afterlife3

Yeah I still have two years until I get to go study at La Universidad de Sevilla in Spain for a semester and then backpack the summer after. Sucks, cause I want to go now but I am doing what I can for now to keep my mind off of it so I dont go crazy.

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"The enormity of our endeavor excaped us in those moments; all we could see was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight northward."- Ernesto Che Guevara

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -St. Augustine

http://www.travelpunk.com/boards/index.php..._album&album=14

Layla

Hey Berwin- Where in Missouri do you live?

Also what program are you doing an exchange through?

When I was in highschool I did an exchange during my junior year as well, for 12 months...and it was worth every minute. sounds cheesy but it changed my life. Are you staying with a host family or at a school or something?

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The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving.

berwin

Hey Layla -- I live in southwest Missouri, basically in the middle of no where, but it's alright, I like it here, except everyone here is sooooooooo closed minded I can't stand it.

I am goin abroad through AFS (American Field Service), www.afs.org or www.afs.org/usa, it's the best program to go abroad with I think, they have the most experience and have been around for ever.

Where did you go on your year abroad? And what organization did you go through?

__________________
life isn't about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself.

believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, unless it agrees with your own reason, and your own common sense</span>

my life, my love, my world (the ramblings of a young traveler)

<span style=\'color:red\'>what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

berwin

Hey Layla -- sorry I forgot to tell you that i'm stayin with a host family. i'm glad that i'm goin to be b/c that way i'll really learn the culture and the language and all that, i'll really be thrown into the culture.

__________________
life isn't about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself.

believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, unless it agrees with your own reason, and your own common sense</span>

my life, my love, my world (the ramblings of a young traveler)

<span style=\'color:red\'>what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Layla

Hey Berwin,

I live in Missouri too, well for right now anyways. I am at journalism school at the university in Columbia, but i'm originally from Minnesota. That's great you are studying abroad and staying with a host family. I went through ASSE and had a pretty interesting experience with my family. It definitely changed my perspective on the world and my life...so when you get back to Missouri prepared to have a new outlook on things. For me, I found it a little hard to go back home to my friends who were still all the same when I had changed sooo much.
Staying with a host family definitely gets you more into the culture. I lived in England with a family of 5, plus me, an exchange student from China and one from Japan. We lived in a very small flat with one shower... quite different from what I was used to at home where I was living with just my dad and I!
I happened to be there when the war in iraq was just beginning so I did get a lot of shit from some people for being American. I think you'll find a little bit of hostility there still, but if they get to know you they can usually look past it. I spent some time in Amsterdam with fellow exchange students doing ASSE and there were a few kids from Germany who wouldn't even look me in the eye/speak to me because I was from America! That was harsh.
Let me know if you have any questions about the whole exchange/host family experience!

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The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving.

Tadpole

I was in an exchange program.

A couple of trips here and there to Columbia and a couple trips to California. Hey I have to pay for this Europe trip somehow.

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"Sundace, I can't help you now."
~Butch Casady

berwin

Hey Layla -- that's kool that you went to England. Actually with AFS you can go to the U.K., and that was my first choice, but I wanted to go to Scotland, not England. And my Admissions Advisor told me it would be hard to find a host family in Scotland, they would try. But about 3 months after I applied for the program, they closed the program down b/c not enough U.S. kids were interested in the program, so I had to switch. But that's alright, b/c i'm really glad that I had to, b/c I think the Netherlands is the perfect country for me to go to. But if I have any questions about host families and stuff like that, i'll ask ya, thanx.

__________________
life isn't about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself.

believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, unless it agrees with your own reason, and your own common sense</span>

my life, my love, my world (the ramblings of a young traveler)

<span style=\'color:red\'>what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Elizabeth

I'm a sophmore in HS right now. About 99% of the people around me need to be smacked upside the head.

I want to get out of the USA so badly

simply_angelic

lol, how so? please elaborate?

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~Laura
GO CANADA!!!!

If you walk backwards, you'll find out that you can go forward and people won't know if you're coming or going.

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.
-James Dean

Countries I've Visited: Austria, Botswana, Canada, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy. Malawi, Mexico, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, UK, Vatican City, Zambia

Elizabeth

I've always beeen 2 years ahead of my peers. Mentally, physically, emotionally. So, imagine being 16 and feeling 18, while everyone around you acts 16 years old at the most. I swear, some of those kids could pass for 10 years old. Just imagine all the stupid crap HS kids do. Thats why I try to ignore them. Its hard though.

High school = dipolma = freedom

As mentioned in a previous post, why would ANYONE consider high school the best time of their life???

TimmyJames1976

Firstly, I'd like to point out that I don't BUT I'll play devil's advocate on this one...

if you don't go to college after HS then you get the joy of

rent
utilities
a 9-5 (or 8-5 or 3-11 or some odd shift)
actually being able to go to jail
(this goes with rent)when u move out suddenly you have to pay for all of your living supplies(i.e. food, detergent, you name it)

if you do go to college:

same as above when you are done + student loans if you have them


My $6.50 an hour in HS was worth way more then double that after HS...heck maybe triple so...

in conclusion,

the stress and annoyance of HS is so ridiculously simple compared the the stress and annoyance of many peoples post HS lives that it realy isn't hard to see why some would considerate the best time of their life...

but,

it is kinda of sad to peak that early...I actually had the best time at college and the first year out was maybe one of the worst years of my life

but anyways....

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www.movetotaiwan.com

Elixir

dont get me wrong, school is fun but only cuzof the people in it. my friends are fun to be around. but id rather see them elsewhere than in school!!

after school, i am going to be traveling (a traveler, on this website?) for at least a year, and when i come back my current boss on the tree farm said that i have the head position waiting for me. the time gone will allow the trees to grow to a bigger and better size, and if he hires anyone while im away they will just be keeping the place running. il get to play outside on tractors and with trees and play with dirt, its such a wonderful job and il be getting paid $16+ an hour! i can live tyhere if i want, to, and not have to worry about rent. sweet deal

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TimmyJames1976

thats is quite the sweet deal

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www.movetotaiwan.com