No, I am not a freshman at high school, I'm a senior-thank God. The first two months of your exchange year are kinda like your freshman year of high school.By the third and fourth months usually you become a sophomore. The Fifth till eighth month, you become more comfortable with your new life and become a junior. By the time you go back to home you have been through the senior stage and you have graduated finally--Congratulations! yahoo.. ;D
My freshman stage was more comfortable for me. Since the organizations that you get, look for the family that more suits your lifestyle so as to make you comfortable and have the family you can easily adjust with. I got a family which had the same interests as me. This helps! but not all the interests match. You have to respect each other's interests that don't match and participate in everything. May be you like what they like.. Just give it a try!
My school had still a week to get started when I arrived. It made it a little easier for me to get prepared earlier and also hang out.With my family, I went to rock climbing. I failed the belaying test 4 times but did it the fifth time I tried-keep trying! I attended the AFS (my organization) meeting. They were all welcoming and sweet. I was satisfied to see that AFS cares about us-AFS is great! ;D So the first week was fun and I adjusted in my house easily.
When the school starts,you should be careful and confident. Talk to your counselor about your interests in subjects and discuss what you want to do. They help you select the classes you feel good with. Don't make things too difficult. If you take 3 difficult classes, take 2 easy and fun classes-make it balanced.
I joined many clubs of my interest, it helped me make friends. The most fun club is The Drama Club. Theatre is always fun. You don't need to be an actor to be a part of the productions, you can be a tech member and have fun. I enjoyed being a part of it. Get involved in sports-This also helps.
I went to a church in my area and participated in their youth group activities-which is fun and helps making friends.I was relieved to find some familiar faces from my school and became more close friends with them.
When I first went to the church, those days they were having their Youth Encounter Week-the fun time. We did a scavenger hunt one afternoon, went around the whole town and took pictures at different places according to the clues we were given-another way of bonding with people.In the evening we had a talent show, in which you just have to do a small funny act with just a little unique thing. The friends that I made in the afternoon included me in their group and we decided to do a dance performance but funny and unique!
I never realized I had the ability to perform randomly and include creative ideas until I did it in the talent show. I was surprised with my performance. People loved our act because I included some words from my language URDU-they liked it. It was something new and unique to Americans. This is how they got to know that I am an exchange student and they started thinking that I was cool and I became famous. It was a great idea to go to the church youth group. They are always cool. The kids were in the same school as me so I got to know a little more people in school as well! :)
while making friends you gotta make sure the people you're hanging out with are good. You should not hang out with drug users or anything like that. I had no problem with this, hopefully you will also be fine!
So the first month just passed by in my school, adjusting with my new classes and making new friends! You mainly feel homesick in the first month but involve yourself in several tasks and the days will pass so quickly you'll never even notice! :)
