About us!

Friendship Force International relies upon a network of local clubs (more than 350) in countries all over the world to provide opportunities to meet and make friends. When people come to Kern County, we have a lot of fun getting to know our part of the world through their eyes! At left is a picture of a hayride at Rankin Ranch in the foothills east of Bakersfield.

What barrier? As the Germans say, we speak with "hand and foot" and just make sure someone is around in case of an emergency. English is often the language used when one country visits another such as Brazil to Mongolia, or Japan to Germany. At left are ambassadors from Japan and Germany who had met each other in exchanges elsewhere, and then met again in Kern County -- no problems there!

At left is a welcome breakfast with a Mexican theme hosted for a New Zealand exchange in early May 2006. We usually have a welcome and a farewell event, visit the mayor or the board of supervisors for an official welcome, plant a tree at Hart Park in honor of the exchange, visit the oil museum, drive to the Sequoia's, dance at the Crystal Palace, do an agricultural tour (maybe see how baby carrots get made?), and leave time for the host family to show off their favorite parts of the area and get acquainted. Sometimes a drive to Hearst Castle and the elephant seals is arranged, or a Basque dinner, or antique shopping, or a car rally, or golf, or . . . Each exchange is different, and we get lots of ideas from the exchanges we attend all over the world.