Ever been a foreign exchange student?

I have the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student for a whole year at a country of my choice. (Well, there's about 60 countries worldwide to choose from) It is about $5K but I can get help from the rotary club, work extra shifts etc. Family won't give a dime though Knowing the country's primary language beforehand isn't required, though I speak Spanish, a bit of Albanian, am learning Chinese, and a smidgen of Irish Gaelic. (Will never use that though ) Not sure what country I would pick, somewhere in Europe probably. I was thinking either Turkey, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Albania, or Greece. We also have the opportunity to be a host family, which would probably be a cool experience itself. Not really an ideal candidate though. Anyone here ever do something like this?

Originally Posted by Big Punisher

Click to expand...

I have the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student for a whole year at a country of my choice. (Well, there's about 60 countries worldwide to choose from) It is about $5K but I can get help from the rotary club, work extra shifts etc. Family won't give a dime though

Knowing the country's primary language beforehand isn't required, though I speak Spanish, a bit of Albanian, am learning Chinese, and a smidgen of Irish Gaelic. (Will never use that though

) Not sure what country I would pick, somewhere in Europe probably. I was thinking either Turkey, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Albania, or Greece.

We also have the opportunity to be a host family, which would probably be a cool experience itself. Not really an ideal candidate though.

Anyone here ever do something like this?

Have hosted a foreign exchange student before, we (and he) enjoyed it immensely. He had friends though who had considerably less-positive experiences, and iirc, two of his peers had to be moved to new host parents for various reasons. In some cases it is a MAJOR culture shock.

Originally Posted by Big Punisher

Click to expand...

I have the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student for a whole year at a country of my choice. (Well, there's about 60 countries worldwide to choose from) It is about $5K but I can get help from the rotary club, work extra shifts etc. Family won't give a dime though

Knowing the country's primary language beforehand isn't required, though I speak Spanish, a bit of Albanian, am learning Chinese, and a smidgen of Irish Gaelic. (Will never use that though

) Not sure what country I would pick, somewhere in Europe probably. I was thinking either Turkey, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Albania, or Greece. We also have the opportunity to be a host family, which would probably be a cool experience itself. Not really an ideal candidate though. Anyone here ever do something like this?
I'd probably pick Turkey; I never really was interested in it before, but a few good Turkish friends have really made it seem a unique and interesting place. Given the choice now of doing a year program, that's probably where I'd pick. Of course, you might view this as a good way to increase your fluency in a language that will help you in a future career... in which knowing Turkish may not be that useful. Btw, I've worked abroad, but I never did it as a student... though I travelled on my own here and there. SO, I can't say much about the rest.

Your host family will be religious nuts who starve you with a vegan diet and make you sleep in a tent outside. They will brain wash you into starting a church of their religion in your home country. Happens on the news all the time.

I wonder if female foreign exchange students ever get seduced by their male hosts. Would make a great porno.

Originally Posted by Reggs

Click to expand...

Your host family will be religious nuts who starve you with a vegan diet and make you sleep in a tent outside. They will brain wash you into starting a church of their religion in your home country. Happens on the news all the time.
Will build character. And be a conversation piece.

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Click to expand...

I wonder if female foreign exchange students ever get seduced by their male hosts. Would make a great porno.
This was the plan I hope there's an interview process both ways, don't want to be stuck with some serial killahs. I was thinking Turkey, Istanbul seems like one of the most interesting cities on earth. Main setback is money.

I have never been on an exchange longer than a couple of weeks, but I have friends who did long exchanges and really enjoyed them.
You hear stories about people being set up with crazy families and so on, but really if someone half decent is organizing your exchange they should have been carefully vetted. I stayed with a family on my gap year for a while (month and a bit?) and they were really nice, many other people I met out there stayed far longer and all had a great time. The famlies that host do it because they want to get to know someone from another background, so mostly open minded and nice, some do it for money, but even then there are easier ways to earn money - they must enjoy it.

If you can swing it financially I would do it, once in a lifetime opportunity and all that. I would go somewhere with a useful language/a language you already speak a bit of though.

Spent a long weekend in Istanbul, very cool place.

Pick the language you want to learn and then pick a country that speaks it.

Its a worthwhile life experience. I second on the Turkey part. It seems like a very interesting country. I lived with a host family in rural Japan, just north of Tokyo for 3 months. It sucked ass, but mostly because my family were a bunch of dicks, the host mom couldnt cook for ****, and I had over a 2 hour commute (each way, combined waking, biking, and train) to school. On the other hand, every other experience I have had living with Japanese families has been quite good.

lol, 2 hr commute? haha.

I was an excahnge student in college, did it for 2 years. All-women's university, it was hard to beat. I recommend you bring a good amount of money; it's possible, but generally part time employment is not an option when you're abroad most places. I have seen a lot of exchange students ass out towards the end (or even the get go) due to lack of money and they could only afford to go to class, go to the cafeteria or eat cup ramen everyday, and lock themselves in their rooms. It costs money to be away from home, a lot of it. It's not fun to be poor anywhere, but being put in a situation like that with no money is not my idea of a good experience.

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Click to expand...

I wonder if female foreign exchange students ever get seduced by their male hosts. Would make a great porno.

My friend's wife is a school teacher. They host at least one exchange student per year. They had one that was 18. . . and really hot with a great accent.

Not a situation I'd want to put myself in, just sayin.

Originally Posted by Reggs

Click to expand...

Your host family will be religious nuts who starve you with a vegan diet and make you sleep in a tent outside. They will brain wash you into starting a church of their religion in your home country. Happens on the news all the time.

Happened to me. True story.


Some of it anyway.

I'm dying to check out Istanbul, so if you have the chance to go there you should take it. So I can live vicariously through you (no ****!!!)

The one thing I regret and never did in college...definitely should you have the opportunity go for it and bang some girls and drink lots of booze in the visiting country.

Spent a semester at Sydney Uni as part of an exchange/study abroad thing. The decision to go there was probably the best in my life.

I had a fantastic time there and wouldn't want to miss the experience. But as already said, it is extremely expensive, because you do want to travel the country and do a lot of things there. So, if you have the opportunity, do it!