I have just been told I have to foster a child

[Crackle]

You might find he actually annexes the next-door garden for you; also, don't let hime place his towel on the kitchen chair, or you'll ahve to stand up to eat your brekky....

Oh dear, the Stan Baldwin comedy routine. You forgot the 'dey bombed owr chippy' line

Mind you Baldwin's been superseded by Al Murray, also a tosser.

Sorry Fnaar, the German jokes get a bit wearing sometimes Ignore me, it's just me, probably make others laugh

 

[Fnaar]

Sorry Fnaar, the German jokes get a bit wearing sometimes Ignore me, it's just me, probably make others laugh

Apols, I was getting carried away...

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

There is no such requirement in Germany for the other kids parents.
...

Certainly not! The only requirement for housing non Germans is that the kennel is cleaned once a month.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I have to say that the only thing I dislike about Germany is their football team

 

[Yellow Fang]

I must admit, the idea of being sent to live with another family for two months would have filled me we dread at 14, even more so with it being in a foreign country where I didn't speak the lingo very well.

 

[Maz]

I must admit, the idea of being sent to live with another family for two months would have filled me we dread at 14, even more so with it being in a foreign country where I didn't speak the lingo very well.

Same here. At that age, I think the first call back home to mum and dad would end up with me blubbering away, begging them to come and take me home.

(so be prepared, BTFB...)

 

[Will1985]

This makes me furious - I have spent many months on exhange visits in the past 13 years (first aged 10 to Italy for a month) and the parents reciprocated it by taking in a foreign student, not just for me but also my sisters and their exhanges. IMO an educational visit/exchange does not have anything to do with the pen pushers who fill up various governmental organisations supposedly looking after the welfare of subjects.

What are Europeans going to think of us when they find out all the bureaucracy that an English family has to go through to house their child on a school visit? It is absolute madness and a waste of time.

We (as a nation) will never be looked upon as equals or with as much respect as other European nations because of this, and I have to say that most Europeans I have met on my travels have a common impression of Brits already which is pretty negative and is sadly dawning on me that some things are true.

I can see that perhaps the parents might be happy to know that their child is in non-criminal hands, but at the same time you hold this concern of why the checks are being done in the first place.

 

[John the Monkey]

Best foster more than one...Many Hans make light work.

/applauds

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

I must admit, the idea of being sent to live with another family for two months would have filled me we dread at 14, even more so with it being in a foreign country where I didn't speak the lingo very well.

But think of the pleasure it would give your parents.

 

[ChrisKH]

My sister went to Paris for a month and fell out with the girl she stayed with in the first few days. Cue her mother turning into a bitch from hell so she spent the best part of a month avoiding the pair of them.

 

[Fnaar]

I must admit, the idea of being sent to live with another family for two months would have filled me we dread at 14, even more so with it being in a foreign country where I didn't speak the lingo very well.

I'd've jumped at the chance, personally!

 

[Maz]

ChrisKH, what does 千羽 純一郎 mean, please?

 

[ChrisKH]

ChrisKH, what does 千羽 純一郎 mean, please?

How do I know?

I put my name in some sort of Japanese converter and this is what come out.

 

[Cheddar George]

Thanks Crackle that typo really cheered me up.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

...My son has already been on a two week exchange to Arles in France last year. He has also spent many months in Germany without M&D at my sister in laws. He is fluent in German. Last summer he attended a council funded set of summer courses in Achern for teenagers. He did Drama classes, music classes, Go karting and made lot's of new friends. He even got into the local rag over there because he won the Go karting competition! He is booked onto a similar thing this summer and has chosen to study film production and film soundtrack production. He is 100% confident over there.

In July he will go on another exchange for 2 weeks to Heidelburg. That trip has teachers from his own school in attendence, however the trip to Frankfurt for 2 months is not attended by his schools teachers, he will be 100% on his own, which he thinks is superb I have to say!

The social worker garbage only relates to the longer exchange because it exceeds a 28 day deadline or something.