thing and she lovedit.
She was just.
I still have her welds up in my, my guest rooms because she
(10:02):
would come home and she'd be soexcited and I'm like what does
your family think about youbeing a welder?
And they're they think you knowshe's like.
They think I'm crazy, why is agirl welding?
Um.
But these kids get to try thingsthat they would never
culturally try, um, and usuallythe safe things like well, you
know they're not irresponsible,they're just getting out on a
(10:24):
limb.
So schools, the classes theytake here, are just mind opening
in those kind of ways.
In history class or even infoods class sometimes the
(10:50):
teachers have said they'd callon them specifically because it
would be interesting to hearfrom someone from that part of
the world.
And so, yeah, teachers havegiven my kids feedback that
they're really glad that they'rein their class this year,
because having them in aclassroom discussing their
culture or their religion ortheir foods is something that
isn't possible every day.
Katrina Keuning (11:12):
Yeah, how okay.
So like they're learning a lotand they're getting new
experiences.
But then, like you know, likewe were saying earlier, on the
other side, like you know, quadCities kids are are like also
learning from them.
Like how enriching would it beto have somebody who can speak
from that firsthand experiencein your classroom, in your
history class or whatever?
How amazing.
Emerald Johnson (11:33):
Yeah, and our kids also part of their program,
because they're here to beambassadors, like person to
person diplomacy.
That's what these programs areabout and our yes, students
especially.
They give presentations abouttheir country and culture to
their, to their schoolclassrooms, and especially
during international educationweek, but they do it all year
(11:55):
and then sometimes some of thelocal elementary schools will
have cultural um cultural days,world cultures days, and the
kids will go and talk there too.
So that brings that firsthandknowledge and the opportunity to
ask questions.
Katrina Keuning (12:17):
So our kids here get to ask questions about
what life is like in Morocco orin Egypt or Ghana, nigeria,
tanzania, south Africa, you, youknow all these places yeah, as
the, as your students you know,living in your house and like
going through the years, like doyou find that they, you know
that they're making friends andthey're bringing friends home
and they're like kind ofbranching out and doing their,
doing their thing yeah, um, mykids bring friends home
(12:41):
sometimes but they mostly go outum and do coffee with their
friends or fast food.
Emerald Johnson (12:48):
They like to go to Buffalo, Wild Wings and
actually the coffee houses.
I live near St Ambrose and mykids love coffee.
What is it over there by theAldi?
And they love the brood book.
They love to go to the broodbook on Harrison and cause they
(13:08):
have all those games and sothey'll just meet up and they'll
hang out and they'll they'llplay games and have coffee or
tea and they love that kind ofstuff.
So all these little localcoffee houses, it's it's.
There's not a lot of places forteens to just hang out, but
those are great places for them.
Katrina Keuning (13:23):
Yeah, I know what you're saying and that's
that's something that, like, Ithink as a as, like a region, a
community and like, even broader, like a destination, that's
something that I think we all,just as people who live here,
need to start helping projectthat.
Like you know, the Quad Citiesmight have this reputation from
the outside, looking in, likepeople haven't heard of it,
(13:45):
which isn't necessarily a badthing, but, like you, you and
your kids have found so manythings to do alternating
currents, farmer's market,coffee shops Like it's so cool
that you've been able to kind oftake the bull by the horns and
be like you're in the QuadCities and it's actually like a
super cool place to be.
You know, we're happy to haveyou and you're going to have a
great time.
Emerald Johnson (14:04):
Quad Cities has so many things to do.
We have so many local theaters.
Like, we go to shows all thetime.
We go to dinner theater atCirca.
Sometimes We'll go to improvshows.
Comedy sports is great.
Actually, bob's one of ourhosts this year, so he got a kid
so he brings her to doactivities with the improv.
(14:26):
He does a lot of outreach forteens too, so you can do teen
improv lessons and workshopsthere.
Yeah so, yeah, there's justthere's so many things.
Um, I live near Ambrose so mykids walk to Vanderveer and hang
out.
They have picnics in the parkand they, you know, sometimes
have misadventures trying towalk on that stupid pond.
(14:47):
I had to go get them.
Katrina Keuning (14:49):
Oh no, no kidding, yeah, I had kids fall
in that pond once.
Emerald Johnson (14:53):
Oh my gosh.
I was just like what are youdoing?
Good try yeah.
Katrina Keuning (14:58):
Yeah, I don't know if you know about this, but
, like something we do at the atVisiQuad Cities, we have a QC
coffee trail, so it's like afree mobile pass basically that
guides you through all thecoffee shops in the area.
So, as you like, go, you checkin it's.
You know, like I said, it's allfree and some coffee shops
offer, like you know, littlediscounts or incentives to come,
(15:20):
and then, as you complete thetrail, you get prizes along the
way and then just, I mean, Ithink it's a bragging point if,
like, you can say, yeah, I'vebeen to all you know 35 plus
coffee shops in the area andit's, it's something that
someone who's coming for anextended period of time that you
know they actually would beable to achieve it.
(15:41):
It's really easy for likelocals to do, because you've
basically got forever.
Emerald Johnson (15:46):
Does it have like a card where you punch off
the ones you've been to, or it'sall?
Katrina Keuning (15:50):
mobile actually .
So you just open your phone andit's a it's link-based.
There's nothing to download,which is something that you know
we've heard people like, causeI don't have space on my phone
for anything else.
So it's just the link and it'sjust a virtual check-in.
You know, you show the baristaand they punch in a code and
(16:10):
then you can, it tracks yourprogress for you.
So you don't have to rememberand you don't have to carry
anything extra around with youother than your phone.
Emerald Johnson (16:16):
So yeah, I bet the kids would love doing that.
Actually, we have a kid thisyear who is all about trying
every fast food, so she's got alittle list of every fast, like
this week they're going to goArby's, oh yes, arby's before.
So I mean her host mom is likeI have never gone to so much
fast food in my life.
Katrina Keuning (16:37):
So that's, that's one thing I wanted to ask
you.
So I mean you get socomfortable with these kids and
that you bring them into yourlife, they end up calling you
mom.
Emerald Johnson (16:44):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you get so comfortable with
these kids and that you bringthem into your life, they end up
calling you mom.
Yeah, yeah, I mean noteverybody.
I mean it depends on thedynamic.
I'd say about half of my kidscall me mom, maybe 60%, and
other ones would maybe call me Mor Emerald or whatever.
One of them started off feelinglike it was weird to call me mom
.
So she's like can I call you M?
(17:10):
And I said yeah, that's fine,Like I don't care what you call
me, it's just whatever you want.
But you, you can't call me.
Ma'am is my only rule, becauseto me it feels like ma'am means
you don't even care enough tolearn who I am.
Like that's the way I hear,ma'am.
So if you're living in my houseand I'm taking care of you and
I'm feeding you and I'm drivingyou around, the least you can do
is know my name.
But this girl called me M andall the kids in the area called
(17:34):
me M.
And then she said, well, theyall call you M too, and I think
I want something special.
And she said could I call youMa M?
And I said yeah, but it mighttake me a while to learn how to
answer to that.
That's me.
So she's still, she'll stillmessage me.
She's like Ma M, how are youdoing?
(17:54):
I love that.
Katrina Keuning (17:56):
Yeah, it's just yeah, that's awesome.
And so now, with your role atIris, so you're do you find that
you are kind of trying tovocalize what the program is and
like encouraging people tobecome a host family?
Emerald Johnson (18:12):
Definitely.
That's a huge problem,especially since COVID.
You know, increased cost ofliving it is not nothing to
support an extra mouth in yourhome.
So, yeah, we are definitelyalways looking for new families.
We need new families.
We cannot do this withoutfamilies willing to welcome a
(18:34):
student into their heart andinto their home and really treat
them like family.
They're not here as a guest,they're not.
You're not waiting on them,taking care of them all the time
.
Like you teach them how to dotheir own laundry, you teach
them how to, you know, maketheir own snacks and breakfast.
You know you're not their chef,you're not their maid.
You know just as much as anykid.
You know you're going to dosome cleaning up.
(18:55):
But yeah, we need families allthe time and half of my job is
when I drag all these kidsaround town and I'm going to
events.
I, my job is when I drag allthese kids around town and I'm
going to events.
I usually it's they're justthey're joining things I'd be
doing anyways.
If I'm going to the farmer'smarket, I may as well bring a
kid along.
If I'm going to go hiking, Imay as well bring a kid around.
You know, sometimes there'slibrary lectures If I have a kid
(19:19):
that's really interested inlearning, I will go to library
lectures Certain years.
I'll do a lot of those.
But yeah, if I'm going to liveat five, that's family friendly.
Bring some kids along.
Katrina Keuning (19:30):
Yeah, and so, like you know, bringing the
variety of, like a student froma different country, you know,
year after year into your home,you were kind of saying earlier,
it just adds a lot of vibrancyto your own, your own life
bubble.
Emerald Johnson (19:46):
It makes me get out too, because this year I
don't have kids.
If it's really cold I might notgo down to Ice Stravaganza, but
you know, if I have kids in myhouse I will definitely go to
Ice Stravaganza, even just totake a quick walk and see the
see this ice sculptures and buya snack.
You know, it makes me much moreengaged in the community as a
(20:10):
single person.
If I have a kid who's neverseen cold weather or snow, I
even take them sledding.
I haven't.
I would not personally.
I'm old enough to be done withsledding.
But when I have teenagers I gosledding, you know, because
they've never done it in theirlife.
And if you ever see a toddlerwith snow for the first time,
(20:32):
how funny, cute that is.
Imagine a 17 year old who'snever seen snow.
It is a whole nother level Like.
These kids are out, they'rejumping around, they're in their
pajamas outside making videosof the snowflakes falling.
It just makes life a lot.
It makes you appreciate things.
As an adult you don'tappreciate snow, it's just
(20:52):
shoveling, it's just cleaningyour car off.
But when you bring these kidsin who's never seen it and
they're building snowmen andthey've never touched snow or
they're on, you know, the reallydry snow.
I told my two kids.
I said, go outside, I'll comeout.
And I got to.
I'm going to put some snowpants on because I'm not crazy
like you guys.
And when I came out theycouldn't build a snowman.
(21:15):
And I was just like why?
Why are you not able to do this?
And then I paid attention.
I'm like, oh, the snow's toodry and they're like that's a
thing.
That's a thing, there'sdifferent types of snow.
So it just it just sort ofpoints out the things that we we
take for granted that peoplewould know because we grew up
with it.
So, yeah, I think having kidshere experiencing things like
(21:37):
snow One kid had never even hada rainstorm before.
She's from Aswan, egypt, andit's like the sixth driest city
in the world.
She'd never seen anything butlike a sprinkle.
And the first time we had athunderstorm she ran to the
window and she was making avideo and she said it's like a
scary movie, because that wouldalways be in a scary movie a
(22:02):
thunderstorm.
Katrina Keuning (22:03):
So oh my God, and she's the one that you took
to see a waterfall for the firsttime.
Emerald Johnson (22:07):
Yeah, yeah, we went to Starved Rock.
We don't take big trips.
I don't take them on big trips.
I take them on, you know, daytrips or maybe a weekend to
Chicago or St Louis, but there'sso much to do in and around the
Quad Cities that.
But yeah, we went up to StarvedRock and she was fascinated and
she was a photographer, thatwas her passion.
Intro (22:28):
So perfect.
Emerald Johnson (22:30):
Yeah, she took a little.
I still have it.
It's sitting up on my shelf.
But she took a little glassglobe and took pictures of the
waterfall through it and so itwas like the outside was the
right side up and then insidewas the inverted waterfall.
She took great pictures.
I have them on my walls.
You know I keep a lot of herthings that she did.
I have like little displays ofher photography on my walls.
Katrina Keuning (22:53):
So like it's cool that they have little leave
behinds for you and I know thatyou were saying that they stay
connected to like the QC oncethey leave.
Emerald Johnson (23:02):
Yeah, she's actually the same one.
We saw a musician when shefirst got here.
We went to Live at Five, Ithink, or something.
Yeah, I think it was Live atFive and somebody was playing.
And then we went out two orthree other times and her last
weekend in town we walked into aplace and she said it's my
favorite guitarist, like it's myfavorite QC artist, and I can't
(23:24):
think of who he is right now,but she still follows him on
Instagram and then every once ina while she'll send me like a
live video that he had postedand she'll be like I remember
being at that place that he hadposted and she'll be like I
remember being at that place.
And yeah, they follow the QuadCity downtown, the downtown
downtown Insta and they share meevents.
(23:45):
They're like you should go tothis mom, you should go to this,
it's like fun.
Katrina Keuning (23:50):
I wish I could go, oh just you know, facetime
them or something yeah yeah, Ido.
Emerald Johnson (23:56):
Sometimes I send them.
If I see that artist out andabout, I usually make a video
and send it to them.
Katrina Keuning (24:01):
That's awesome.
I bet they appreciate that.
Oh, that's so cool.
I love that they createfavorites while they're here,
you know, and the fact that,like it just opens, it opens the
door for them to come back,like the student that was going
to come back on his honeymoon,student that was going to come
back on his honeymoon I lovethat.
I hope that he does come backand brings more people and you
know it, just everything that,like these kids experience
(24:23):
totally speak to, like themission of Visit Quad Cities,
which is to make thisdestination a world-renowned
must experience place.
And it's cool to hear that,like when they come here, when
those students come here andthey get placed with a family
and they didn't know where Iowathat they walk away with really
amazing memories.
Emerald Johnson (24:44):
They do and they start realizing too that
some of my kids, like mydaughter, from Saudi Arabia you
can't really get a much moredifferent culture and lifestyle
than Saudi Arabia to the USculture and lifestyle than Saudi
Arabia to the US.
But when she was here she toldme I thought life would be
really different.
But it's just normal life andnormal people.
(25:06):
It's really nice, it's quiet.
She loved hiking, so we didtons of hiking.
She liked the lectures, so wewent to the libraries and stuff.
She liked things that werequieter and not really intense.
We've had kids from Bangladeshwho are from Dhaka, which is a
huge, overcrowded, huge city,and they were.
(25:27):
I had a two week program andthey were here and they loved
the Quad Cities.
They loved it.
There was plenty to do as faras like thrifting or going to
bookstores, because that's whata lot of them wanted to take
home thrifted stuff and becausethat's such a trend, yeah, but
they also just loved taking awalk and hearing the birds and
(25:50):
seeing, like, what neighborhoodsare like and we have a lot of
really good quality experienceslike that that are just simple
everyday life and these kidsreally appreciate it.
Katrina Keuning (26:01):
The fact that they have the opportunity to get
placed here, I think, is such apositive because, like the
Midwest does offer all fourseasons, you know of what you
know, coming from maybe a placethat has more extreme temps one
way or the other, and then toyou know, to be able to, like,
(26:22):
try and experience it all.
Emerald Johnson (26:24):
It's really cool that they get that chance
to do so and, yeah, yeah, thisyear we didn't have very much
snow and so our kids were sobummed they didn't, and but then
we got that snow last week Wasit last week or the week before
and they finally got out and I Isaid, get out there and make
your snowmen, get out there anddo your stuff.
And so I got lots of picturesof snowmen last week.
Katrina Keuning (26:47):
I love that.
I love that.
So, as you're, you know we kindof touched on it a little bit
ago, but you know, as you arekind of pitching to people what
in your mind describes like anideal host family, what kind of
bones does your house need tohave to have somebody in?
Emerald Johnson (27:06):
Realistically, as long as you have room in your
heart and your home and you'rewilling to welcome someone as
family, sort of train them alittle bit on how to actually
navigate the world, like how touse your stove you have to do
that from day one.
You can't treat them like aguest, you can't.
You know they need to feel likefamily.
But I'm single, single.
(27:28):
People host all the time and itwe have had multi-generational
families host.
Maybe they have great grandmaliving in the house or four kids
.
You know, as long as you haveroom in your car, that might be
a mitigating factor, but itreally can be anybody If you're
interested in mentoring ateenager and helping them grow
(27:53):
and having your kids learn aboutthe world from a really close
up view or just yourselflearning.
I have learned so many funnylittle things about life in
different places just fromhaving a kid in my home and
we'll be talking and having achat and then all of a sudden
we'll get onto a topic I neverwould have thought to talk about
with a random person that Ijust met and I'm just like, wow,
(28:17):
I had no idea.
So I mean, anybody can host.
We do background checks,obviously, reference checks,
obviously.
And then we have a coordinatorwho just is your go-to mentor
for the family and the kid tohelp you through the year and.
I did.
I've called my coordinator inand I've said I need help
(28:37):
understanding each other becauseI'm living with a stranger not
everybody.
When you first start hostingand have a person who you don't
know living in your space, justlike with a roommate, really at
first you're not going tounderstand each other and there
might be misunderstandings,there might be some, some
friction.
(28:58):
So I would call my, I'd call mycoordinator and I say, hey, we
need to sit down and talk andyou help us listen to each other
, and then communication almostalways solves the problem.
Once you give people thebenefit of the doubt and you
communicate literally andunderstand each other, almost
everything works itself out.
Katrina Keuning (29:17):
If someone listening has perked up and this
sounds interesting, what's stepnumber one to considering
becoming a host family?
Emerald Johnson (29:26):
You can check out our website.
You can message me.
I think my link, my info, willbe probably on the podcast.
Katrina Keuning (29:32):
Yes, I will.
I will commit in thedescription here whatever links
you throw out or websites you'rementioning now.
I will make sure that it'slisted there.
So find the description and youwill find it.
Emerald Johnson (29:45):
Yeah, you do it .
Just reach out, ask yourquestions.
I can talk about what hostingis.
I would ask you know I couldtalk to a person about what
their lifestyle is.
A lot of people think you'retoo busy, but most of our kids
want to go and do stuff.
So as long as the things youare busy with more often than
not you can bring a person with,it, can really work Some kids.
(30:10):
If you're a homebody, we couldfind you a homebody kid who
likes puzzles and board nightsand movie nights and you know,
whatever there's.
Every.
Just every person wantsdifferent things and we are
really good at matchmaking.
Usually I try to match peoplebased on like if you pick a
country, that's not always thebest way to go, but if you match
(30:33):
by hobbies and interest, youhave things to bond over.
So, like, I like to cook.
So if I have a kid who enjoysfood, blogs and likes to cook or
is curious to cook, that givesus a space to get to know each
other.
That sort of gets rid of theawkwardness.
So I would definitely talk to afamily, find out what their
(30:54):
interests are.
Find out what their interestsare.
Find out what their hobbies are.
Their general schedules?
Are their work schedules even?
And then troubleshoot like howfar do you live from the school?
What kind of options are therefor getting to and from school?
I send my kids on the city busbecause in Davenport, which is
really nice the city bus ifyou're in school is free, so
(31:16):
that solves the problem ofgetting kids to school.
Katrina Keuning (31:18):
Yeah, and it's just another like cultural
experience that they get to have.
Yeah.
Emerald Johnson (31:23):
It teaches them independent life skills and
that's a big part of what anexchange year is all about Like.
It teaches them how to step upand take on chores, contribute
to a household and showappreciation to their family
contribute to a household andshow appreciation to their
family.
Katrina Keuning (31:41):
This is so awesome.
So, per tradition on thispodcast, I'm going to have you
fill in the blank QC.
That's where the world comestogether.
I love that so much and I thinkeverything that you spoke to
just absolutely resonates withthat statement.
So I'm so excited for people tohear this and, like I said,
I'll link all of the tools inthis description of this podcast
(32:06):
and Emerald.
Thank you so much.
This was super enlightening andreally fun.
Emerald Johnson (32:11):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too.
Thanks for having me, and Ihope maybe one day you'll host
an exchange student.
Katrina Keuning (32:16):
Ooh, maybe I will.
That's a great idea, it's a lotof fun.
Yeah, it sounds like fun.
I love how I love the memoriesand how you said like you come
away with just like moments oflaughter and experiences that
you, like, wouldn't havenormally had otherwise.
Emerald Johnson (32:33):
Yeah, and even when I go to places in the Quad
Cities it triggers memories ofhaving a certain kid in that
spot.
So there's like little hiddentriggers all over the Quad
Cities that remind me of my kids.
Katrina Keuning (32:46):
Yeah, I love that Well, thank you so much
again.
I really appreciate it.
Emerald Johnson (32:50):
All right, thank you, have a great day.
Intro (32:52):
Thanks for listening to QC.
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