Exchange Student Orientation

Today was the exchange student orientation for my district in Chile- 4340 which is HUGE (it spans from Santiago to Talca which is 3 hours south of Santiago). Had lots of presentations about cultural differences and safety and all of the boring stuff, but for most of the time just we just talked. There were over 50 exchange students from New Zealand, Finland, Holland, Germany, Mexico, France, Brazil, and of course the USA.

It was absolutely amazing to finally be able to meet and talk to other exchange students; to finally be able to talk to people who completely understand %100 of what you're going through because they are going through the exact same things: culture shock, homesickness, language frustrations, host families, making friends, awkward situations, school, ext... It was an amazing feeling knowing there are over 50 people who I can completely relate to. Even though we all come from different countries, cultures, and completely different personalities and interests, there's just this automatic bond between all exchange students that I can't really explain, it's one of the most amazing things in the world. I love youth exchange <3