AFS Student Exchange Blog: October 2009 Archives

AFS Exchange Student Adam: Singing Mariachi in Ghana

By AFS on October 30, 2009 3:14 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

School's been in session for about a month now. Classes are long. Tema Secondary School (or "Temasco," for short) uses block scheduling and it can be painful sometimes to sit for two hours as a teacher lectures on noun phrases. I'm in a Form 3 (third year) General Arts class which means that I'm studying Ghanaian/African History, Ghanaian Government, French, and African Literature in addition to the core subjects (English, Social Studies, Sciences, Maths, ICT). Having never been exposed to either of them before, I love learning about Ghanaian history and reading African literature. What makes school worthwhile though are my unbelievably friendly classmates. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Ghana.

AFS Exchange Student Claire: Soccer and Celebration in Costa Rica

By AFS on October 29, 2009 6:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Soccer is not just a game in Costa Rica, it´s a huge part of life. Even during my first few days here, I noticed that soccer is pretty darn important...there is always a soccer game happening in the park. Every Sunday there are games between local city teams, and most noticeably, the television soccer announcers can be heard a mile away shouting,"GOOOOAAAALLLLL, COSTA RICAAAAAA!" Read more.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Costa Rica.

AFS Exchange Student Jess: Host Family Vacation to Prague

By AFS on October 28, 2009 2:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

HerbstFeiren started on October 10th! The year we have two weeks of fall break! For the first week my family and I drove to Prague. WE stayed about a half hour by car away from Prague! Our plan was to stay one week Saturday to Saturday, but we ended up leaving a day early because where we stayed there was a TON! Of snow. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Germany.

AFS Exchange Student Steven: A Day in Bern

By AFS on October 26, 2009 12:01 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I went to Berne this weekend with a couple other AFS students. Walking through Berne, your first impression may be of a very pedestrian friendly city. Crowds mill about equally on sidewalk and road, and cars are a rare sight. You see street performers, vendors, and fountains stationed near the curb, or even in the middle of the street. Then suddenly, you catch a glimpse the metal rails running down the sides of the street,...Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Switzerland.

AFS Exchange Student Bria: Egypt Photos!

By AFS on October 25, 2009 1:23 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

See more photos.

AFS offers year and summer programs to Egypt.

AFS Exchange Student Alexandra: "A Normal Day" in Brazil

By AFS on October 23, 2009 11:55 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I've been pretty much chugging along as normal. I think my Portuguese reading, writing, and understanding verbally have improved a lot, which is really good. I can understand almost everything people say to me and movies and stuff... which makes Brazil a lot more fun. I've been making better friends and enjoying life here.
A normal day for me...

AFS offers year and semester programs to Brazil.

AFS Exchange Student Tim: Photoblogging from Italy

By AFS on October 22, 2009 11:37 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

See more photos from Tim's 2009-10 Year program to Italy.

AFS offers year, semester and summer programs to Italy.

AFS Exchange Student Amber: Reaching the "Home-Sweet-Home" Phase in Turkey

By AFS on October 20, 2009 4:28 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I have reached the home sweet home phase. Although sometimes school is still new and strange, at home I couldn't be happier.I look forward to coming home every night and enjoying a family dinner and then tea time. Sometimes we get a little off task- one night ended in a sing and dance a-thon. Birsen and Ali were singing traditional and gypsy songs from different regions in Turkey- real music. The sounds of people and generations- music that is never recorded or downloaded onto an ipod. Other times we begin talking discussing Turkish or American politics over some delicious Turkish delight. Other times religion. Its fascinating to learn the similarity of beliefs between us although we come from two different worlds. Read more.

AFS offers year and summer programs to Turkey.

AFS Exchange Student Ben: How to Go Bowling in Hong Kong

By AFS on October 16, 2009 12:49 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

It turns out that bowling isn't thought of in Hong Kong as it is in America. First of all, this bowling alley was brightly lit, no music was playing, and the lanes were about 3/4 the length of American ones. Not at all the relaxed atmosphere of Colonial Lanes in Iowa City. So everybody got their bowling shoes from the counter (they didn't have my size, so I just squeezed into some size 10's. Chinese foot-binding is still alive!) and then we lined up silently as the teacher commanded us about how exactly to hold the ball. Read more.

AFS offers year and programs to Hong Kong.

AFS Exchange Student Cassie: Norway Photoblog

By AFS on October 15, 2009 9:13 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

See more pictures.

AFS offers year programs to Norway.

AFS Exchange Student Tim: Germany Photos

By AFS on October 12, 2009 4:27 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

See more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Germany

AFS Exchange Student Jess: Mein Geburtstag!

By AFS on October 11, 2009 1:56 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

My birthday was definitely different than what I am used to! I woke up to my host parents coming into my room with a tray of candles and my birthday candles. I don't remember much of this time because I was still asleep during this time. Lol! Then I opened my presents in my room while I was getting ready. I then went to school. When someone would remember it was my birthday they would hug me and say "alles zum geburgstag." It was nice though that they remembered since I'm the new kid on the block. Read more.

AFS offers year and semester programs to Germany

AFS Exchange Student Steven: Cruisin' the Treetops in Switzerland

By AFS on October 9, 2009 1:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Sunday, I went with Ruth, Alain, and Simon to Charmey Adventures, an aeriel ropes course, high in the mountains. We started out with the Red Course difficulty, which was relatively easy. The course was a series of wooden platforms, each surrounding the trunk of a tree, large enough to accommodate three people at once. They were anywhere from 3 to 15 meters above the ground, and the only way to reach the next platform was by navigating a physical challenge. There were tight ropes, swings, ziplines, and swinging stepping stones, each designed to test your strength, balance, flexibility, or sometimes, just pure guts. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Switzerland.

AFS Exchange Student Emily: Santiago is Gorgeous

By AFS on October 6, 2009 9:43 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I visited la Universidad de Chile and la Universidad Catolica. Both are beautiful, just like the rest of the city... We also walked through a street fair, stopped in shops all over the city, and visited a gorgeous park in the middle of the city which words cannot describe. This is a fountain in the front with a huge statue of Neptune and lots of cool things which leads up a hill to the rest of the park. Woooo...Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to Chile.

AFS Exchange Student Amanda: An AFS Weekend in France

By AFS on October 4, 2009 10:47 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

This weekend was an AFS weekend where all the kids in the are meet up we meet in Possiy at a hostle by the sein river... All the students in AFS seem to be in sumular situations as me they are getting used to the language and the schools and sometimes making mistakes. During the day we played games and talked about what was happening i our homes and schools. Read more.

AFS offers year, semester, and summer programs to France.

AFS Exchange Student Bria: Soccer (or Football) in Egypt

By AFS on October 2, 2009 11:56 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

So, about two weeks back someone in my Chapter mentioned some football game with Egypt playing someone. I wasn't too interested, but they seemed excited and asked if we could go. So our AFS people set out to get us tickets. They then told me that it was EGYPT VS. ITALY and that it was a FIFA game...that was when I got excited! Read more.

AFS offers year and summer programs to Egypt.

AFS Exchange Student Jordan: Hong Kong Shop-a-Thon

By AFS on October 1, 2009 10:09 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Shopping. If there is one thing that Hong-Kongers know how to do, it is shop. This rigorous activity is the favorite among the majority of the population. The act itself requires a lot of skill and perseverance; one must carry poise throughout the store, pretending that they do not want to buy every single thing in the store. Read more.

AFS offers year programs to Hong Kong.

October 2009 Archives