Information to parents of an exchange student

When your own child is about to go away for a whole year, everything is about the exchange student, it isn’t many that think that it is an incredibly large difference for the parents.

This page is therefor filled with valuble information for you as a parent to an exchange student. What is important to think about in your situation?

Parents visiting

Something that can be fun is if you get a visit by your parents during your exchange year. I will be a great moment to show everything when you got home. They will get a whole different view on your life during the year. The exchange organisations want parents and family to visit in the end of the year, maybe you’ll be a bit homesick that you wouldn’t have been otherwise. A perfect opportunity for a visit is your graduation or exam. Talk to your host-family if they think it is okay to let your parents stay with you and your host-family, or they should take in to a hotel nearby.

Calling home

Most exchange students call home once a month. There is no rule about how often you can call home, but the organisations often recommend that you call home once a month. They do everything to not let you think about your home country and get homesick. Otherwise, you will probably know what fits you best when you get there. In other cases, you maybe will long home a lot when your parents are calling, which often just makes the thing worse. When you call home it can cost a lot of money, an expense you’ll have to pay for yourself. Here are a few alternatives when you are calling home:

• Call your parents and ask that they call you.
• Call from your host-family and pay later.
• Buy a telephone card and use it when you are calling.
• Call a collect call.
• You don’t need to use a ordinary phone when calling home, if you have a internet connection you can use Skype: http://www.skype.com , free calls, worldwide.