According to Lindeman and Donatelli, students who opt to do a home stay claim to receive an invaluable understanding of the host culture and language. But they provide the support you need to get through living in a completely different culture with completely different rules. A coffee-table book on your home city or state, something with lots of photos to help overcome the language barrier, is a great ice breaker. You're going to be living with a family in their home, not in a dorm room. Don't blast your music all night or make lots of noise.
Life is a little different with foreign families, so be good natured about accepting their rules.
Understanding the host family's rules about food, phones, water use, and guests is vital to adjusting to life in that household, say Lindeman and Donatelli. Keep in touch. Your host family will be interested in hearing from you once you return to the States. Although the basics of dorm life are already familiar to you, there are a few added twists when the dorm is transplanted to another country. If your program is sponsored by an American university abroad, your dorm may be filled only with Americans.