Teen Russians Are Coming--and They Need a Place to Stay : Exchange program: Ten South County families are being sought to open their homes to students. They have their own money, insurance and lots of curiosity.

MISSION VIEJO —  A week ago, all Lila Brumback had to worry about was finding temporary homes for about a dozen students from Brazil, Austria and Slovakia. Then, she found out the Russians were coming.

On Dec. 28, a group of Russian students will get an opportunity to see America. All that Brumback, an organizer for the International Education Forum, has to do on short notice is find 10 families in South County willing to house them for about nine days.

“We need help desperately,” she said. “Life is so complicated in America--women work and kids have jobs after school--it can be hard to find families that are willing to open their homes.”

The Russian students, ages 13 to 18, “are so curious about the United States,” Brumback said. “They haven’t seen anything about our country other than what’s on their television and the movies. This is their first chance to see what ordinary American life is like.”

The Russian youths will be in Orange County from Dec. 28 through Jan. 7. Before reaching the county, they will have traveled in two groups to San Francisco and to a location in the Midwest, Brumback said.

The exchange programs also need host families for students from other countries for periods ranging from two to five months.

The youths, ages 15 to 18, speak English. They have their own money to cover personal expenses and carry full accident and health insurance.

“Families can get a lot out of their experiences with the students,” Brumback said. “At least a third sign up again to take another (exchange student) within a year.”

“What they learn is not only things about other cultures, but some of the universal truths about people,” she said. “Teen-agers are teen-agers. They love to have fun and the less expectations (a host family has about their exchange student), the more fun they have, too.”

Information about the program is available at (714) 362-0810.