Foreign exchange

[katya]

This thread serves two purposes: to explain why I'm going to be gone for a year starting in August, and to talk about exchange students. I'm going to Japan as an exchange student. I don't want to spend much, if any, time here while I'm gone, except maybe the languages thread, haha, because it's probably expensive for my families and because I don't want to be tied too strongly to my life in America.

Anyone else ever been an exchange student? Thinking about doing it (or regretting not having done it?)?

I myself am very excited. I've been thinking about it a lot today for various reasons, and at this point I want to just jump on the plane right this second.

Someone said that if every teenager was an exchange student, there would be no wars. There's some truth in that, I think. I've met lots of kids from about 40 different countries, and my perspective has changed drastically, and I haven't even left yet. When I imagine America going to war with some country, instead of thinking "Whatever" I think "Hey, that's where so-and-so is from! They're alright people over there, we can't just go to war with them!"

Too tired to write any more or any more cohesively. Must sleep soon.