Dear host family, Thank you so much for participating in this exchange programme. My name is Ivan and I am French. I live in a small town near Paris, in a house with a big garden next to a river. From the house we can see many birds and squirrels in our trees. I am 16 and I am in 11th grade. I have two brothers : my older brother is 20 and is a student in IT, my little brother is 13 and is in 8th grade. My father is a mathematic teacher in a highschool. He likes to work in our old stone house, building new rooms with my grandfather who also likes that. My father loves to garden and to be outside after work. My mother worked for ten years as a project coordinator in luxury goods companies and after a few years as a housewife, she became a photographer. I learn English and Spanish at school but I would like to be fluent and to learn about the American culture. My older brother participated in an exchange program five years ago and he motivated me. I met his host family when they came to visit us in France and it was very nice to make them discover French life and French food. In my family, we cook a lot and we like family dinners together, with grand-parents and cousins. The best moments are when we make crepes together or a barbecue. I really feel like sharing an American family’s life to discover their habits. I also want to spend a year in an American highschool to make some friends, to practice sports and maybe to follow courses we don’t have in France. As I haven’t decided yet what I want to do in the future, it would help me think about it. I like being with my friends, going to the cinema or bowling, sometimes visiting Paris. My parents let me go because they trust me and they like my friends, who often come at home to play in the garden or dive in the swimming pool. I also spend a lot of time with my family, watching movies, series, playing board games or Lego blocks with my little brother. Of course I love holidays ; we often go to the French Alpes where my grand-parents have a family house and where we can meet our uncles, aunts and cousins, in winter for ski and in summer too. I like Japanese comics, I regularly buy some new volumes and I also like watching animes, playing video games and listening to music. But what I prefer is sports. I practice basketball in a club, and I enjoy other sports like body building, swimming, bicycling, badminton or volleyball. As my family is very attached to French traditions, I would like to share them with my host family. I thank my parents to give me the opportunity to go to the USA. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon, Kind regards, Ivan