I received my host-family profile in the May before I left, I remember being very excited to find out with whom I'd be living during my exchange. As part of the application process I had had to fill out a form in which the organization asked questions relating to the type of host-family you would ideally like to have. As I had said I would prefer to be with children above the age of 12 due to going on exchange for academic reasons, I was very surprised to see that my host-family had 2 young children, one 2 and one 5-year-old girl. I was kind of upset that they had disregarded my wishes and put with a family with a toddler especially as I had also notified them that I had lost a brother as a toddler and hence would not like to have to live with a toddler for 10 months. I told my parents that I would like to request a different host-family, but they didn't let me because they said I just go and see how it goes first since according to the profile they had fostered a girl my age and then if it doesn't work ask to switch. Around the same time, I also received my student coordinator's profile. In that email I was told to contact the coordinator so that they know who I am before I leave, which I did. Not only did she not read my message, I did not receive any reply whatsoever (major red flag).
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My Exchange Year
Non-FictionI would like to make a few things very clear: this piece is not meant to hurt nor depreciate the image of any individuals/organizations mentioned. It is purely meant to inform upon the issues encountered by a foreign exchange student aka the author...
