Why choose HHA?
HHA is South Australia’s very own Homestay experts professionally matching the needs of international students with Adelaide families since 2003. We specialise in supporting international students who study in Adelaide by providing a safe and caring environment in which students are nurtured and encouraged to strive for, and achieve their fullest potential in all expects of their lives.
HHA has grown to become Adelaide’s leading homestay agency because we uniquely understand what both students and families need and expect. This is because our co-ordinators include Japanese, Chinese and Koreans who have made Adelaide their home; two even marrying Aussies! Therefore our experience is first hand as many of our co-ordinators have also been both homestay students in their younger years and host families more recently.
The success of every homestay experience is making the right match between student and family. Asian students are usually reserved, being shier than westerners and hesitant to ask questions or express opinions which may be viewed as critical or rude. Consequently having staff who speak their language and comprehensively understand both ways of life, helps students settle into their new educational and living environments without experiencing undue culture shock.
HHA’s aim to make the homestay experience a rewarding and happy one for both families and students. To us, international students and their host families are more than customers; they are friends.
HHA’s Mission Statement
To our students
We want all international students who study in Adelaide with us to experience one of the most rewarding and happiest times of their lives. We commit ourselves to finding students the best family environments for them to achieve academic success and learn valuable life skills in the process. We want young and reserved students to complete their homestay adventure as mature and worldly wise adults, emotionally, culturally and academically equipped to excel in their future careers, human relationships and families of their own.
By living with others in a different cultural environment we aim to help international students gain an international perspective of the world and become better and happier people in every way. We want every international student to look back on their Adelaide Homestay as one of the educational and personal highlights of their lives.
To our host families
We want hosting international students to be a rewarding two-way learning experience where the host family benefits as much as the students. Hosting a young and impressionable student who may not have seen much of the world is a challenging and exciting responsibility which requires sensitivity, compassion and often patience. Hosting an international student can be like adopting a new family member. We expect families to welcome students as they would a relative and make them feel like they belong.
Cultural and age gaps can be bridged through friendship and we aim to match the right student to the right family by established shared interests complimentary backgrounds and determining other outlooks in life. While international students learn academic skills in the classroom, they will learn the equally important life skills from the host family. Hosting an international student can be the beginning of a life-long friendship and we want every host family to enjoy the experience.