Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Exchange Student: What does it mean and how do you become one?

You ask yourself what an exchange student it? What it means being one?

Everything starts with the idea going to another country to get to know the different culture, learn the other language and to meet new people.

Being an exchange student means that you are going to another country for a certain amount of time to live

with a host family and go to school in the other country. It is not just going there and lives there. As an

exchange student you are also there to represent your country, to learn the different language and culture.


What do I have to do to become an exchange student?


There are so many opportunities to become an exchange student. Nowadays most of the schools offer

short-term exchange programs for a couple of weeks. The other opportunity would be to find an organization

which you have to pay that they find a host family, High School, etc. for you. The different organizations offer

different programs from 3 month to two years and from public High School, private school to Au Pair.


There are so many organizations that offer exchange programs that it is not easy to pick one. Before you

decide you should research in the Internet, get brochures and go on special information fairs. You should not

just pick a random one. It is better to pick more and apply for an interview.


Before you go to the interview you should write the questions down you want to ask. After you had a few

interviews you should compare the information and see with which one you had the best feeling.


Then you have to fill out the application and wait till you get accepted. After you get accepted there are two

weeks of filling out paperwork waiting for you.


If you are a High School student you have to make sure that your school principal allows you to go for a

certain time abroad and if you have do the missing time over or if you just can skip it.


After you checked that and filled out all your paperwork the waiting begins. Now is your organization looking

for a family and High School. The searching can take them till three weeks before your departure.


Some organizations offer organization weekends where all the teenager, who want to go abroad, come

together and they tell you things, which you have to know you, may not have expected. Most of the times

there are returnees from the past years who tell you about their own experiences.


Host family


One day you get a call form your organization and they will tell you that they found a host family for you. This

 will be a really exciting moment and you going to be curious how they look like, how they are and etc. One

or two days later you usually get a letter with a short family profile and pictures. Then you should get together

with your parents and write an email. The contact to your host family before you go there is very important.

Tell them about your life, send pictures, ask them questions and ask for their expectations. Keep in touch with

them till you departure.


Sometimes it can happen that your organization can't find a host family on time then they will have a current

family, called "Welcome family", where you can stay till they found the perfect family for you.


Your Departure is getting closer


Time is running by fast so be aware of your departure because this is an important, sad but also interesting

day. You have so many things to do before you leave and everything is getting too much. Sit down and write

everything down what you still have to do. Here a few things.


First you need to check with your parents and your bank how you get your money in the other country and

you definitely should get a credit card for an emergency. Then you have to make sure that you will be insured

during your stay. Normally your organization insures you but still check it. Furthermore you have to cancel any

phone contracts, train or bus passes and other monthly subscriptions. Things you normally don't even think

about.


Experience


This article is based on personal experience I made or I'm still making because I'm in the middle of my

exchange year. It is easy to say I will go for one year abroad but to actually leave your family, friends and

hometown it takes a lot. I'm still not sure if I'm the right person for that but I hopefully will figure it out at the

end of my exchange year.


Everything started in 2009 my dad kept asking me if I want to go abroad for just one or two month to

improve my English but I really didn't want to go. After two of my friends came back from their exchange

year and they told me how great it was I got interested in this whole exchange program. From one of the

other day I asked my dad if he wants to go to information fair for exchange programs. He was really surprised

because one or two weeks earlier I said no to his idea.


At the beginning of September we went to the fair where were over fifty organizations. It was too much and I

was overwhelmed but then I started talking to some organizations and took some brochures with me. After I

researched in the Internet about the different organizations I decided to go.


Time flew by really fast and the 12th of august got closer. At my departure day my friends and family took me

to the airport to say goodbye. It was the weirdest feeling I ever had because on one side I was really excited

on the other I was more than sad. The hardest part was when I went through the glass door to the security

check. At this point I realized you wouldn’t see them again for one year. I kept looking back and they were

still there and waved.


After a 12-hour flight I arrived in Los Angeles. I got of the plain and I had to wait one and a half more hours

till I got through the security check and got my language. I walked out of the door and saw my host family.

Everything seemed to be fine. We spend my first day in an adventure park and I was just tired from the flight,

the translation and thinking about everything what I wanted to say.


At night we drove towards Bakersfield where my host family lives. We got to their house and everything

seemed to be fine but then they opened the door and I could not believe it. I just wanted to run away. It

smelled more than bad, eight dogs were jumping at me and a cat just urinated on the carpet. First I thought I

was just tired so I went to bed. At the next day I discovered more things. Dog poo on the ground, dirty

dishes everywhere and moldy water in the sink. I called my mom and told her about the circumstances.

Immediately she called my organization but they told us that they checked the host family and everything was

fine.


All in all it took my mom one week to convince my organization that the circumstances were intolerable.

Finally after one week my coordinator rescued me and hosted me for another week in Tehachapi till they had

found a new family.


After one week they found a family in Bakersfield. A single mother who lives in an apartment with her 11 year

old daughter and her 18-year-old son. The mother shared her bedroom with her daughter and I should get

her son's room and he would be sleeping in the living room. The situation sounded really weird and actually

me and my family wasn't comfortable with that but my organization kept telling me that I have to go to school

because I already missed one week. When I got there everything seemed to be nice but it changed right when

my coordinator left. The first thing she told me was that she lied and that I had to share a room with her son. I

was shocked but didn't say anything. After one or two more weeks she showed her real face and took of her

friendly mask. She let me clean the whole apartment and when I didn't do my bed one day I got grounded for

one week. Furthermore she let me walk home from school every day and it was a one-hour walk through

really bad areas. She worked as a teacher at the High School I went to and she didn't even wait for me five

minutes after school to give me a ride or even just drove away and passed me on her way but didn't stop.

There were more little things they shocked me every day and I tried to tell my organization but they wouldn't

believe me. My parents were desperate in Germany because they couldn't do anything but they still did their

best. Without their help I probably still would live with this family.


After all what happened I finally moved to Santee and everything is getting kind of better. When I do look

back in the past I'm proud of myself that I got through that and that I didn't break up the program. The time

definitely leaves a mark on me and not in a negative way.

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There are many things to absolve an exchange. The first one would be the educational program like High

School, Private School and Community College. The second would be Work and Travel that means you are

going for a few months or a year work in different companies and travel around. Another opportunity would

be to go as a Trainee and work at the same company for half of a year or longer to get experience with the

job and the language. Check out the website www.cetusa.org this is an organization which offers a lot of

different programs.