OT:foreign exchange daughter is homesick.

Star2fire,

Where is she from? You might try hooking her up with some locals who are from the same area and/or hooking her up online wth some from her home...? Really, the only cure for homesickness is time...

-CC

fix her some of the dishes she's familar with. Contact the consulate in the area and see if there are any organizations in the area for the country. Throw a party and have her invite her 'new friends'. um... get her more involved with school, like drama club or band.

BrattBoy

star2fire wrote:

If you can call her and send her care packages. She really needs ties to home. When we were stationed in Greece, that helped me with my home sickness.

Teresa in MD

If there's something she really loves but can't get there, maybe try sending some to her. I remember my Mom sending Oreos to me when I was in Auckland. They were worth about $2.50/cookie when they finally got there, but they were worth it imo ;þ Six months was too long to go without Oreos LOL

Kellar

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I just sent her a package last week and she got it today, but it only seemed to make her feel more homesick. Her dad and I are really upset with ourselves for letting her go. I mean, she really wanted to, and her dad kept saying that she didn't know what she was getting into and that a year is a long time, but she wouldn't listen, and now she is ever so sorry she went. I am sure her host family is getting really tired of her crying all the time. If she comes home early, I will have to pay the $7000 scholarship she won. star2fire

I have had 5 exchange students myself here and the main thing was to get him/her more involved with kids their own age at the school. Our Japanese student had a friend that spoke her language in a city about on hour of here and everyother weekend she would call or go see her. All you can do is talk them out of it. Tell them they are here to experience being away. They are also proving to their parents they can be trusted even in another country away from them. I also counseled 3.

I'm so sorry to hear your daughter isn't have a good time. How old is she?

Lynne

Hang in there! This is a good experience for her and it will really help her later in life. She might make different and better decisions based on her experiences and it will help her in life in general! She needs this time away in a different country - we all do but not all of us get to experience it! Time will go by quickly and she needs to try to make the most of it. She needs to coax the people she is living with to be more active or get her out some or something- sounds like they aren't doing enough (?). Don't let her come home! Just think of the maturity :) (I am assuming she is at least 15 or 16 years old) Good luck and tell her to grin and bear it :)

Lori K.

Where is she located? Would it help if we all took the time to send her a little something or a card?

OHH GREAT IDEA!

Fantastic idea, Shelley!! I'd be happy to send some cheer!

Yes, that is very very sweet of you. I have been avoiding saying much to her because they say it makes it worse when the homesick person talks to her parents too much. Here is her email address, spelled out so that spammers don't get it. frittercritter86 at yahoo dot com

Star2fire , I emailed your daughter. I hope she feels better and you and your husband do too.

Star,

I remember my first year of college I was SCARED to death, but I started going out and doing things. I was away from home and no way to get back, so I made the best of it. Tried to search for stuff to do. Your daughter has an AWESOME oppurtunity to be an exchange student. To see new places and things. Not to mention a foriegn language to learn (if she's in a country that doesn't speak english that well). What about all the 'attractions' of the area? You could possibly send her on a scavenger hunt on stuff to go see and do, not to mention PICTURES and her own journalling about the area. Then secretly scrap her year and give it to her as a present when she comes back.

May want to get some of her close friends from home write her a BIG greeting card, send her TONs of pictures and have them ask for pictures of what she's doing in return.

DON'T be upset for letting her go. It may be the only time in her life that she will be able to experience something like this. I'm sure there are other exchange students and college kids that go through all this, but they prevail as well. If it were me I'd make her stay, but find ways to make her feel better. Have you spoken to the family that she's staying with and ask them to help her feel more at home there. That's just me.

BTW, where is she?

star2fire wrote:

She is in Cologne, Germany. She wanted this SO BAD! I guess we all have to be careful what we wish for... we might just get it! star2fire

*pouts*...i would LOVE to be in Germany, not to mention J would be happy as a lark. there is soo much to do and if she got a europass then she can tram to all sorts of places in Europe. The museums, castles, the cathedrals, the spanish riding school (that would be MY first place to visit... yes.. i am a geek), the places my grandparents came from, the forests and the rivers.... oh.. let's not forget the malls.. the food AND the shopping...

Why did she WANT to go?

BrattBoy

star2fire wrote:

Oops! I totally misunderstood! I thought you were talking about someone you were hosting! :) Where is your daughter?

-CC

She just thought it would be very exotic and fun. She never listened to her father, who really did try to tell her she wasn't thinking it through. She is not allowed to leave Germany unless it is with her host parents, that is part of the deal on the scholarship for foreign exchange that she got. If she comes home early, I have to pay back all $7000 of it, which is not the least bit possible, so I hope she finds a way to get over this homesickness and enjoy the rest of her stay. She is having a much harder time with the language than she thought she would, which I think is really discouraging her. I have been praying for her, and so are her friends at church, and I know that some of the great people here are too. I am expecting a good report from her soon. star2fire