How to be welcoming and friendly to an exchange student without being cliché?

Recently a Japanese exchange student has been welcomed into our school. He is really nice and has interests that peak my curiosity. In America, it isn’t very often that a guy is interested in fashion and becoming a hair stylist in the tender highschool years. This person seems very fun to talk to, but of course there is a bit of a language barrier. He understands English fairly well, but if we want to have in depth conversation, I have to repeat things in a few other ways. Because of this, I often find myself reverting to cliché topics like asking about his country, what his goals are, what his favorite color is, and so forth. I want to welcome him into my tiny friend circle, but am not sure how to hold a friendly conversation. I always feel like a stranger asking him questions to get to know about him, when what I’m hoping is to comfortably become friends. I don’t want to be a stranger asking questions and giving advice… Do you have any tips?