Dear Mr. Holscher, 

 

One of my host club's members suggested this to me so I thought I might as well do it. I'm going to give a little report and hopefully you can show the rest of my sponsor club. I think that the decision to go on exchange has been a good one. Before I left I was optimistic and happy to have the opportunity to see another part of the world. Well, I have definitely seen a lot. The first month was the worst. I was consistently sad each day and felt utterly alone since I couldn't speak the language and hardly understood. I also had trouble grasping how exactly I was supposed to magically learn how to understand and speak. The only way I understood was through translating all the words I knew in my head whenever I heard them. The 5th day I called my parents and asked to come home. Luckily I am so blessed to have parents that know what is good for me. I can not thank them enough for telling me they wouldn't let me come home. From the first month on I have steadily been understanding more and speaking more and I can't be happier. The second month was also fraught with hardship because I still had trouble understanding. Sure I could understand basic things like "let's go", "we are going to eat now", and stuff like that, but I couldn't have a conversation which is really hard when everyone wants to know about you. I would always get asked questions and not know how to answer. I really wanted to, but trying to explain difficult concepts in a language you hardly know is not easy to say the least. Never the less I made it work.