My older sister hosted a Japanese exchange student when I was in high school. I learned a few words, but he was a regular teenager who barely knew English. We did crush a bucket of chocolate chip cookies in one weekend camping trip.
After he left, I found out his parents forced him into the exchange program so they could get a break. He seemed alright to me.
That encountering quick sand in real life was a real possibility every day.
Bonus: My kid doesn’t believe that Santa is magical, he just has really advanced technology.