Seeing the world as an exchange student

Seeing the world as an exchange student

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

If you ask high school students who are applying for a student
exchange program about their motivation, the standard, corny
answers about sharing cultures and, gulp, promoting world peace
through exchanging ideas will probably come your way.

They are likely to be answers they ripped off the program
brochures, and almost a sure bet to make a good impression in
their interviews.

Cut through the you-know-what, and it's probable that they
were inspired by cool images from movies of life abroad.

"I've always been curious to know what it feels like to live
in a country more orderly and cleaner than here," said 16-year-
old "Andri", who is applying for a one-year exchange program
organized by the American Field Service (AFS) Intercultural
Program, which is associated with Bina Antar Budaya in Indonesia.

"My parents can't afford to send me to study in the U.S. so I
took a shot applying to AFS," said another applicant, Winda.

AFS, which actually started out in World War I as a volunteer
service for young Americans, continues to have as one of its main
goals world peace through cultural exchange and understanding. It
began in Indonesia in the 1950s; some famous Indonesian alumni
include the poet Taufik Ismail and businessman and former
minister Tanri Abeng.

For high school students like Winda, coming from a developing
country, the destination of choice is an exchange experience in
the United States.

Students who are selected to join the AFS program are
requested to pay US$5,000 as a "family-pledge" fee, which is
still far cheaper than the amount they would have to spend if
they studied abroad on their own.

However, candidates from low-income families are allowed to
pay as much as they can afford and are given scholarships to
cover the shortfall.

Although the selection process is pretty rigorous, including
an application and interviews, getting selected is only the
beginning. Although their destination may live up to their
expectations in its pretty locations, it's not all plain sailing
in adapting to a host family and culture clashes.

Organizers of exchange programs hold orientation programs to
prepare the students for the basics of what lies ahead, including
different cuisine and customs.

After several discussion sessions and singing Leaving on a Jet
Plane, the students, brimming with confidence and curiosity, are
ready to go.

The real adventure, however, starts when they arrive at the
home of their host families, who volunteer to host them during
the duration of the program, usually lasting a year.

The first two weeks is the real test for the students as they
try to adapt themselves not only to a different culture, but
values practiced by their host family.

It's here that some have a rude awakening: Instead of feeling
like being a model in a glossy vacation ad, they often become a
troubled central character in a very complex drama.

Each student is assigned a counselor, usually a program
returnee, to help them with their problems, but ultimately they
have to work things out for themselves.

"My host's sister and I fought a lot," said Ayu, an AFS
returnee. "Somehow she just didn't like me. Since she didn't like
me, the rest of the family also didn't like me. It was pretty
ugly."

A returnee recalled his experience of changing host families
four times during his stay in the U.S. in the early 1990s.

"The first one didn't work out because the members of the
family didn't even get along with each other. I left the second
because they kept telling me to do chores around the house as if
I were a servant," said Harry.

"My third host family was great but I decided to move to
another because I was afraid that things would go sour. I guess I
was traumatized by the first two."

An AFS returnee from the U.S., who now resides in Jakarta,
experienced similar problems of adjustment.

"Our orientation movie was The Year of Living Dangerously,
which left us all kind of shocked and didn't give us too good an
impression of Indonesia," Barry said of his experience 17 years
ago.

"When I got to my host family, they didn't want me to learn
Indonesian because they basically saw me as a live-in English
teacher for their kids, and the counselor couldn't do much
because she was a student of my host father."

Of course, for all the stories of difficulties, there are just
as many of students who fit right in.

"When I was staying in the U.S., some of my friends who were
also staying there often called and told me that they were
having a hard time. They were sort of jealous because I settled
in very smoothly. My host family was great," said Emil, another
returnee.

Despite the hard times, most returnees look back on their
experience as important to their development.

"I gained huge self-esteem from my stay as an exchange
student," said Rizal, another returnee. "I figured that if I
could solve everything on my own as a teenager in a foreign
country, I think I'd be all right here at home."

"Ultimately, it was a great learning experience for me," said
Barry. "I came back to Indonesia, and it really has been my
second home."

At the very least, exchange students come back with a better
understanding of different cultures. In the end, that lofty
agenda of promoting world peace makes some gains.

Link: www.afs.org.