AFS Japan

Let me start with this: in the US, AFS was pretty organized in my opinion, they were easy to get a hold of, had meetings for information, and made me overall excited for my study abroad. AFS Japan on the other hand, a whole nother story. Well, I guess it largely depends on what chapter you get put into. I heard the Tokyo and Kyoto chapters were good.
Now that we have that out of the way, let me say that studying in Japan was a great experience. I definitely broadened my horizons, and learned a lot of Japanese, which was expected haha. My host families were perfect, my school amazing, it was just fun. However, the chapter for where I lived, and where my other friends lived, not as great. A big problem that was evident is the lack of freedom and choice AFS Japan gives you, and the obvious favorism towards the host families rather than the actual students. Your liasion is the main branch of communication with afs, however some don’t do their jobs too well. I barely communicated with my liaison at all, and was kind of forced to go to some events that I didn’t want to go to. Just hope that you get a good chapter and a slightly bigger one. There are some events that only the bigger chapters are able to take part in.
Apart from the bad communication between liaisons and their students, life was pretty fun in Japan. Let me give you a big tip though. If you don’t like your chapter, you are able to move to another one! You just have to know the president or liaison of a neighboring chapter and hope they understand what you’re going through.
One last thing, AFS Japan will treat you like a clueless kindergartener instead of a learning teenager. They probably will have set up childish games and parties for you. Have fun.