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AIIU Exchange Students and their parents complete an evaluation at the
end of their Exchange Program. The following comments are taken
from these evaluations. If you would like to interact with past
exchange students and their parents please go to Forums.
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"We
received five albums of photos from Mike yesterday along with a letter.
He is very happy and seems to be truly enjoying the experience. He has
nothing at all negative to say but lots to take pictures of. The
pictures that include him in them show him absolutely glowing. He
listed what he does each day and he is busy all the time. He has been
to a Kendo tournament and a volleyball tournament. He is very happy
with his host family as they also have grand parents and a great
grandmother. I am eager to share this with you as I am so happy that
Mike is so comfortable.
Thanks
again to AIIU for your ongoing support, it is a great programme and I
am certain Mike will benefit enormously from his 10 months in Japan."
(Parent, 2008)
...only Mike could find "Mike" food
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"The
3 month exchange program has been a very good experience our our
daughter both culturally and academically. If possible she would like
to do it again". (Parent, 2008)
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"My
son Nick went to Japan on exchange in March 2006. He had just completed
year 12 and had been studying Japanese since year 7. AIIU offered him a
place in their program and he spent the best 10 months of his life in
Japan.
Initially it was very hard for me as I
missed him a lot, but we spoke on the phone, sent emails, and he also
kept a blog which was very entertaining for all of us at home. He went
to school in Yokohama which he loved, and made many friends who he
still keeps in touch with even today. He was a member of a band that
played several times during the year and spent many happy hours playing
guitar with his friends.
His host families were fantastic, they
treated him so well and he was not at all homesick. Nick tried all
kinds of Japanese food and still loves to eat it here at home!
When Nick first spoke about going to
Japan, my husband was very against the idea and said it would just be a
long holiday. However, Nick wanted to speak Japanese more fluently and
the only way to really achieve this was to actually live in Japan (as
the Japanese taught in Australia at school is somewhat different to
what is actually spoken in Japan). I supported his dream all the way
and am so happy that he went. Of course, it is scary to wave goodbye to
your child as they leave to live in a different country without you
there to help them, but it was the best thing I ever agreed to.
During his time in Japan, Nick learnt so
much both language and culture wise. He learnt to deal with all kinds
of experiences and he matured enormously in the time he was away. His
host families helped him so much and he remains in touch with them all
and has even planned to go back to visit all his friends this November.
AIIU were most supportive the whole time
Nick was away and always kept us informed of any changes that were
happening involving Nick. I actually had the pleasure of meeting some
of Nick's host families at the end of his exchange - they were
absolutely delightful. I also saw my son speaking like a native
Japanese and was so proud of all his achievements in the 10 months he
was away.
I definitely recommend the exchange
experience to any child and parent; it has certainly been great for
Nick who is now studying 3rd year Japanese at university, as
well as engineering. His time in Japan was not a "holiday" - it was
probably the hardest year of his life in a lot of ways but also the
best in others. Again I wish to thank AIIU for giving Nick the
opportunity of a lifetime!" (Parent, 2006)
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