Connections
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
E X E T E R PA R E N T S A N D A L U M N I O P E N T H E I R H O M E S T O I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D E N T S
Doors to Different Cultures
Ed Payne and Tennille Hervieux flanked by some of their Exeter daughters: “Jackie” Kim, Zoey Payne and Ho Shu “Natalie” Ser.
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The Exeter Bulletin
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hen Issay Matsumoto, a prep from Belmont, Massachusetts, invited his friend and cross-country teammate Jiro Mizuno to spend Thanksgiving with his family instead of traveling home to Japan for the short break, Issay’s parents were happy to comply. Says Issay’s father, Fumi Matsumoto ’85, “I was an international student at Exeter myself.” He arrived in New Hampshire as a midyear junior and remembers spending his first American Thanksgiving at his dorm adviser’s home in Maine. “I had never been away from home. To find myself in a new country, in the middle of my junior year . . . it was difficult for me. My wife, Kako, came from Japan for grad school in Boston. She also understands it can be difficult for international students, especially the first year.” They opened their home to Jiro, took him skiing in Vermont and did their best to make him feel at home. “I told Jiro, ‘We’re not a typical Japanese family, but we are probably not really a typical American family, either.’” S UMMER 2014
The Matsumotos are among a growing number of families with ties to Exeter who volunteer their time and open their homes to international students during the academic year.The Academy’s Office of Multicultural Affairs runs a program to match students with hosts: current parents, alumni and Academy employees. Sometimes a stay is short, as when travel plans do not sync with dorm opening and closing schedules. But when distance and travel costs are too much to cover, students will be paired with families who can provide a home for the whole time school is not in session.When students make the arrangements themselves, the international student coordinator tries to coordinate family introductions and provide contact information for both sets of parents or guardians. No matter how it starts, the hosted arrangements often spark lasting relationships based on cultural exchange and support. “Theo was the first one to come home,” says Amy Meyers P’11, as she recalls the roster of Exeter students