Life@Kaplan: Interview with the best Kaplan host family in Australia

Earlier this year, we asked our students to tell us why their Kaplan host family was the best. Our Australian winner was host mother Wendy Bleekemolen, who lives in Sydney, and hosts students from our Sydney City and Sydney Manly English schools.

We spoke to Wendy and asked her why she loved hosting Kaplan students and what it meant for her to win the prize.

"I was completely surprised that Cristina, my Venezuelan student, entered me for the Best Kaplan Host Family competition. I was absolutely thrilled to have won!

Wendy and Christina
Wendy and Christina

I have hosted over 100 students and have enjoyed 99.9% of them!  I have been to Germany and Italy to stay with some of my students and was treated like a queen. It was a wonderful experience to meet their families, too. My students are my family and are treated as such in my house. I have always said that it is Homestay, not Housestay or Hotelstay, and I try to give them an interesting experience of life in Sydney for the short time they are with me.

Wendy likes cooking for her students
Wendy likes cooking for her students

I thoroughly enjoy having students live in my house, and we have lots of fun, from trips out to the cinema, to birthday parties on the beach. We once did a Masterchef cook-off between students - my kitchen was in complete uproar for a whole day! I also help the students with their homework , which I have to admit I do not always get 10/10 on!

The different flags from all of Wendy's past students. So many countries!
The different flags from all of Wendy's past students. 

I'd like to say a really huge thank you to Kaplan for organizing such a fun competition and most importantly thank you for choosing Cristina and I to be the winners. She has been with me since January, and we have had a lot of laughs along the way. It is going to be a very sad when she leaves. I have a few 'daughters' around the world and she is definitely destined to be my Venezuelan daughter."

Find out more about living in a Kaplan International homestay by reading what students in the USA and the UK had to say about their host families. If you would like more information about studying English with Kaplan, send us a note!

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