I stopped my Exchange Year | Exchange Year 2017/2018 

Hey! I know exactly how you feel... It is my biggest dream too but I am so afraid of failure.. Wanna talk about it? Ps I am currently seriously thinking about going to UK in 2019 for the second semester!

Josipa hey, im seriously thinking abt going too, but im so afraid of failure, so i wanted to ask u how is it going for u rn ?

Don’t ever think you’re not going to make it! If you believe in yourself (sounds weird but it’s true) you can do anything!

Hey - tell me about your journey! Did you go?

Don’t be afraid ❤️ You can do this!

Thank you 😊

I'm really sorry about your son! There were quite a few points about my school and why I really didn't like it. The school system between America and Germany (where I come from) is really different. I had the same subjects every day and my school started at 08:30 AM till 04:15PM so one lesson was about 1 1/2 hours wich was pretty long for my experiences. I also couldn't get a good connection between my classmates and me. Every lesson you have new classmates and some of them just didn't want to spend time with me because I was an Exchange Student and because I'm just going to be there for 10 months. Not every school or every person is the same but apparently on my school it was like this :) For me it wasn't really easy to stop my Exchange Year but I just had to do what's best for me. I always had the back of my parents wich was also really helpful for me. I hope you and your son can get to a good solution and both of you should be happy about your final decision - no matter what! If I can help you in any way just ask me :) ❤️

Thank you so much for responding. Exactly the same: Being a person with social skills, it frustrates him he can´t have friends even he tries very hard. The only friends he has are the other exchange students who live in towns next to where he lives but as he can't drive and there is not pubic transpotation he only can see them every time some one can drive him or the organization schedules a meeting with them wich is every 3 months. While it was summer or the begining of fall he used to go where ever he wanted riding a bycicle but now with temperatures under -3° it is impossible for him so he must stay in home. I think our expectations were too high.

Tito Acosta You’re so welcome! I think everyone has expectations for their exchange year but sometimes it turns out different than you expected it to be. Sometimes it’s just not the right thing and I thought maybe an exchange year isn’t that good for me right now. Maybe I’ll try again in a few years but right now I’m just happy to be back home because even though I’m not an exchange student anymore it’s been a good experience and at least I tried haha. I know a few who also stopped so it’s not that bad because I’m not the only one who experienced that. As i said i hope you guys are happy with what you’re going to decide ❤️

Hi, my son finally has decide to stop his exchange year. One question: Did they have to make any changes to your J1-Visa or DS-2019 form? if yes, how long did it take to make those changes? Thank you for your response.

Tito Acosta Hey! No, as I came back they cancelled my J1 Visa. I didn’t have to do anything and you actually don’t have to care about this because the organization is making it on their own

Thank you :)

Thank you so much! Yes that is so true! I still love and miss my hostfamily but if you're absolutely not comfortable at the school and the only way would be to change hostfamily - that was not an option for me. You can be really proud that you stayed, not many do that! ❤️

Wow! Sounds amazing that you can go there again! :) I’m really sorry for you that it didn’t worked out first way. I hope you have an awesome time!! ❤️

Which organisation did you went to?

do you have instagram? i’d love to talk you ;)

i feel you man its going HORRIBLE, I regret it so much

Nafsika what is your host country?

Sophie Emma I’m in the US

I feel exactly the same man, just remember you're not alone. Are things better now or are you feeling the same way as before?

Kate Haberl I’m really sorry for you, I hope it’ll get better ❤️

Well it's been two months and my exchange is soooo much better! I have a new host family and honestly everything has been way better. I have friends now and all I can say is that I just had to give it some time.

Kate Haberl That sounds awesome! I’m so happy for you! ☺️ Sorry that I was responding so late

oh my lord I am going on an exchange in 4 month and this video scared the shit out of me lol

lovely 123 nooo hahha you don’t have to be scared ❤️ It’ll be great!

Thanks! I hope you guys have a great year together! :)

+Sophia Nicholls I’m so sorry for you as well! I hope you had a great experience so far

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am so sorry for you 💗 Hope you’re doing well ✨

thewabworld I feel so sorry for you! I know exactly how you feel and I hope that you can change ASAP because it’s definitely not good. ❤️

@h how about you how are you doing now

+Hakim Palanggalan Thank you! Yes, maybe an exchange Year just wasn’t the right decision for me :)

I'm also an Exchange Student, right now i'm in NC but, i don't know, before i came here i was so happy and so excited about it and when i finally came, omg everything was so awesome the first 3 months were fantastic, Thanksgiving and Christmas too! But i don't know right now, i don't feel good, i feel like i am not an exchange student, i feel like a normal student at my school, like nobody recognize me around, my and I parents do not do so much things together, i do not ask for going out every weekend doing expensive things, no. But i don't know i have a friend he is also an exchange student and i see him most of the time doing cool stuff with his parents and he has a lot of friends! Technically everybody at school knows and love him, i just don't know what happened, i don't know what i haven't done right, i'm just bored every day at home, my host brother is so nice i love him, but i just don't know what to say or to do, i feel like invisble at school and yeah i already talked to my Coordinator here and she told me to try to be better and talk more but nothing changed

Thank you! I hope you’re doing well! 💗

Thank you for your understanding! I can just say that leaving was the best thing I could’ve done! I’m really happy now and as I said in my video - I grew as a person ☺️

Léonie VZ salut, j’ai vu que t’etais francaise, je réfléchis sérieusement à partir aux us en exchange student aussi, du coup je voulais savoir, est ce que ta situation s’est améliorée ?

Hi I know you wrote that 3 years ago but I desperately need help I’ve never felt that bad in my life. I cry all the time I try to hide it but everything literally everything is reminding of my family. A colour, a street, a tree that looks similar to one I have in my garden back home. I knew and know that I am really sensitive and I love my family and I knew before I started that it probably will be really hard. But now I am here and I cannot stop crying I disappointed in myself. But i feel like that and nothing helps. I talk and do a lot with my host family really that helps maybe a little bit but not really the fact that my family is far away and I am alone and will be alone for months is so terrifying. Maybe I was not ready for my exchange year maybe I need some years to grow and get older. The thing is my host family they are so nice everything is perfect but I feel like I am drowning. For instance I cannot listen to 70% of my favourite music because it reminds me of a certain situation or day back home. I do not know whats wrong with me.

I want to quit and stop the whole thing. But what will others think of me I live in a really small town many know that I am away and what do I say then. I know this is a silly reason but I need to write that all down it helps a bit. I am not hunrgy, motivated or anything. I tried to watch dump videos on youtube or a netflix series but my mind won’t shut up. I am saying to myself lets try it for a month. One and then you decide but I mean if I am already feeling like this now and I arrived yesterday what should I really do. I want to try for one month but I am so scared help me

AlwaysMeSophie Vielen lieben Dank ☺️ Solche Kommentare bedeuten mir echt viel! 💖

Hello, I am planning to do an exchange year to Germany! I was wondering if there is anything I need to know before I get there? Vielen Dank! Also, ich komme aus mexico.

Thank you so much that's making me so happy to hear! ❤️ I really thought that I wouldn't get homesick but I've been almost the only one who cried for 2 days straight hahah! I'm so glad that I could help you with that :) How has your Exchange been? Thanks a lot! I hope my videos are not getting boring lol ☺️

bibiabroad of course it had it’s ups and downs but its has been great! I also had to deal with some stuff in my family which is kind of difficult for me sometimes but I love them so much and the people from my organisation are so kind and helpful! I don’t want to leave yet but every story has an end right? Your videos are not boring at all I enjoy watching them! 💗

+Anouk V. Thank you! 💖 I’m so happy for you!

Das freut mich total für dich! Immerhin kannst du stolz sein dass du es „durchgezogen“ hast ☺️ Hab noch eine schöne Zeit 💗

I Kept Watching Till - I Tried to Find Out - from Where Did You fly to America ! So You speak German as Your 1st Language ? Alles Gut ! 30% of Americans has German heritage !

Stina Nighy I went with EF - Education First ☺️

fooxtina E Vielen vielen Dank das bedeutet mir wirklich sehr viel ❤️ Ich hatte davor immer gesagt ich würde auf keinen Fall abbrechen aber als Dinge dann anders gelaufen sind als ich mir vorstellte war ich einfach am Ende und das einzige was ich wollte war nur noch nach Hause. Wenn es einem persönliche an einem Punkt einfach nicht gut geht fande ich es ist wichtiger auf die Gesundheit zu schauen anstatt auf das was man in dem Jahr hätte machen können. Klar vermisse ich meine Familie und Amerika aber hab du keine Angst davor was passieren könnte sondern genieße einfach wirklich jeden Augenblick 💖

Hab deinen Kommentar gerade gescreenshoted, weil das echt Kraft gibt. Hab manchmal auch paar Zweifel und Gesundheit ist wirklich das wichtigste. Irgendwie herrscht wegen dem hohen Preis auch so ein Druck dass das Jahr toll werden muss, wie gesagt bist ein totales Vorbild

Vielen Dank das ist echt super lieb :) Kein Auslandjahr ist komplett perfekt aber die Zeit die ich in Amerika verbracht hatte war eine der besten Zeiten meines Lebens - auch mit tiefen 😅 Wenn du noch Fragen hast kannst du sie mir gerne stellen da ich demnächst eh ein Video drehen werde, wie es mir jetzt so geht :) Ich hoffe du hast ein tolles Auslandsjahr! ❤️

Tim Smith Thank You! No it doesn’t haha I still love the US 💖

We didn’t get a total refund, 50$ for each month I didn’t „attend“ so it’s almost nothing compared to the amount we payed 😬 I totally understand your concerns but if you never try you’ll never know 💓

How much does it cost?

+Paula Schütte What nooo omg why ❤️ Write me ASAP omg hahah ☺️

Why do you go home? ( I do not want to be rude but I am on exchange year right now and I have never ever felt so bad in my entire life I do not know what to do. And it seems to me that everybody on the internet is just repeating the same sentence “it will get better you just have to wait.... blabla” My problem is I am homesick and I tried many things all those tips and tricks you can find on the internet but my mind won’t shut up it is really bad. I read about a few people that like said yes I got homesick affer 3 weeks or some months or during christmas but not me from the first day I have started to feel homesick like hell ( sorry for that expression) I know you might not be able to help me but I need to write this down it helps a little bit like a diary and maybe someone out there reads this and is able to answer or help me.

Hi, not sure if you’ll see this but I’m on an exchange year this year and I relate to all this. Did you get through it in the end? Did you leave home early? What did you do to make it work? If you had time for a chat I’d really appreciate it:)

Close to Chesapeake :)

me too

@@gaiacolleoni4673 i want to go too but because of miss corona i think we have to wait

@@malaks7809 I have already lost my chance, I had to leave in august

@@gaiacolleoni4673 I hope you had fun at least, sucks that things get ruined because of what we are go through

What kind of bad vibes are you getting? ❤️

You’ve already made it so far! Why are you considering flying back? 😓

I went threw AYUSA exchange student program. Feel free to ask me... I help you.

How was your exchange after you changed hostfamily?

You see, I like your question. First of all, I lived with eight people and me. One exchange student from Cologne, Germany lived with me too. I changed the family, because the first family had some problems. It is no bad or good experience. The first Host Family, they were never talking with me for their problems. They want to show me that they are one kind happy family.But, I do not belive in this. They were like very rich. I lived with Mormon Family's both times. They are very diffrent.

When I went to the other family, I realy like it better. Because, for evryone of us in the family evrything was same.

This is very important thing .

Danke :) ❤️

bitchplease It will never be as you expect it but I’m sure you’d have a great year! 💓

you really have to do exchange man. its a once in a lifetime situation that i feel everyone should experience. experiences are always different and everyones exchange is different.

I'm currently doing my exchange here in Canada and even though it's tough af and I really considered going back but still I don't regret doing this and besides all the hard times I love it and I'm happy about my decision to be here

Da es doch etwas mehr interessiert glaube ich dass ich doch ein kurzes Video darüber drehen würde, jedoch hab ich so in etwa einen Gewissen Teil in einem unteren Kommentar erwähnt :)

meghan754 No, they didn’t do a non disclosure clause but my parents just don’t want me to talk about everything that happened on the internet :) I can tell people at home and of course my friends but this just doesn’t have to be on RU-vid. I hope you understand that 🌷My exchange year had many changes because I had to change hostfamily first and then I was completely alone at my school and nobody didn’t really tell my hostparents anything, we didn’t even know when school would start cause no one told us.. After so many complications me and my parents decided that I’d be better for me to fly home and keep on doing my school here in Germany :)

Ok, I totally understand that, Best Wishes for you!

My second host family didn’t want me to go to the school and they tried to talk to my organization about homeschooling me. But because it’s an “High School Exchange Year” it wasn’t allowed. Anyway, I don’t know if they ever sent other students to the school but if they did maybe it was better then my experience.

He was realy awesome. I need to live, with two diffrent familys. To have a good year as exchange student, the first thing is to have a GOOD and kind host family, and a very very good representative. And the Agency that brings to USA to be good. I was going with the program from AYUSA, that are realy one of the best agency for exchange students like in the world.

Who reads this, and somehow want to do exchange student program be aware to have contact with your Representative. You arrive in your host family, talk with her/him. Evry month call to this person. Take advice from this person. And do not be dissapointed.

I really like your true strory. You are amazing person. You see, my host family was expecting to use things that they are using. But when I ask to buy me or give from their things they do not give me. You see...Sharing is the real thing in the program. I do not know what kind of Shampoo, or what kind of food to eat...you can buy me or share your thing. That is the Exchange and Cultural program to be.

Why I need to change my first Host Family ? Because they have some financial problems..probably. I do not know.

Thank you for your amazing response! I am really sorry about your experience.. I definitely understand how you must have felt!

Ich hab das Auslandsjahr eigentlich nicht wirklich wegen meinem Englisch gemacht sondern eher um in Amerika zu leben & Erfahrungen wie Highschool usw. zu machen :) Hab hald schon sehr früh angefangen Englisch zu lernen - vorallem wegen meiner Familie in Kanada 🇨🇦 Klar ist es Mega die Umstellung die ganze Zeit nur englisch zu reden, ist selbst für mich anfangs schwer da wieder richtig reinzukommen weil man einfach viel Vokabeln vergisst wenn man sie nicht täglich braucht 😅 Also mach dir da keine Sorgen mit der Zeit kommt das schon & ich bin mir sicher dass es dir in 2 Monaten besser gehen wird ☺️

No, I didn't give up. You don't know me as a person - just through what I've said in my videos. I wasn't okay with my school, neither anyone else was. Yes, I was homesick. But that was only in my first 3 days abroad. After I got to know my host family better I wasn't feeling bad at all! I loved it. When highschool started me and my family, including my host family noticed that it wouldn't work out at all (with my school). Highschool had already begun in the other States so it would've been really hard to get into a different school. America is so much different than Europe. They need to check your health certificates first (idk what exactly this is called) but even my organization didn't know what to do. Don't talk bad about people if you don't know their background. I've tried. As hard as I could. But I didn't want to try longer and I wanted to go home. That was my decision​ and the best I've ever made. Those 3 weeks changed my life and I grew as a person. It was a great experience and I'm proud of it.

I don’t really know to be honest. If you really think about going on exchange you should definitely try it ☺️ I got to know so many people and even tho so many stopped - there are also a lot who had their best year ☺️❤️

lovely 123 Yes, just be open for everything and try as many things as possible. My first day together with my hostparents was awesome - I tried shellfish’s and I’m so glad I did! Don’t be afraid of trying new things and don’t think too much about everything that’s happening in your homecountry :)

Pirito Cuellar it’s different, depends on the Organisation 🙈 you can look it up on the internet because if you do a state choice (in which state you’d like to go) you might have to pay more

I still love the US and not every school is like mine so I'm really positive about it :) Thank you ❤️

the_real_one x what whole time?

@@breeshey u said that u cried in scool and i wondered what could have happened that u cried the whole time in school

So I was 16 at that time and I had a rough time starting my exchange year because I’ve lost my host family a week before it started. Then there were problems with my school which I won’t talk about and I had homesickness. People cry to express their feelings so it’s nothing bad about it.

I'm really sorry it turned out like this! Changing host-family isn't easy and I totally get how you feel. I guess that's why you've been crying a lot as well. I hope you're doing better now! How did it turn out? 💓​

Breeshey the organization (Yfu) turned out to be really shitty and they blamed my mental health problems for the shit I lived (like being sexually abused by the host dad or living with a 60 year old woman who treated me like shit and didn’t give me any food) during my exchange and they sent me back to Mexico (my home) without asking me or my parents consent. At least I am home now.

Das kommt ganz darauf an ob du auch noch verschiedene Staatenwahlen usw. machen willst. EF bietet jedoch auch Sprachreisen an - aber ich würde mich an deiner Stelle einfach mal mit EF in Verbindung setzten und dich beraten lassen ☺️

Nein, meine Eltern haben von dem gesamten Preis nur 450€ zurückbekommen. Wenn du noch mehr Fragen hast könnte ich ein Q&A darüber machen :)

iFAYxi My school is one of the reasons why I stopped so I won’t talk about this on the internet :) I hope you understand that. 🙈

I guess just don't think about any bad things like homesickness or not finding any friends. I hope you'll have an awesome trip! Where exactly are you going to? :)​

@@breeshey I don't exactly know, because in YFU Germany they put your photo and few informations on their website and than host family can choose you. So I will know when somebody choose me.

what year did you go there, and in what place. What kind of religion was your family.

I just stayed 3 Weeks

2017 in North Carolina & my family were christians

what kind of christians....they are many churches in USA.

What is the name of the Agency that you go threw ? How much money did evrything costed?

Justin Case Thank you! I still love & miss the people in the States - hope I can be there as soon as possible again ☺️

Albania 77 Depends with which organization you go with & of course how long you want to stay

the_real_one x but there’s always a reason for that. If you don’t have a particular reason to stop your exchange year than why would you?

@@breeshey i mean i am scared that something would happen that would make me fly back to my home country cause obviously i don't want any reason to fly back

Of course, I totally get that! I’m sure that your exchange year will be as great as it could be!

She was in the 'burbs. Nice world play on "urban", racist.

Robert McCoin You are an idiot, blame the Democrats for everything you racist, close minded pig. GTH

I’m sorry but I won’t talk about the topic with my Highschool. It doesn’t really matter in what area my school was, I just wasn’t OK with it and it was my decision to leave. Thank you anyways for your comment ☺️

K Stylinson Ja, die Organisation war echt gut und alle waren sehr hilfsbereit und freundlich 😊Wenn man jedoch ein Auslandsjahr abbricht ist die Kostenerstattung bei EF leider nicht mit inbegriffen was manchmal etwas doof ist - aber ist bei jeder Orga anders ☺️

Breeshey okay vielen Dank! :)

Kein Problem :)

Hey, I think you should do it. Most likely (if your not very introverted or can't think of living without your family for 10 months) you won't have such a bad experience. I was scared by watching these videos, too. But I wouldn't think too much about the negative things. Of course it's important to know ther risks but often the negative thoughts drown out the positive ones. I would really recommend you doing it, if this is really your dream. And I've heard that EF is a really good organisation but personally I like Partnership International better, which is a pretty small and personal organisation in Germany, which was the first one ever to send German students to the US. (So if you're not from Germany I would recommend you going with EF which is the biggest organisation.)

I went to an English speaking country because I wanted to get to know the Culture in the US better. Sometimes it’s not about improving your skills, it’s about making experiences - and even though you think my English is good to excellent - everyone can improve. I think you should definitely think about your words. Yes, there are people who don’t have a good living - why do you judge me? You don’t even know if I’ve ever been there, if my family spends money for organizations that help them or further.

Why would you know anything about that? You don’t know how they’ve prepared me and how I dealt with it

Yes , realy this is true.

Jane Vasileski it seriously depends on your school, family, experience etc. The preparation for my exchange year was really good & supportive and it doesn’t really have anything to do with it. Maybe I just wasn’t ready myself to deal with issues like that 🙈

It’s your opinion and I totally accept it, but you haven’t been in my situation so you can’t judge me for that 🤷🏼‍♀️

+Lisa Abroad Nein nicht wirklich und meine Eltern wollen das auch nicht weil das dann doch etwas privater ist :)

Rene Cordova I’m sorry you didn’t really enjoy watching it but thank you for your feedback! I was just really nervous talking about this but I’ll improve myself to be better next time! 😊