AFS Orientation #1

Milestone after milestone. Pre-application submitted. Full application submitted. Interview- check. And today, I attended my first AFS orientation!

This orientation was less for me and my benefit and more for the inbounds' benefit. There were roughly fifteen "inbounds" sitting in the room, along with AFS volunteers, my mom and me, and another outbound and her mom. After socializing for twenty minutes or so with the volunteers ("liasons") and the other outbound who is doing a short-term summer exchange in Europe, everyone gathered in a circle.

The inbounds introduced themselves (with their cute accents!), and they were from all around the world- Chile, Brazil, Austria, Norway, France, Italy, and several other countries. After "closing their eyes, visualizing, and reflecting," and completing a worksheet, they discussed their time so far (expectations fulfilled, expectations yet to fulfill, host family relationship, etc etc.) while I listened in. I introduced myself as "Darcy from _____ High School hoping to go to Argentina for a year!" (silence) :)

After that, the inbounds clumped into small groups to discuss their experience in more depth, and the volunteers set donuts and apples on the table.

I didn't learn much from my first orientation, and it was only about an hour and a half, and I didn't even get a chance to talk to any of the inbounds... But I'm glad I went. It's so exciting picturing myself having a similar orientation six months into my year in Argentina!