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Sharing the Same Basic Human Values

Two Young Hospitality Hosts Relish Each IVLP Delegate who Visits Their Home

by Allana Helland

In the fall of 2006, my husband, Matthew, had finished his first year working as a plaintiffs’ attorney in Minneapolis, and I was knee-deep in my job as a corporate meeting and event planner. As I was driving to work one day, I heard a lively lecture on public radio. There was a plug to hear more from the speaker at a Minnesota International Center (MIC) event that evening. I decided to attend.

The lecture was all I had hoped it would be – interesting and informative. I was more interested, however, in the IVLP dinner hosting program I discovered in MIC’s brochure. After the lecture, I spoke with Carol Steinberg, MIC’s community program manager, about dinner hosting. I was apprehensive about signing up, because Matthew and I had not yet “moved on” from our tiny “law school” apartment. Ms. Steinberg assured me it would be fine and convinced me to join the club and give dinner hosting a try.

I knew it would take some selling to get Matthew on board. His first reaction, predictably, was “why are we paying money to be in a club, where all we do is make dinner for strangers?” Fortunately, because I had already paid my dues, he had no choice but to give it a try.

Matthew and I each had our reservations as we welcomed our first guest. I was worried our guest would be offended that he had been sent to such a small, ugly apartment to have dinner with two kids who didn’t know all that much about diplomacy, international relations, or his country. Matthew was worried that we would we run out of things to say. Besides, he still didn’t know why we were doing this in the first place.

The evening began slowly, with our apprehensions and fears at the forefront. As we moved into dinner, however, the conversation began to flow more freely. We talked about our guest’s country, his profession, and the reasons for his visit. Soon our conversations turned to more human topics, such as his wife and daughter, and our first years as a married couple struggling through law school and beginning our careers. Our guest was interested in the roles our parents played in our upbringing, our relationship, our choice to wed, and our lives as a couple. To my great relief, he enjoyed our cramped apartment and extolled to us the virtue of building a life together from meager beginnings.

By the end of the evening, handshakes were replaced with hugs. Our guest shed a tear as he explained that we had “shared salt and bread” and would forever be family. After that first evening, we realized the value of the program and could not wait to host our next visitor. Over the next five months, we hosted guests from Algeria, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, England, Pakistan, and Portugal.

Our life took a turn when we moved to San Francisco in the spring of 2007. One of my first tasks in the move was to research the International Visitor Leadership Program’s affiliations in California. To my delight, I found the Institute of International Education/West Coast Center, located right in San Francisco. As we settled in San Francisco we picked up right where we left off in Minneapolis, hosting IVLP guests whenever our schedules would allow. Through it all, we have learned that people are much more similar throughout the world than one would think. Our guests often have a different faith, education, language, and upbringing, but we all seem to share the same basic human values. By connecting people with people, the IVLP helps connect countries with countries. Matthew and I look forward to more dinner hosting opportunities in the future. ?

Allana Helland is a meeting planner and artist in San Francisco. Her work experience - planning B2B marketing events, medical ad boards, shareholder events, and sales incentives - has included several international assignments.

PHOTOS: (Top to bottom) Matthew and Allana Helland host three Chinese visitors from an IVLP delegation in their home; Home hospitality with the Hellands

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