AFS... It all happened quite sudden.
For about 4 years I have wanted to go to Japan. And I have thought of Exchange Projects before, but my sister's boyfriend, Jeroen, went to Costa Rica with AFS, and he always told me Japan wasn't a possibility within AFS. Socrates, another Exchange Project, is only for Europe, and Erasmus also doesn't send to Japan. So I had given up hope, and I was already planning a normal vacation to Japan in my head. Until September 2007...
One night in September 2007 I was quietly surfing internet, chatting a bit on MSN, when suddenly I saw the MSN-Advertisement. Normally these things are not even near my interests, but this time it said in big letters "AFS Vlaanderen" which is where I live. Recalling the wise words of Jeroen I was aware of not being able to go to Japan, yet still there was something that made me click the banner. With flashes and fireworks I was blasted onto the site of AFS. There I read the introduction of the School-Programme, and -Shock- o_O That is when it happened. I saw possible locations: blablabla, Japan, blablabla. !!!! Whoah! Is this site for real? And that made this day into life changing turning point.
I went to the Information day in Turnhout, because the one of Antwerp was already over. Here I found out that this is the first year that you can go to Japan with AFS from Belgium! Jeroen wasn't wrong, he was just unknowing! The Information day made my dad convinced this was a good idea, and after some long conversations with my mother she was convinced as well.
So there I was ready to go to Japan! Unprepared and penniless. I went to the first AFS-Preparation Weekend, and I learned about money, scholarships, and land choices. Apparently you had to pick 3 countries, out of these 3 you would be given a random choice. This is to preserve the purpose of AFS: You go somewhere for the experience, and it won't matter where, you'll meet the same problems and glories everywhere. AFS is not about a cheap vacation, AFS can be very harsh at times, but in the end AFS is a year where you learn so much, that you'll be a different person improved only in good ways. So I like the idea of AFS, I do, but I still want to go to Japan... ^^ I don't want to be living for a year in Timbooktoe, I'd rather graduate fast and plan my own trip to Japan then. So I decided to leave 2 open spaces, where I should place 2 more countries. This left me with 2 blanks. The computer picks a random spot, and if the computer would have picked a blank, they would have pushed me all the way to the back and in the end, after everyone has an assigned country, they'd see if there was some place over for me in Japan. I had a slim chance, but I waged it anyway!
After the weekend I just had to wait... Wait and wait for notice of which country I was given. A blank spot or Japan? And in December the letter finally came. As I was checking the mail intensively every day, I immediately saw it! Mail from AFS! I was just home from school and went upstairs with the letter, I sat down, opened it, and read:
"Dear Lucas,
Here is as promised your destination for next year. It wasn't easy to satisfy everyone, but we were still able to give everyone a land from their list.
For you it will be Japan. ..."
And that is where I stopped reading. A loud scream is what came out of my mouth, spontaneously! Which never happens. In 3 months my most desired dream had come true. And all that is left is an excited, over-joyed young lad. All that is left is me.
For about 4 years I have wanted to go to Japan. And I have thought of Exchange Projects before, but my sister's boyfriend, Jeroen, went to Costa Rica with AFS, and he always told me Japan wasn't a possibility within AFS. Socrates, another Exchange Project, is only for Europe, and Erasmus also doesn't send to Japan. So I had given up hope, and I was already planning a normal vacation to Japan in my head. Until September 2007...
One night in September 2007 I was quietly surfing internet, chatting a bit on MSN, when suddenly I saw the MSN-Advertisement. Normally these things are not even near my interests, but this time it said in big letters "AFS Vlaanderen" which is where I live. Recalling the wise words of Jeroen I was aware of not being able to go to Japan, yet still there was something that made me click the banner. With flashes and fireworks I was blasted onto the site of AFS. There I read the introduction of the School-Programme, and -Shock- o_O That is when it happened. I saw possible locations: blablabla, Japan, blablabla. !!!! Whoah! Is this site for real? And that made this day into life changing turning point.
I went to the Information day in Turnhout, because the one of Antwerp was already over. Here I found out that this is the first year that you can go to Japan with AFS from Belgium! Jeroen wasn't wrong, he was just unknowing! The Information day made my dad convinced this was a good idea, and after some long conversations with my mother she was convinced as well.
So there I was ready to go to Japan! Unprepared and penniless. I went to the first AFS-Preparation Weekend, and I learned about money, scholarships, and land choices. Apparently you had to pick 3 countries, out of these 3 you would be given a random choice. This is to preserve the purpose of AFS: You go somewhere for the experience, and it won't matter where, you'll meet the same problems and glories everywhere. AFS is not about a cheap vacation, AFS can be very harsh at times, but in the end AFS is a year where you learn so much, that you'll be a different person improved only in good ways. So I like the idea of AFS, I do, but I still want to go to Japan... ^^ I don't want to be living for a year in Timbooktoe, I'd rather graduate fast and plan my own trip to Japan then. So I decided to leave 2 open spaces, where I should place 2 more countries. This left me with 2 blanks. The computer picks a random spot, and if the computer would have picked a blank, they would have pushed me all the way to the back and in the end, after everyone has an assigned country, they'd see if there was some place over for me in Japan. I had a slim chance, but I waged it anyway!
After the weekend I just had to wait... Wait and wait for notice of which country I was given. A blank spot or Japan? And in December the letter finally came. As I was checking the mail intensively every day, I immediately saw it! Mail from AFS! I was just home from school and went upstairs with the letter, I sat down, opened it, and read:
"Dear Lucas,
Here is as promised your destination for next year. It wasn't easy to satisfy everyone, but we were still able to give everyone a land from their list.
For you it will be Japan. ..."
And that is where I stopped reading. A loud scream is what came out of my mouth, spontaneously! Which never happens. In 3 months my most desired dream had come true. And all that is left is an excited, over-joyed young lad. All that is left is me.
