HOMESTAY GUEST EXPECTATIONS

The Hufnagels, 61 Hoover Crescent, Toronto, ON M3N 1P4 416-739-8553

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Use of Space by GUEST & INTERACTION WITH FAMILY

We would expect that when you are home, you would mainly spend your time in your room or the common living room with the exception of meals, laundry, and bathroom use. We are happy to interact with you at meal times, and occasionally after dinner and on weekends. One of the best times for you to speak English will be after school & before dinner because the children will often be around to play and talk with. We will need times when it is just our family spending time together or just with our visitors and without homestay guests. We will tell you when we need times like this.

If you want to use something that is not specified below, please ask first.

  1. Bedroom – exclusive to guest. We will respect your privacy & your personal belongings;
  2. Bathrooms (Main floor & Basement) – shared with family during the day & with other guests. Please keep showers/baths reasonable (maximum: one per day, 10-15 minutes in length). Our hot water is in a small tank that is used for all hot water in the house. Therefore, when you shower, there is less water for other people to shower, laundry…
  3. Common Living Room (in basement) – shared with family and other guests;
  4. Laundry – We will work out a mutually convenient timing for weekly use (one day a week), you provide your own detergent;
  5. Kitchen – for meals/food purposes and interacting with family;
  6. Yard – very welcome to spend time in the yard;
  7. Entry Door – please use the side door to enter & exit the house. The front door is for our family; because we have so many people in our family, we appreciate if you do not use the front door.
  8. Family Living Room – for interacting with family at mutually agreeable times;
  9. Rest of House – not for guest use. We ask that you respect our privacy and our personal belongings.

Food…We welcome you to join us for meals in the kitchen.

  1. Breakfast – You are responsible for making your own breakfast, using the food you find in the kitchen. You may have: 1. hot or cold cereal (2 regular bowls max) or toast (4 slices max); 2. fruit (2 pieces max), and 3. 1 yogurt or 1 egg. You may have one regular-sized glass of drink - juice, milk, coffee or tea. We expect you to eat breakfast at the table. You may not take food with you.
  2. Lunch – You are responsible for purchasing and providing your own lunch. We expect you to eat lunch. Please do not skip lunch. You may use the kitchen to do simple preparations (for example: make a sandwich, boil eggs, cook instant noodles). Please keep your personal food in your room. You may also use a small portion of the basement fridge/freezer for perishables.
  3. Dinner – We will normally provide dinner around 5:30 pm (but this is a flexible time). We hope you will eat with our family when your schedule allows! If our schedules do not fit (for example, you come home late or we are away from home), you may reheat your meal in the microwave. Some days, due to meeting with visitors, we will not be able to eat together with you, but your meal will still be provided. You may have one regular-sized glass of drink - juice, milk, coffee or tea. You may not take food with you.
  4. Snacks/Beverages – You are responsible for purchasing and providing your own snack foods, sweets, and drinks. Please keep these items in your room.

Guests:

You are welcome to have guests over to visit in your room, the common living room, or in the yard, between the hours of 8:00 am – 10:00 pm. You may not have overnight guests. You will be held responsible for all actions of your guests.

Cleaning & Supplies:

You are responsible for cleaning your bedroom (vacuum, dust, collect garbage & recycling, etc.) and bathroom (sink, toilet, shower, mirror) once each week. Cleaning supplies and toilet paper will be provided. You must provide your own facial tissue (Kleenex, like for blowing your nose).

keys:

We will give you a house key for the side door and also a key for locking your bedroom door. Please take good care of these keys. Do not give them to anyone else. You must return the keys to us when you finish your homestay time in our home. Please always lock the outside door when you arrive and when you leave.

TELEPHONE/internet:

You are welcome to use the phone for short periods of time for calls within Canada. If you want to call internationally, please use a phone card. If you cause any long distance charges on our phone bill, it will be your responsibility to pay for those charges.

You will have access to our wireless high speed internet, using your own computer.

GENERAL RULES:

  1. Quiet hours are between 10 pm and 7 am. Please be quiet during these hours! No excessive noise (including music, television, visitors, etc.), no laundry access. This applies to host and guest alike. If you are staying out late, or staying awake late, please take great care in opening & closing doors gently & quietly, speaking in very quiet voices, and even walking very gently through the house. If you are being disturbed by other people’s noise, please first speak with the other person directly. If that does not resolve the issue, then please speak with us.
  1. Out of a desire to maintain positive relationships with the neighbours, we will take very seriously any complaints made by the neighbours pertaining to the guest or his/her responsibilities;
  1. The guest agrees that there will be no:
  2. smoking anywhere on the property – inside or outside;
  3. pets;
  4. alcohol;
  5. pornography (video/DVD, magazine, book, or internet)
  6. disturbance or damage against the host or the host’s neighbours (especially due to the use of alcohol);
  7. illegal substances or activities;
  8. nails or screws in the doors.