Who can participate in this program

Women (18 years and older)

Men (18 years and older)

How to Apply

Our City

Chicago is the third largest city in the USA, with a population of about 10 million people in the metro-area.

People from all over the world and the USA like to visit Chicago for their comedy clubs, theatres, world-class museums, and live music, especially jazz and blues. I especially love Chicago's amazing architecture, history, and food.

What's even better is that you can experience all of these great things right on shores of one of "The Great Lakes", Lake Michigan!

If you like sports Chicago is a great place to visit! You can watch the NBA, MLB, or the NHL!

Here is a list of our professional teams:

• Baseball-The Whitesox & The Cubs
• Basketball-The Bulls
• Football-The Bears
• Hockey-The Blackhawks

Fun Facts about Chicago:

• Hometown of President Obama
• Walt Disney was born and studied drawing here
• 26 miles (41 km) of lakefront
• Here, you can visit the largest, most intact T-Rex ever found. Her name is Sue
• We have one of the only FREE Zoos in the country
• The word "Jazz" was coined here
• There are over 200 theaters and almost 200 art galleries
• The city is divided into over 100 neighborhoods and has 552 parks

Neighborhood

I live in Rogers Park. It is Chicago's most northern neighborhood and boarders the suburb of Evanston (a good place for shopping). It is filled with wonderful places to eat and explore!

It is also located on the Red Line, which is Chicago's most convenient subway line. The trains run 24 hours/day and will take you to The Loop (the nickname for downtown) and most sightseeing spots without needing to change trains.

Rogers Parks is also right along the lake-shore, so you can easily enjoy the beach and some nature. It's only a 5 minute walk from our home!

In Rogers Park you can find:

• The lakefront beach & park
• Live Theatres & Music
• Movie Theatre
• Coffee Shops
• Restaurants
• Bars

All within walking distance!

My family and our home

Kendall and I are high school sweet-hearts. We got married on the beautiful island of Kauai about 5 years ago. We enjoy traveling, cooking, playing board games, and inventing new cocktail recipes.

We are originally from a small town in Oklahoma but, now, we live in the big city of Chicago with our black cat, Pilgrim. Other than teaching ESL, I work as an actress and spend a lot of time going on auditions and training.

Kendall is a software engineer. About 3 years ago, we both worked as ESL teachers in Japan, so we know what it's like to be in a foreign place! We enjoyed learning about Japan while we were living there and now we are really excited to share our US culture and life with you!

Pricing (in points)

**Per night base price / Cafetalk points

15,000 points (2-4 nights rate) per person

9,500 points (5-9 nights rate)

8,000 points (10-14 nihgts rate)

Over 14 days to Month long stays=Check for special pricing.

**Add-on Prices

Home-cooked Meals - 1250 points

You can choose a variety of dinners that my family and I eat regularly. Maybe you want to try some traditional American food? We also eat a lot of Mexican food and Asian food.

We eat at home 3-5 nights/week. Please join eating at home as much as you can!

ESL Lesson (special price available for daily lessons)

Study video clips/slang/homemade material, etc

Cooking Lesson-$50.00

The price of this cooking lesson includes:

• ESL "cooking vocab" lesson with a handout
• guided trip to the grocery store (with me) to pick up ingredients
• printed version of the recipe with step by step instructions
• all ingredients

You can choose a variety of my family recipes to make with me. You will be making food my mother taught me to make! We were especially fond of baked goods like my great-aunt's cheesecake recipe, apple pie, chocolate cake, and American style-biscuits.

There will be NO extra costs to cooking lesson.

This cooking activity will take 2-4 hours depending on the dish

How to Apply

Included in your stay:

• Private Room with small closet space and large table space.
• Continental Breakfast- (self-service) May include cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, bagels, juice coffee, tea etc.
• One Hot Breakfast/week (Saturday or Sunday) On the weekends, I usually cook a hot breakfast consisting of sausage, eggs, bacon or another hot breakfast dish like french toast/waffels/cream of wheat
• Towels and Shower/Bathroom Essentials (Soap, shampoo & Conditioner, toothpaste, hairdryer)
• Use of Washer/Dryer (detergent provided)
• Use of Kitchen
• Use of Sports Equipment - We live near a park and you are welcome to use our tennis equipment, football, soccer ball, etc.

Stay also includes:

Neighborhood tour/explanation of public transit- I'll show you the grocery store/coffee shops in my area, explain a map of Chicago, and how to get to famous sight seeing spots, etc.

Tag along! I will tell you my schedule and you will always be invited and welcome to join my husband and I to any restaurants, plays, parties, movies, concerts, festivals and/or events we plan to attend. You can join us anytime but *you are responsible for your own cost.

Home-cooked Dinners for 1250 points (when available) If you would like to try some authentic American cooking and culture. I recommend joining us for dinner about 3-5 evenings a week. Meals can be purchased on the same day and do not need to be purchased in advance. I will keep a running tab of dinner expenses and you may pay in cash when you check out.

Check-Out by 15:00 on final day.

Map

Map