Host family???

Question

me and my mom were talking and she was thinkin that i could go study in japan. since i really want to go. but how would it go about for someone that is 17 yrs old.

and are host families kind

Answer 1

I havnt been on exchange, but im planning to go next year (year 11) to Japan. As the above person said dont let her host family story worry you, it was just unlucky. Plus (i dont know how long ago she went on exchange) but now every exchange program that i have looked at (thats quite a few) allows you to change host families if need be.

Personally, unlike the person above, i really want to go to school their, because i dont want to go there for just a holiday, i want to be immersed in the culture and live like they do, as well as make friends.

If it helps i know a few people who have gone on exchange, one is in Italy right now, and they all had a great time and had great host families.

Answer 2

Hi Nacia,

staying with a local host family is a great way to really immerse yourself in the Japanese culture and the everyday way of life!  Of course, it is important that you get along well with your hosts.  Maybe it would make sense for you to go through an organization that matches you with a family based on shared interests and offers counseling in case of cultural misunderstandings?  

Below you will find the link to a Homestay Study program in Fukuoka, a beautiful city on the island of Kyushu.  You could stay with a welcoming host family for just two weeks or longer, while studying Japanese with other international teens and exploring ancient traditions like the tea ceremony, as well as modern trends like anime and manga.

You could also choose to study at a Japanese high school for 5 or 10 months and live with a local family for the time of your stay.  

If you were interested, I'd be happy to connect you and your mother with students (and their parents) who have gone to Japan with Andeo International Homestays and would love to share their experiences with you.

Answer 3

I went on exchange to Japan when I was in grade 11, (17ish i think), and I would really like to say that it was great, but I had a terrible time. My host family was terrible, they made me feel like a burden and the lack of communication made everyone grouchy. I spent 6 months there compeletly depressed, but I was determined to stick it out. My dad came and met me at the end of my stay and we travelled around Japan for the last couple weeks of my stay, and this made it completly worth it.

I don't want that to discourage you though. My suggestions are to first figure out if your school will give you any highschool credits while you are there. If no - like myself - I would say avoid a school study abroad program. If yes then you need to decide if its worth it to go to school while you are there. And the reason I say this is because I realized after that with the money I spent to go, and to not get any credit in the end, I would have rathered spend the money and go there as a trip and spend my time freely, not being in a foreign school.

my other suggestion is to really figure out what you are looking to do.  are you wanting to learn the language and culture? go to school with their students? do you want to get away for a few months - even a year? or are you just looking for a short term experience?

my friend went on a 6 week exchange to Japan and loved it.  They moved her around to thrree different host families so she avoided being uncomfortable, and experienced different lives. and that time length was good for her. I personally wanted to go longer though.

Don't let my host family story scare you though, I met some great families there whom I would have loved to live with. I just lucked out.  I also don't want to discourage you from wanting to go, but just consider what it is you are looking for, it may be exactly what you want.  It was what I wanted too. but from retrospect, I wish I had done it differently.

I could talk about this forever, sorry.  hope that gave you some insight.  good luck with the planning.  ( oh and there should be lots of programs online that you can research that will help you get there - and don't forget, in most case you will have to host a Japanese student as well. but not always)

check this out:

http://ca.dir.yahoo.com/Education/Progra...

I went with JFIE (from Canada)