Dear AFS-USA Volunteers, As some of you may already know, Jen Peck, a former AFS-USA employee who worked for many years in the Portland office, passed away on May 31, 2017. Jen began working for AFS-USA in 1999 as Sending Coordinator before being promoted to Manager. In 2008, she became Director of Outbound Programs, and […]
We hope you’re enjoying the “10 for 10 Challenge,” a series of fun daily activities to help you reach out to new families about hosting. Our goal is to find 10 host families a day for 10 days straight—and volunteers like you are the ones who can make it happen. Yesterday was our Day 1 […]
My Year in Germany As a sophomore in high school, I was lucky enough to meet an AFS Exchange Student studying at a local high school. After hearing about her experiences, I met with my local AFS Volunteers to discuss the different opportunities to study abroad, including the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) scholarship. I wanted […]
I had just arrived in Germany and after being awake for many, many hours, I was almost at the end of my journey. I was riding a train from Frankfurt Airport to Berlin with two very kind AFS Germany Volunteers and two exchange students, both nervous to meet their host families for the first time […]
Back in the fall, my school hosted a special day where all of the classes sold food or handicrafts to other students to raise money for class trips and other activities. My class decided to sell moo bing, or grilled flavored pork on a stick. I joined many of my classmates the day before to […]
I’ve always been interested in other cultures, but never thought much about my own. Prior to coming on exchange, I had a hard time identifying American culture. I saw culture as presentable things such as traditional dress, foods, dance, holidays, etc. Of course we do have holidays, but they were just “normal” holidays to me. Thus, when […]
Congratulations to the Compton Family and Andrey of Brazil (of the Michigan Area Team), the winners of the 3rd annual Reel Life contest! The family has been awarded with a trip to one of four cities, joined by their hosted student, Andrey. With over 60,000 votes cast for all of the entries combined, the contest […]
You’re the experts — let your voice be heard! The U.S. Department of State, which designates organizations such as AFS to administer exchange visitor programs, will be engaging in a review of the regulations governing some of our programs this summer. Specifically with regard to the J-1 Secondary School Program (under which most AFS-USA students […]
The arrival of this year’s AFS Exchange Students is just around the corner. That means we have a great opportunity this summer to encourage new families to join our global community! To help kick this year’s “hosting season” into high gear, we’re bringing back our popular campaign, the 10 for 10 Challenge. Starting Tuesday, June […]
Have you seen the re-designed “Meet the Students” page? It’s easier than ever to find bios of students coming to your area, and it now includes lots of new student audio introductions. We can’t wait to share it with potential host families! Want to share on Facebook? Highlight and copy one of these sample captions below, […]