Program Reviews

I was amazed by the people in the exchange program in Flanders. When I arrived, I was picked up at the airport, and brought to a beautiful monastery where all of the other exchange students were. There were many fun activities and opportunities to get to know my cohort as well as learn about Flemish culture and language.

After graduating high school, I went to Ecuador for ten months through AFS. I lived in a small city high up in the Andes mountains, near to one of the countries largest volcanoes, and went to one of the local high schools. I lived with a wonderful and caring host family and made good friends with both my fellow AFS students and my classmates at school. Despite the hard parts of the year, like being homesick and experiencing culture shock, mt AFS year was the best year of my life thus far. I learned so much about not only myself and Ecuadorian culture, but also about culture in the US. I gained fluency in Spanish, self confidence, and a host of other things that made me grow.

During my year, I spent most of my time being a student and a part of my host family. Many of my days were pretty similar, just going to school and then spending time with family or friends. Sometimes I got bored, but I also appreciated it, because I knew it meant that I was getting to experience what life was like for regular Ecuadorians.Ecuadorians are some of the friendliest and most caring people you'll ever meet. I always felt welcome and cared for.

I also got to travel quite a bit, mostly on the weekends and over some breaks from school. Ecuador is a awe-inspiring country, because of its natural diversity. I took trips to the Amazon rain forest, the Galapagos Islands, went to beautiful beaches, massive volcanoes, along with so many other breathtaking places.

The only draw back that I saw with my program was the local AFS support staff. AFS USA did an excellent job of preparing me for exchange before I left, but support in-country was pretty lax. Part of that was just a cultural thing. I was used to orientations and events being planned out and scheduled way in advance, a trait that's very prominent in US culture, but Ecuadorians have a less strict sense of time, so many things AFS related came together at the last minute and weren't as well organized as they would have been in the US. Also, AFS Ecuador volunteers are spread pretty thin. There was only one AFS volunteer in my city, and he was responsible for 12 students. This meant that I didn't get much one-on-one support from her, but I knew that I could go to her if any serious problems came up.

All in all, I would definitely recommend AFS to anyone looking to go on exchange. It's a wonderful program that has a focus on cultural understanding, which I believe is immensely important.

My time in Paraguay was the best time of my life! I experienced many new things a meet so many great people. My favorite part of being a foreign exchange student was actually becoming like a local. Where I live in the United States there isn't a whole lot of public transportation but in Paraguay that was how I got around. The busses were my life, I had the lines memorized to get to about anywhere! My time in Paraguay was amazing! I encourage everyone to go because you really have the chance to become apart of the culture because Paraguay isn't a highly tourist country. You will get to eat, speak and do things just like the paraguas do! You will even learn a little of their other national language, guarani!

Through Summer Search, a nation wide mentor program, I was able to stay with a host family in Asuncion, Paraguay during the summer of my junior year. Throughout my stay, I developed a new perspective on family — I found myself studying the relationships between the members of my host family and comparing them to those of my own. Since a great majority of the population of Asuncion was raised with the same culture and traditions, I noticed that there was a general consensus when it came to personal values: family always came first. In contrast, while my own family maintains healthy relationships, we are all independent — dedicated to furthering our own lives. My experience in Paraguay has served as a wake up call to reevaluate the quality of the time I spend with my family.

While it’s easy to get lost in school, in a career, or in money, my host family found an ideal balance, which is something I admire. My host father was a lawyer, and my host mother worked as the vice president for an insurance company. Despite their important positions and robust work schedule, they were always home in time to enjoy dinner together. I took note that my host family prioritized spending time with each other, not only to support one another in their aspirations, but also to relieve the day’s stress; they enjoy each other's company because there is no judgement or envy amongst them, only acceptance and compassion. This trip reignited the value I place upon family; however, within my own, while the same intimacy is present, the time is not. We are not accustomed to eating together, nor are we accustomed to setting time aside to have a conversation, but this can and will change. I have a newfound respect for prioritizing family, one that will continue throughout my life.

I want to be able to not only make time for family, but to work together and keep each other motivated and ambitious. My host family serves as a model, because of them, I now understand why family deserves to be a priority. The importance of family is endless; my family is my security, my guidance, my identity, my love. I earnestly believe that life is not a matter of money, but rather the company you keep.

It has been three years since my year long study abroad program in Spain with AFS, and I still notice the different ways it has affected my life. Three years later I am still in contact with my host family and friends while I Spain. Three years later I am still tapping in to everything I learned about myself and the world around me. This is not to say my year was perfect. I struggled just as every exchange student does. What separates those who had a successful year abroad and those who did not enjoy most of their time abroad is how they dealt with those hardship. Mine was finding friends. This is not to say people weren't friendly to me, but in the beginning I never felt connected to my class. The downside was that I was with them all day long at school. My solution was making friends in the grade below me, and not only were they younger than me, but they were also my host sister's friends. I know there is the stereotype is that Spaniards are extremely friendly, and they are. However, in my experience, I could not get passed the "acquaintance" stage of friendship. I worked on that the whole year and I was finally successful in finding true friends.

This was the best experience in my life. I will keep things short here, that the support was great, the family was great, the experience was once in a lifetime, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

While I was abroad, I grew so much. I realized that I loved to travel and see places, meet new people, experience a new culture. I can still remember getting off the train my first day meeting my family. I was so nervous. I didn't speak Italian and I really hoped they would like me. As we pulled up to the train station, there was a huge American flag sign that said "Welcome Ashley". As I got up and grab my stuff, my knees were shaking. I walked down the steps through the door and I was greeted with a sea of people. There stood my soon to be friends and family. Everyone threw their arms around me and kissed me on the cheeks. I made my way through the crowd and there was my host family. They began telling me how excited they were and that they could not wait to begin this new adventure together, which was exactly how I felt. Throughout my stay there were ups and downs because naturally I became home sick at different time. However, they were completely understanding and helped the best they could. I was so fortunate to have such a great family and a wonderful school to attend. The friends I made there are some I still talk with and think about often. I know that when I get my next chance to return to Italy, I will have people to see, a place to stay, and wonderful memories to reminisce. The proof of this lies in last summer, when I returned to Italy for the first time since my program in 2010 and was greeted with open arms by my host sister in the new city she lived in. She took me around and treated me just like family. The connections that you make while on an AFS program are incredible and cannot be traded for anything. This was the best decision I have ever made.

I had an absolutely amazing experience! I lived in Patagonia and my friends and my class were the highlight of my experience. Although when I arrived I understood almost nothing, my classmates and my family talked to me all the time even when I didn't understand. They taught me everything, even when it was swear words or jokes or tongue twisters that I didn't understand it helped. By the end of my time there, I couldn't imagine leaving and I didn't remember how to speak English properly. I won't lie, there were plenty of moments where it was hard for me to understand what was going on because of the cultural barriers but at the end of my exchange I felt like I was a part of the culture and now I can't wait until I can visit Chile again.

I grew up in a small rural town in Vermont, with a population of under 2,000. The program I was accepted into, AFS Summer Language Intensive, assigned me to study abroad in Tokyo. When I arrived in Tokyo, I felt a certain sort of disbelief that so many people could coexist in the same place. The city was an unceasing bustle around me that excited me.
My host mother had come to pick me up, and it was a little awkward at first. I didn't speak much Japanese, and her English was limited. I had taken two years of Japanese in high school, but that really didn't amount to much when I was confronted with having to speak entirely in another language to get my point across.
The program that I attended was entirely based around improving language skills, and they did a spectacular job. By the end of it, I could speak confidently with my host family, ask directions, and make small talk. I did run into the issue of accidentally using masculine words that set my host family off in fits of laughter, but it was a part of the learning experience.
My host family made the experience of being abroad absolutely wonderful. Before this program, I hadn't known that you could become so close to strangers within such a short time. It was honestly like I gained a second family through this program, one that I will remain in contact with throughout my life.
I would recommend this program to anyone who wishes to better their Japanese and broaden their cultural understanding.

i had a wonderful time in the netherlands, i met so many people and got to explore and experience so many new things. i enjoyed music festivals, cultural events such as village-wide festivals, school parties, and holiday celebrations with family, as well as fun sightseeing outings and trips like playing mini-golf or going to the amusement park!
i truly loved getting to intimately experience the vibrant and different cultural life of my host family and friends. learning the new traditions, trends, and lifestyles of the netherlands was exciting and enriching. i loved crafting elaborate wrapping for my host father's present on sinterklaas, biking to germany at sunrise on hemelvaartsdag, eating oliebolen on the holidays and dutch pannenkoeken, seeing the vibrant gardens of het keukenhof, and walking through the village market full of bustling stalls. some of my favorite memories are of simply wandering, riding my bike alone through the cobblestone streets of my "dorpje" (village) and admiring the quaint and cozy architecture. my host family and friends spoke to me in exclusively dutch at my request, so i learned to speak fluently, which is a skill that i still value greatly.
while i was there i had an illness, and the AFS staff did reach out to me and offer caring support and help for what i was going through when they found out. i think that the volunteers really care about the exchange students and put in a lot of effort to make sure they are ok, and that was meaningful to me. its good to feel safe and supported when you're in a far away place. i developed a lot of independence and introspective insight while abroad, as well as cultural knowledge and deep lasting friendships.