Is religion a huge deal when hosting a foreign exchange student?
Actually, you are the type of family that most northern Europeans love. You see, they LIST a religion, but that’s because most people in their countries LIST a religion. However, that doesn’t mean they are religious in the American meaning. She is probably a member of the Lutheran Church — which is the state church of Norway. Yep, they have state churches! She’s been baptized, confirmed, goes to church on Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals. To be blunt, MOST northern Europeans are not overly religious and would rather NOT go to church on Sundays (although they wouldn’t mind a special occasion). Someplace on the profile, it should say if she is willing to attend church “as often as host family”, every week, occasionally, etc. It should also list her activities. If she doesn’t say something to the affect of “wants to attend my own religion weekly”, I suspect you won’t have much to worry about. Generally the problem is the other way around, many Americans go to church MUCH more oft
