<p>My 15 yo daughter just left for a year as a Rotary Exchange Student in Ecuador. I know this will be a great year for her but I miss her terribly.</p>
<p>Apollo6 -</p>
<p>What a great opportunity for your daughter! But, I can easily imagine how quiet your house must seem, and how much you must miss her. Check with the Rotary chapter that sent her, and ask them to put you in touch with other parents who have had this experience. If she’s the first student that they have sent, check around your area for AFS, YFU and People-to-People parents. You certainly aren’t alone.</p>
<p>You might like to pick up a copy of “The Art of Crossing Cultures” by Craig Storti. When your daughter faces some of the inevitable stresses of cultural shock, you will be better prepared to help her from a distance.</p>
<p>Wishing oth of you all the best!</p>
<p>Hi - My daughter was in Italy last year - JR year through AFS.
She just came back. I really missed her - and now that she is back I think it was worth it. She has matured and grown from the experience.</p>
<p>I went to England through Rotary in 2000-1 and my brother went to Finland five years later. Both were amazing experiences and we grew up a lot as a result. It was also a big boost for getting into college, and for being prepared to move away from home. </p>
<p>I don’t know if my parents missed us (I assume they did…but I was kind of a brat, and there were other kids at home plus they took in exchange students) but I think it helped them to know that we were getting something out of the experience.</p>
<p>Will you be taking in an exchange student of your own? My parents had 3 (from Bolivia, Australia, and Russia). One of them worked out wonderfully, and two were pretty mediocre–which is understandable–what percentage of families would you fit into well if you got dropped into a strange culture?, but they definitely gave my parents something else to focus on. </p>
<p>And my parents came to visit me and my brother and that helped them too–it was fun for them to meet our host families, watch us speak the appropriate language/accent, etc. So if that’s at all an option for you I’d recommend it. I know Rotary suggests doing it towards the end of the year so as not to interfere with school or holidays in the host country and to avoid triggering homesickness, and I think that’s wise.</p>
<p>One thing Rotary told my parents is that kids often call or write when they’re most upset…so you get this letter and you freak out and call your kid, and they’re all “Mom, what are you talking about? I’m fine now.” So be sure to expect that. </p>
<p>Finally, my experience was that I had a very hard time upon returning to the US. Some of it wasn’t about missing England at all (it was having a stressful schedule of courses, extracurriculars, a job, and college applications; personality clashes with my parents; and the fact that 9/11 occurred at the beginning of the school year) but a lot of it was wishing I could be back with my host family, and feeling awkward because I’d come back with an accent and couldn’t turn it off (it faded in a few months though).</p>
<p>Good luck–I’m sure the year will have its hard parts, but overall it will fly by. When the group of students from my county reconvened in the fall after we returned, it was amazing to hear about the adventures (and mishaps!) everyone had encountered, and some people went through some pretty rough times, but EVERYONE was glad they’d gone.</p>