American Intercultural Student Exchange > Reviews (2)

I haven't been a particularly active member on Ciao so far so I had no idea the range of categories available to read and write reviews on. I came across the exchange programme section and felt very strongly that I should share my experiences of my exchange trip to the USA with other readers who may be interested, or who's children may be interested in participating in such a scheme.

It may seem like a strange choice of gap year project, particularly for an English-speaking teenager, but something about spending a year of my life living in the US as an American high school student just grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Most young people who take a gap year between secondary and higher education go to Thailand or Australia, or just waste it away at home, but I always had the feeling that neither of these would be right for me. I didn't feel old enough to go travelling alone and most of my good friends were going straight onto university, and I didn't just want to spend a year living at home.

So when I found a flyer for the exchange scheme in my school library during the first year of my A Levels, I was enchanted. I had always wanted to go to the States and here was a company offering to place you with a family and enrol you in an American High School where you would spend a year of your life making new friends, experiencing so many new things, and living the American dream!! Apart from having a passion for visiting the States, I liked the structured nature of the programme, and even the academic side appealed to me. I knew I had to do it.

The first stage of the process is to attend an interview in London with the English branch of AISE. It's pretty informal really, so no need to be nervous, the key is to just be yourself, be enthusiastic about your interests and hobbies, and the programme itself, and about the things you think you would like to do in the States. I can't comment on the success rate of interview candidates, but I was accepted, and receiving the information through the post was so exciting. I didn't yet know where I would be staying, or even in which State, but it didn't matter. I would be spending 10 months of my life there, and it was thrilling.

The costs are quite steep, but cover your flights, insurance, various other things that I don't remember and was too excited to care about, but it was what I wanted to do and I worked a part time job and saved all the money I could for my experience. Host families do not get paid to look after exchange students; they are unique families whose only reward for putting up young people from around the world is for the rich cultural experience it offers both their family and the community. Most host families have students every year, they love doing it so much.

I received a call from my host family in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a few months before I was due to go on my trip. It was incredibly exciting and I remember going straight to my atlas to see where it was I would be travelling to. It didn't matter to me, as the exchange programme do not choose host families in big cities like New York or LA, they are all about the true American experience, living normally like other normal American teenagers, so I expected to be placed somewhere I had never heard of before!!

To be honest I could write 100 pages about my experience from start to finish and if anyone has any questions about the programme I would be more than happy to discuss it at length!! But I will TRY to keep to the main points here.

Leaving the country was difficult, as obviously I have never spent ten months away from my parents before and it was an extremely daunting prospect, but as soon as I was on the plane my spirits lifted - I was doing something so different and exciting, and I knew it was the right thing for me. A word of warning - make sure EVERYTHING that is sent to you in the way of official documents is safely packed and in your hand luggage - I had problems on both sides of the water because of a pink form that I should have had, explaining why I had a Visa - they are HOT on it, and American customs staff are EXTREMELY hostile - I can't emphasise this enough, as it was a really unpleasant start to my experience being interrogated by American customs men who thought I was an illegal immigrant!! Don't let it happen to you!!

Anyway enough of that. I had a connecting flight from North Carolina to Arkansas. I felt so calm and relaxed in between my flights and took the chance to immerse myself in American culture by buying the biggest slice of pizza I had ever seen!! But it was much more nerve-wracking as I left the plane in Arkansas - I was about to meet my new family, and see the place I would be spending my time!!!

From my first few weeks my abiding memories are: eating a lot of very good, very fattening food, waiting by the computer at 5:00 am one morning in August to receive my A Level results (and finding out I had got into my first choice University!), fantastic weather, beautiful scenery, trying not to buy everything in sight, and just generally settling in. The exchange agency normally organise it so you have about two weeks to settle into your home before the school term starts, so you are familiar with your surroundings before another new experience is thrown at you. They also send you lots of paperwork about getting used to culture shock, and I mostly ingored it, thinking that it couldn't be that different from life in England - I couldn't have been more wrong. Be prepared for a shock - speaking the same language helps, but it really isn't everything - in fact it's about the only similarity! The lifestyle in the States is very different, especially in the quiet towns that exchange students end up in - it's a far cry from English life, and there is even a kind of language barrier, in that the dialects you will come across use words that you don't use, so you have to get used to that too. But that's all part of the fun.

My first day at my new school was terrifying!! But it didn't take long to settle in. The Americans hear one sentence in an English accent and they're all over you, you'll make friends immediately. The range of classes on offer is much wider than an English school and you take more subjects, so I was able to choose many new things I hadn't thought of studying before, like American Government, World Policitics, Spanish, Astronomy… I was amazed at how much like a film American High School seems at first.

There really are football player with letter jackets, popular cheerleaders, different groups of people, everything you would expect, except somehow it's actually real and you are a part of it. It takes some getting used to I can tell you!!

I was very lucky in that the school I attended had a very strong exchange programme and there were about six of us there during the year. The international students shared a bond, no matter where they were from, because of the new experiences that we all shared. I was good friends with students from Brazil, Germany, Ukraine and Moldova to mention the main ones!!

The academic side of school life is a funny one. All the subjects I took were very interesting and I learnt a lot of new things. However, for the most part they were incredibly easy, and as a result exchange students always tend to do well in their schools - I was particularly lucky as I was an English-speaker also - so I had that pretty much covered, and it meant I could enjoy the social side of things even more! The exchange programme encourages students to get involved with as much as they can whilst in their schools and communities, whether it be drama, sport or music. I got involved with the school 'soccer' team, being a huge English football fan I knew more about it than the Americans and ending up managing the team, and having a great relationship with fellow players and also the coaches.

You might have noticed I haven't spent much time elaborating on my home life in my first few weeks. I will not waste time explaining what happened with my first host family, but it went wrong - through no fault of my own - and it meant I had to find another family. At this stage I would like to mention that AISE were sympathetic, but extremely unhelpful, and for a while I was panicking. I was eight weeks or so into my trip, and was told by the regional rep that if I couldn't find another host family in the area MYSELF, that I would have to be relocated somewhere else. At that stage I had just settled in, made friends and was throwing myself whole-heartedly into American life, and so the though of being torn away from it was awful. I was so unbelievably lucky, that my friend Carmen from Brazil, another exchange student, had told her host family about me and they invited me to move into their house. It was perfect, and after that little blip was ironed out I began again, in a wonderful family who made me a part of their lives straight away.

Anyway, I have to try and stop waffling. About AISE, the exchange company. Here's the truth: do not give them a single cause for concern, and you will have a great time and probably love them. Have any problems? Don't rely on them. It's hard, because I want to tell EVERYONE to do this, it's the most amazing thing I could imagine doing on a gap year, but at the same time just be careful. I got through the problems I had with a lot of support from people around me both in the States and back home, NOT because of AISE. They did not help me AT ALL.

Having said that, if you want to meet other exchange students and have a good time, do get involved with them, as they organise regular meets within regions, and two trips a year to other parts of the States - I went on a week-long trip to Florida where I had a fabulous time, (despite the 36-hour coach journey each way!) and met a great group of people from all round the world. They're basically a fair-weather support group.

Also - try and make sure you get documentation sent over, or packed in your suitcase, about what exams you've passed in England - I was allowed to graduate with my class, which was a fabulous day and well worth doing, but the school I was at made it difficult for me and I had to work through it with some very nice letters from teachers from home and various GCSE certificates. Again, no help from AISE, they left it up to me to sort out, but just to let you know that if your school is reluctant to let you graduate, persist and work at it because the result was one of the best days I had in the US - and an important part of the American HIgh Shool experience - so go for it!!

Anyway - the rest of the year, in not too many words. It was FANTASTIC!!! I went to the Homecoming dance, football matches, basketball matches, youth groups, county fairs, quad-biking in the snow, outdoor parties, indoor parties, New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, so many good restaurants, beaches, lakes, the Mall, the PROM!!! I even had to go to the dentist there for emergency surgery - even they were fantastic!! The absolute worst thing about the trip was leaving. In the last couple of weeks you feel so emotional, and part of you desperately wants to stay, but on the plus side it's great coming home to see your family and friends, and knowing that you have the amazing experience of university to come.

It's everything you imagine and more. I could describe everything about my trip in detail, the memories have stayed with me these past seven years and haven't faded at all. I am still in touch with my host family on a regular basis - they came over to England for my 21st, and again quite recently, and I have been back to the States to visit them twice since my ten months there ended.

America is a great country, despite what you might hear in the media; Americans are warm, generous, caring, interesting people who give more than any other group of people I have met - they are fantastic hosts, great teachers, and great friends. If you are even thinking about doing this, I would urge you to go for it, find out more, ask me any questions you might have if you would like, whatever - but just GO FOR IT!!!! I loved it so much there was even a time when I seriously considered not coming home, and going to university in the States instead! Luckily I changed my mind, and ended up having a great time at the University of Birmingham (see my review!). But my love for that country will never fade, and I want to go back there many, many more times.

NB - My ratings are mainly based on my experience rather than the exchange company. They were not a big part of my life in the States; this was a personal viewpoint though so take it as you will!!