CIEE Summer Language & Culture Summer Program

The program was overpriced. My daughter enjoyed her homestay family, but the daily commute one way was 1hr away from Tokyo city center, where the Language Center was. This was unexpected. The program was disorganized, their rep gave us the wrong airport information for arrival, as we booked our own flight instead of the highly recommended platform they use, which had additional costs. The program didn’t really have a lot of downtime for kids, lots of activities packed in. We were made to think safety and traveling with a buddy was a must, but soon realized that our daughter traveled to and from the activities on her own. Travel time could be over a hour. Initially my daughter told us that kids were getting lost for hours and crying. We understand about immersing in the Japanese culture, taking public transportation, but veering away from what was initially discussed at orientation about traveling with a buddy, safety and throwing kids in an environment they’re not familiar with shows negligence on the programs organization and outlook. When we insisted on speaking to the director, he downplayed our daughter getting lost from the group. It should be the group leaders responsibility to take head counts to and from an activity, or have backup plans in place when kids are separated from their group.