foreign exchange in school?

When I was doing my degree we had the option of going on a foreign exchange. We were allowed to choose from going to Austria, Norway, Spain or the Netherlands. Most of the other students were not interested in this program. Most people that did go went to Austria. I decided to go to the Netherlands. I shared an apartment with a Scottish student and opposite us were two German students and upstairs us were a Dutch student and an English Student. We each had our own room. The Dutch student let me have a bike. We did much cycling along all the fantastic purpose built paths. I went to classes with Dutch students that were learning about English Literature. I also had classes with the other British students for Dutch Language and Culture. I got to visit many different schools with Lecturers seeing student teachers at their placements. It made me glad that my university didn't video record our teaching practices! The Dutch people were so friendly and I loved living there for four months. In early December I enjoyed St Nicholas Day seeing a boat with all the fun characters coming up the canal on a boat. We had an excellent Christmas party. There was only one negative of this and that was that the students that took part in the exchange still had to have end of year exams on all the lectures that we had missed. I borrowed work from friends to try to learn all this stuff. It was challenging to catch up all the work I had missed but the foreign exchange was one of the best things I have ever done in my life.

I would love to go abroad when I get into college. I have not yet participated in any foreign exchange programs however. One of my friends has participated and one of my friends is a foreign exchange student as well. She is from Germany. I believe that being a part of the foreign exchange program is important. The reason for this is because it allows you to get a taste of other cultures outside of your own, and also can allow you to pick up on a foreign language easier.