About ANDEO

Melinda Samis | Founder

Melinda founded International Summerstays (now ANDEO) in 1981. She has set foot on the soil of many countries, loves being able to read Mexican poets in their native language, and has opened her own home to students from South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Traveling memory: "Being in a small village in France on September 11, 2001 and having all the neighbors stop by to extend their heartfelt wishes for my country."

Sara Keilholtz Bruckner | Executive Director

Sara has hosted international students, lived with families in Mexico, Spain, China, and Tibet, served as an international camp counselor in Barcelona, and taught English in China as well as creative writing and composition at University of Oregon. She graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Oregon and is passionate about facilitating cross-cultural communication and understanding. Favorite traveling memory: "Living with a host family in Mexico with my mother when I was nine. Laughing and blowing bubbles with my host brothers and sisters. Figuring out our own ways to communicate through play."

Kellie Irish | College Programs Manager

Kellie grew up hosting students from Japan and Taiwan & lived with hosts in Japan, Spain, and Costa Rica. She studied and taught in Japan for four years, with Nagano being her second home and her Nagano host extended family. Her love of cultures and adventure has taken her to over twenty-five countries on four continents. Inspired by her own life-changing homestay experiences, Kellie is passionate about encouraging others to embrace their own opportunities to grow and create their own international family through homestays. She has a B.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures with a focus on Japanese and a B.S. in Business Administration. Traveling memories: "Relaxing in a Japanese hot spring during snowfall after a long day of snowboarding; watching the sunrise in the Serengeti."

Rebecca Gundle | Teen Programs Manager

Rebecca got her first taste of international travel at the age of four when her family spent four months in Central America. Ever since then, she has been hooked! After high school, she backpacked through Europe and Southeast Asia and then studied Latin American Studies & Anthropology and Teaching. Before joining ANDEO, Rebecca taught at middle- and high schools. She speaks Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, lived with host families in Mexico and Brazil, and collected passport stamps from twenty-three countries on five continents. Memorable travel moments: “Learning to make tamales from my host mother and host sister in Oaxaca, Mexico; bicycling through the countryside in Laos.”

Kristin Eberman | Washington Coordinator

While born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Kristin has spent a majority of her adult years living overseas. Her passion for international travel began at 16 when she first spent a summer in France on a language and homestay program through ANDEO. She then studied abroad for six months in Ghana when she was a junior in high school where she had another unforgettable homestay experience. She has since travelled to 51 countries on five continents, including studying abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, volunteering in Moscow, Russia, serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco, and working for several years in both England and Australia. She now resides in Seattle. Travel memory: "Being a close part of my host sister's wedding in Morocco was such an amazing opportunity! I moved in with them days after she agreed to an arranged marriage. I was able to witness the entire process of the engagement when they met in person for the first time, their courtship and seeing her fondness for him grow, the three-day wedding filled with so much celebration and joy, and life after the marriage when she moved in with his family. Seven years later, they are still happily married with two sons!"

Carolyn Spaulding | Local Area Coordinator - Salem/Corvallis/Albany

Mother of two and grandmother of 4, Carolyn has been working in high school classrooms for the past 24 years, as well as working for Andeo and hosting more than 35 students and group leaders. Her love of cultures, people, and adventure has taken her to eleven countries on four continents. Favorite travel memory: "Traveling to Japan with my husband to visit our daughter who was working there. We took the train from Tokyo to her rural town all by ourselves, with her very explicit instructions and colors of train lines. Best vacation ever, getting to see her speak Japanese to the students and coworkers at her school, as well as sightseeing and meeting up with students we had hosted as much as 14 years earlier!"

Julie Padbury | Local Area Coordinator - Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood areas

Julie has a BA in Liberal Arts from Portland State University. She studied French and German at Oregon State University, and is currently learning Spanish. After high school she toured as a performing artist with Holiday on Ice International in Europe, which took her to Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, England, Wales, Czechoslovakia, Spain and Italy. She has 4 children and has hosted students from France, Italy, Spain and Japan over a span of 14 years, starting when her kids were just 2, 3, 4 and 5 years old. Most memorable travel moment: "My fellow ice-skaters and I were walking the back streets of Tours in France after a long show day. We met some locals who wanted to know why we were in town. They didn’t understand “ice-skating with Holiday on Ice” in French…but then I saw a L’Espoir newspaper on the cobblestone street that just happen to have an article about our show and full spread of pictures of us in full costume and ice-skates on the back page. It was quite the coincidence, as we didn’t even know the press had been covering our show. I still have that newspaper today!"

Zach Simon | Coordinator - Teen and College Programs

From cresting the summit of Mt.Kilimanjaro to herding goats with his Maasai host brothers, Zach’s first experience traveling internationally to Tanzania provided a transformative experience he will carry for a lifetime. Zach earned his B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Lewis & Clark College and studied abroad throughout Tanzania where he participated in homestays, studied Swahili, and interacted with a range of peoples and cultures. In Oregon, Zach’s favorite activities include fly fishing, biking, and camping and he welcomes any opportunity when he can find the time to do all three. Favorite Travel Memory: “Spending two days in Yaeda Valley with the Hadza tribe in Tanzania who practice hunting and gathering. Waking up before dawn to go on a hunt, tracking zebra, baboons, and watching my Hadza guide catch a hyrax with handmade bow and arrows all while walking through the Great Rift Valley.”

Lauren Morrow | Coordinator - Teen and College Programs

Lauren’s passion for international traveling and hosting experiences started when she was eleven and her family hosted their first of eight exchange students. In high school, she lived with two different host families in Costa Rica on an exchange program. After graduating with a BA in International Relations, she spent two and a half years backpacking around the world, predominately spending her time in Latin America, Europe and Australia. While Lauren was getting her Masters degree in International Development and Service, she spent two semesters studying and interning abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Quito, Ecuador. She used her study abroad locations as jumping off points to explore other parts of South America and Southeast Asia, too! Lauren has also chaperoned a group of high students to Costa Rica. She’s excited to be back in her hometown and providing exchange opportunities for others! Favorite Travel Memory: "Huddling in the tent door opening after getting caught in a thunder and lightning storm on the top of Volcán Acatenango while watching Volcán de Fuego bursting with red lava eruptions."

Chloe Elstone | Cultural Exchange Associate- Teen and College Programs

Chloe’s passion for travel and cultural immersion began with hosting students from Spain in high school. While getting her BA in Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology at OSU, she was also traveling the states on a professional, ballroom dance tour. Her love for travel and dance collided on a study abroad trip to Kopeyia, Ghana, where she practiced West African drumming and dance. She recently returned from Southeast Asia, where she volunteered and participated in homestays in rural villages in Thailand and Laos. Favorite travel memory: “Participating in the Basi ceremony in Sop Chem, Laos. The entire community got together on our last day of volunteering to bless us with good fortune on our future endeavors, as well as to thank us for the work we had done there. We all became so close to the people of Sop Chem, so there wasn’t a dry eye in sight!”

Teppei Fukuda | Japanese Program Specialist

Teppei was born and raised in Kagoshima prefecture, a rural area of Japan, and lived in Tokyo for ten years before coming to Portland. Teppei’s first overseas experience was traveling to the UK when he was a college student. This experience fascinated him, and he has since visited the US, France, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Spain, and Vietnam. After his first homestay experience in Portland in 2015 with ANDEO, he decided to study abroad in the United States. He came back to Portland as a Japanese language instructor and graduate student at Portland State University in 2017. He is currently working on his Master’s degree in Japanese language and literature. His research interest is the Japanese aesthetics in Japanese poetry. In his free time, he enjoys playing and listening to music, going to see local music shows in Portland. He also loves to read, watch movies, and cook. Favorite travel memory “A 2-hour tuk-tuk ride from Siem Reap to Beng Melea. When I traveled alone to Thailand and Cambodia, I didn’t make any detailed plans. I made two friends on my way from Bangkok to Siem Reap, a Danish guy and a Japanese girl, and we ended up visiting sights together in Cambodia. The 2 hours tuk-tuk ride with new traveler friends made me feel that I was on an adventure. Also, Beng Melea itself was fantastic!”

Josh Pericas | Cultural Exchange Associate- Teen and College Programs

Josh found his passions for intercultural communication and international travel as an undergrad at the University of Colorado at Boulder. With a degree in International Affairs and minors in the French and Portuguese languages, he was fortunate to live and study in South Africa, Brazil and Senegal. In his free time, he can be found hiking, reading, cooking, or practicing his new hobby, Russian. Memorable travel moments: "Seeing the Big 5 on safari at Kruger National Park, South Africa; visiting the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil; camping under the millions of stars in the Sahara desert, Senegal.”