Foreign exchange students get a warm welcome in RSU 5.

It’s not uncommon for a family hosting a foreign exchange student to say they have gained a son or a daughter.

Stephanie Paine and her husband, John Pier, of Freeport have taken that experience one step further. Shortly after Paine and Pier welcomed Nicholas “Nico” Lizasoain of Spain into their home for a year through the American Field Services Intercultural Exchange Program last August, the couple’s daughters – both high school graduates – traveled to Spain on educational forays, and hooked up with Lizasoain’s parents, Jokin and Maria. Sarah Pier, a junior at Williams College, went to take classes in Madrid in a university exchange program. Eli Pier, 19, had just graduated from high school and went to Spain on a deferred college plan, taking cultural immersion and language classes. Both young women had met Lizasoain at their parents’ home.

“Sarah had been in Madrid and met his parents,” Paine said. “She didn’t live with them but they’d invite her to go places and they were just lively. Eli is in Seville now, and she’s met them, too. We’ve sort of gained a family.”

While Paine and Pier’s daughters are in Spain, their son, Jay, a senior at Freeport High School, has a new buddy. Lizasoain, a junior, has sharpened his skiing skills with a family that hits the slopes all winter, and he’s also connected with another popular American winter sport.

“They both are big sports fans, and Nico’s become a really big Bruins fan,” Paine said.

Lizosoain expected good things when he came to this country.

“My mom was an exchange student in California and she told me that it is a great experience and you learn many new things,” he said. “I really like Freeport everyone is really nice and I am having a really good time. I like the high school a lot. All the teachers are great and all of my classes are really interesting. One of my favorite memories is when we had two snow days and we were playing on the snow for two days in a row.”

Lizosoain started learning English when he was 9. He plans to take advantage of the European way of college education.

“I don’t know what I will study but I think that I will stay in Europe, since it is free,” he said.

Living with foreign exchange students is nothing new for Paine, a stay-at-home mother, or for Pier, a physician. Both came from families that hosted exchange students when they were in high school, she in New Hampshire and he in New Jersey. Paine wants to get the word out that American Field Services is looking for host families in the Freeport area.

Families? interested can contact Gigi Leonard at [email protected] or at 865-1796.

Nico Lizasoain, left, and Jay Pier have connected like brothers this year, ever since Lizasoain came to Pier’s home last August for a one-year visit through the American Field Services Intercultural Exchange Program. Courtesy photo