There May Be Hope Yet

I have just looked online and found two different sites on foreign exchange that may actually be feasible. I found a lot, but only two that caught my eye. One may only be for high school students and it costs a lot more, but the price includes airfare and tuition for classes, too.

The one that I speak of is with AYUSA and it would last from June 24 to July 25. I would do homestay (stay with a family in their home) in Cologne, Germany and take language classes in the morning for 4 hours per day. There is no language requirement, which is what I need if I'm to go this summer (I doubt I will since it's so much money). Total price, including airfare and tuition, as I mentioned before, would be $5,699. I couldn't have that by this summer, but they offer scholarships, so I might could get help with that.

The other site that I found has two different options, one is for a homestay only and the other is for language school. With the language school, I have my choice to stay in Munich, Germany for 4 weeks. I would have 25 language classes per week (I'm not sure how many hours per day) and 2 activities per week that are mandatory. I would have my own room in a family's house and the cost would be $2,830, not including airfare and possibly not tuition (the site didn't say). I could go for any four weeks throughout the year.

With the homestay exchange, I would stay in someone's home, anywhere in Germany (I would choose up to three different places on the application, but no guarantees) for any 4 weeks throughout the year. There is a "basic German" requirement, which means that I would have to either take classes over the summer, or take classes at UNT next fall in order to learn the basics and then go to Germany the following summer or spring semester. With homestay, I could choose to participate in two programs consecutively, which means I could stay for up to 8 weeks in two different areas of Germany. Scholarships are available here as well, so applications for aid would most definitely be mailed.

If I had my preference, I think I would choose the AYUSA program simly because there is no language requirement. It does cost significantly more at this point, but I haven't calculated how much airfare and other costs would be in order to add them onto the CCI price and compare final costs. You never know, AYUSA could end up being cheaper.

I think it would be awesome if I could go this summer and get started on learning. I really want to go and I've got a leg up on being informed. If you have any other ideas or sites that I could check out, let me know. I found a ton of sites that are available for high school exchange, but CCI was the only one that had an option for adults. If I went this summer, I might end up having to go with them and doing the language school program just because it might cost less. I'm going to go find out how much a plane ticket to Germany would be...I'll post again later. Tschüss!