AFS Blog

AFS Exchange Student Jessica: Wombats and Kangaroos in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Wow we’ve done heaps. Went to Bathurst, saw a wombat and a kangroo, went to Terrigal and Erina and met up with Johan and Eero, my exchange friends and had to say goodbye to them. What else. I also went to Lunar Park Friday night, and went to the Sydney Swans vs. Magpies in AFL last night at the Olympic Stadium. Read more.

AFS offers semester programs to Australia.

AFS Exchange Student Chevelle: Reflecting on her Spring Semester in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:47:00 +0000

During my time here in Italy I have crossed paths with many different people. In what feels like too short a time, our paths will take us all far from one-another. I fear that our paths may never cross again, but those I have walked with these five months have shared a very important experience with me. An experience I can never forget. An experience I do not want to forget. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Italy.

AFS Exchange Student Jennifer: Presentation on her Year in Denmark

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:57:00 +0000

From Jennifer's blog chronicling her AFS Year exchange to Denmark.

AFS offers year programs to Denmark.

AFS Exchange Student Amy: Farm Stay in Iceland

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:27:00 +0000

My 1 week farm homestay. It was amazing. I was on a farm called Efri-Ey, and it is about a 30 minute drive from the nearest town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur (how´s that for a long name?!) which has 150 inhabitants. So basically it´s in the middle of nowhere. It is in the southeast of Iceland, and took about 5 hours by bus to get there. When I arrived in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, I was warmly welcomed by Maria (the German exchanger who I visited in Patreksfjörður during Easter... she moved to the farm 2 minutes down the road from Efri-Ey) and also by Sigrún, the daughter of the farm lady, and Andrea, Sigrún´s 17 year old daughter. Then I got to the farm and met Sara and Þórir, the owners of the farm. They are around 70 years old, and Þórir is ill so Sara does pretty much all of the work. The farm work was really fun. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Iceland.

AFS Exchange Student Tahoma: Having 'The Most Amazing Trip of My Life' in Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:55:00 +0000

A little over a week ago I returned from one of the most amazing trips of my life. First of all I would like to say thank you so much, all of you that made it possible for me to do this, without your help it would never have been able to go.

The trip was 10 days in the Amazon with 56 other exchange students from all around the world. We spent three nights in hotels, the first night in the Tropical Hotel, a five star hotel and the best in the city of Manaus (the capital of the state of Amazonas), and the next two nights in a hotel two hours out of the city in the middle of the forest. Then We all boarded two boats (there was a third boat that was the restaurant boat) for the next 6 days on the river. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Brazil.

AFS Exchange Student Veronica: Last AFS Camp in Hungary

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:57:00 +0000

The last orientation passed, wow. That's kind of frightening really. I won't ever see most of those people again. Wow. I missed half of it too because I stayed in Budapest to take my SAT on Saturday morning. It sikerült anyways. At least its over. I hadn't been in a room with that many Americans all year. I didn't get to talk to any of them though, because afterwards I had to book it to Keleti to get my train to Jászberény on time. I was early, but all the people that I asked for help gave me bad info. Hum. Oh well, when I finally got to the orientation they were in the middle of playing some kind of game. Here's the run down of it. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Hungary.

AFS Exchange Student Hannah: Last AFS Camp of the Semester in Paraguay

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:57:00 +0000

I know why you can never leave the Hotel California. It's a tangled maze of hallways, courtyards, rooms, and stairs in the middle of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay and happened to be the location of the last AFS camp of the semester.

Friday morning I got on a bus to Asunción with Jana (German exchanger in Pilar) to meet up with the Gran Asuncioñeros whom we got on another bus with to go to Ciudad del Este. I got to meet a lot of people who've been here since August, along with seeing a bunch of my friends from February again. Most of the people are from Germany, but there are also a few from Austria, Belgium, Iceland, the USA, France, Switzerland, and Turkey. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Paraguay.

AFS Exchange Student Martha: Photo Update from her Vacation to Italy

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:36:00 +0000

See more photos from Martha's side trip to Italy, during her student exchange to Germany.

AFS Exchange Student Miranda: School in France

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Today was fun, and different. This morning, I didn't have history, so school didn't start until 10. That allowed me to sleep in, which was really nice. My host mom had a hair appointment, so Pierrette's son took me to school. I swear I thought I was going to be late. He was late picking me up and he was slow on the road. I got to school at 10:03, and miraculously, the doors were still open. I pushed my way through the crowd of people and made it in JUST in time. Then I went into the courtyard and found Wendie, Joy, Alice, Alexandra and a couple other people getting ready to go to class. I cannot believe I made it on time, but I'm pretty happy that I did. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester and summer programs to France.

AFS Exchange Student Kendra: Calcio Craziness in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:14:00 +0000

In the USA the main sport is Football and in the rest of the world the main sport is also football, but a football of another type. And by another type I mean SOCCER!!! While I have been in Italy I have heard more talk of Calcio (which is soccer in Italian, even thought it really is the word for “kick”) then I have ever heard in my entire life of 17 years combined!! But I was bound to learn about why the Italians love it so much before I left Italy so hence the goal (get the pun???) to go to a professional soccer game before my time in Italy was up!! Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Italy.

AFS Exchange Student Hannah: Exploring Paraguay

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:43:00 +0000

This weekend was chilly and wet. Most of the inhabitants are indigenous people. Some people think there are still uncontacted tribes somewhere in the Chaco. Those that aren't indigenous are Mennonites from Germany, Ukraine, and Canada. The "lingua franca" is German in the cities, and in the indigenous communities Guaraní and other indigenous languages. Spanish is widely spoken as well, but signs come first in German, then Spanish. The Chaco has no natural resources, save the tannin extracted from some of its trees, and has been called "the green hell" on many occasions. This is where I was last weekend.

Friday I got on a bus at noon with Jana, the other AFSer in my town, and arrived in Asunción at about 7. There, we met up with the exchangers from Ciudad del Este, Encarnación, and Santa Rita and Fernando, the AFS volunteer from Capiatá. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Paraguay.

AFS Exchange Student Jessica: AFS Camp In Australia

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:31:00 +0000

We just got back from AFS camp today. It was most of our leaving camp. Though some of us hadn’t seen each other since the last camp, we picked up right where we left off. It isn’t like the normal people that you meet, you have something so in common that though you’ve only hung out with them a hand full of days it feels like years that you’ve known each other. On Friday it took us two hours to get there, my host mum Fiona and sister Danielle and I all went together. It was very rainy and cold. We were the first ones there, but once everyone got there and the others that we hadn’t met yet we all caught up. I haven’t laughed that hard in ages! Read more.

AFS offers Semester programs to Australia.

AFS Exchange Student Crystal: Getting Ready for a Year in the Netherlands

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:53:00 +0000

So after anxiously awaiting for The Netherlands link on the AFS website to turn blue, yesterday it finally did. When I clicked on it there was a big 33 page packet for me to read about The Netherlands, and of course I read it all. It was interesting. I just have to wait about the Visa stuff, but from what I read I need a residence permit or something that I have to get when I get there. Anyways on to the interesting things - I got this huge packet from AFS that is my host family's application (: They sound mad cool, so who knows. I also added my host sister on HYVES! (it's like a dutch myspace type thing) Read more.

AFS offers year programs to the The Netherlands

AFS Exchange Student Hailey: Munchin' on Mangoes in the Dominican Republic

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:02:00 +0000

MANGOES!!!!

It is totally mango season here. In Alaska mangoes cost bucketloads, but here there are millions of trees along the sides of roads and you can find them nearly everywhere, and free. My host mom said that with the money that a mango costs in the U.S. someone could buy a mango tree here. Or maybe two. So we have a huge basket full of mangoes in my house and I eat two or three a day..... :D and we have a mango tree, too, and a cherry tree and a guanabana tree (please don´t ask me what that is in English) that´s this weird looking green fruit with spiney things, and it´s white on the inside and has seeds that look like black almonds. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to the Dominican Republic

AFS Exchange Student Jessica: Contemplating her Return after a Semester in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Today in California is my best friend Breanne’s birthday. But talking to her made me think, will things be the same when I go home? I thought that maybe they could be at first. But talking to some of my friends- some for the first time since I left, the conversation was easy enough but how am I supposed to relate to them now? Part of me will always be there friend still, but the new part doesn’t know. Read more.

AFS offers Semester programs to Australia.

AFS Exchange Student Eric: Cruising Istanbul with other AFSers in Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:27:00 +0000

So, a group of fellow AFSers from all over Turkey decided to visit İstanbul over the weekend so I had no time to write. This past week was a lot of fun, I got to skip school, learn the bus system almost perfectly, and get absolutely no sleep. As I said I had two visitors, Kevin from Costa Rica and McKinely from the USA, stay at my house. We had to wake up early everyday to be able to catch the bus because I live really far away from the city and to get to the Bospherous by bus it takes up to 2 hours. Read more.

AFS offers year and summer programs to Turkey.

AFS Exchange Student Alli: Reflecting on a Semester in Portugal

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:32:00 +0000

The AFS experience is nothing like I thought it would be. First of all,when I first left Alaska I couldn't even imagine being away from my family, because I have gone through my whole life with them around. Being away from them was by far the biggest change. With my family I feel comfortable, I can express my feelings, and most importantly be myself and relax.

I initially felt lost in Portugal without that constant comfort and support, but I managed to get by. Gradually I got to know my friends better, my family host family helped me with everything, and keeping busy kept me from dwelling too much on how much I missed them (there is a name here for missing somebody that cannot be translated. It's to have "saudades". I immediately knew what people meant when they said they had "saudades"). Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Portugal.

AFS Poll: Where did AFS First Come into Your Life?

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:21:00 +0000

AFS Inspiration: Where did AFS First Come into Your Life?(opinion poll)

AFS Exchange Student Veronica: Skipping Around Europe from Hungary

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Sziasztok!

I don't know how to tell it all to you, there was just so much happening. Maybe just some of the places that we went? Eiffel Tower, Brussells, London Eye, British Museum, to the Crown Jewels, Leeds Castle, Westminster Abby, uncountable cathedrals, Napoleons tomb, Pickadilly Circus, The Tower Bridge, Champs-Élysées, boat tours, Canterbury, markets, shopping streets, crépe houses, bakeries, french McDonald's, hostels, trailer parks, the Louvre, and so much more that just isn'tt coming to mind right now. I think the best was Leeds Castle, it was stupendous! Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Hungary.

AFS Exchange Student Kathy: Getting Amped for Summer in Chile

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:15:00 +0000

Orientation was so much fun today, I got an AFS t-shirt! But really, the best part was being able to talk to the Returnees who just got back and were able to answer our questions and share their own experiences. So much advice in such a short period of time...

- Research as much as I can but don't have too many expectations,
- Make an effort to make plans with friends and be included,
- Pay attention to little pieces of culture,
- Always keep your safety in mind and use good judgment and common sense.

It was really cool to have the chance to talk to some of the other kids who are getting ready to go abroad. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Chile.

AFS Exchange Student Thomas: Hamburger Parties in Paraguay

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:32:00 +0000

The single biggest piece of news is that I changed schools. My new school is 4 blocks away, and I really like it. It's a public school as well as a trade school, which would normally mean trouble, but entrance is based on test scores so all the kids are relatively motivated and nice. A couple of my classmates have actually said directly that they thought I'd assimilated into the class really well, so I'm feeling pretty good about that situation. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Paraguay.

AFS Exchange Student Amy: Icelandic Horses and Election Day

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Saturday, was a pretty awesome day, personally for me, and also for all of Iceland. I went on a horseback riding trip with AFS, and it also happened to be election day where all the seats in the Alþing (parliament/legislature) were voted on.

Lara, an exchange student from Austria living in a town an hour outside of Reykjavík, came to my house the night before so she could stay here and be able to meet in Reykjavík for the horse trip. Then we woke up pretty early on Saturday morning so we could get to the AFS office at 9 for the trip. Then we met there, and got in cars to go to Hveragerði, a town like 45 minutes away. When we arrived in Hveragerði, we went to Eldhestar (the horse company which means like “fire” or “volcano” horses. There, we were a group of people from maybe 15 different countries, taught by Swedish people how to ride Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses are REALLY special! Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Iceland.

AFS Exchange Student Kendra: "80% Through and Growing up" in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Percentages are funny things. They are completely scientific and completely without emotions. They do not take into account anything except the numbers. They don’t lie to lessen the blow of what they are saying. They don’t care if they are bringing good news or bad news. They give you the way it is without emotion. Tell you how it is and you have to accept it one way or another. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Italy.

AFSer Miranda: BBQing in France

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Today after I was up and ready, I washed the lawn chairs with Pierre and helped my host mom prepare for the family BBQ. Around noon, Thomas and his family showed up. Then came Annick, Luc (who just got back from Canada), Grandma, Mme Noël, and Samuel (Annick's son). We ate the appetizers and Luc told us about his trip to Canada. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester and summer programs to France.

AFSer Veronica: Photo Update from Hungary

noreply@blogger.com (This blog is...) — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:40:00 +0000

See more photos on Veronica's Blog.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Hungary.