Not knowing, getting out of your comfort zone is part of the beauty of it all. You faced challenges, you overcame them, came out stronger, wiser, fearless, more mature for your age & confident. You wish you knew, yes it would've made life easier but not knowing brought the best out of you & made you the person you are today .
Your accent is incredible- I'm an American and I thought you were American until I read the description to make sure Edit: also when you said when you came from Germany. Great job!
Three quick Questions Laura....1) On a Scale from 1 to 10,.... 1 being Horrible and 10 being Super Great, how would you rate your Exchange Year experience! 2) After 6 years back in Germany, have you maintained contact with any friends you made during your exchange? and 3) Have you been back to the US since you left after that year? Bitte Antworten!! Tschuess Laura!!
Laura: It's an exciting time for my family! My husband and I have decided to be host parents this fall 2022 - we are looking forward to a 16 year German girl joining us in Florida. So question here....with some background: Our one 23 yoa child is out on his own now so it's just us and I am beginning to wonder, after viewing numerous You Tube videos from other students, if we should consider hosting two girls instead of one ....for the students sake. Maybe it'd be nice for her to have some company besides us? Would you mind sharing your thoughts and feeling about this possibility? Would that have been disruptive for you? Do you think you have been able to make friends easier...or been more confident with someone your ageto share your feelings/days with.....?
That's absolutely amazing!!! Congrats for making this decision. I would say host families come in all shapes and sizes and as long as you're informed and committed, your exchange student will have a great time. The fact that you're watching my videos is already a great indicator that she will be lucky to have you as host parents. Of course it is nice for them to have a buddy that is going through the same thing. But your decision to host another student should really be intrinsically motivated. That means if you feel like it would be great and you're looking forward to it, do it. If the idea of hosting two at the same time is too scary and you would only do it because you feel like you two alone wouldn't be enough for her then don't. Having someone in the same boat as you is nice but that could also lead to them clinging onto each other as security blankets. It might also depend on your jobs. If you two are very busy working then hosting two might be good so they can keep each other company. But to put it briefly: as long as you two are excited about hosting her and know that you can make time to support her emotionally and show her some cool stuff on the weekend then she will be fine either way. Never force anything that doesn't feel right. Don't feel like you need to fit into the model of a picture-perfect host family.
@@honey27003 I truly appreciate those comments and your time Laura - thank you. I have made myself available to enjoy this wonderful experience (I work when I want to so no set schedule...), and look forward to having so much fun with whomever is living with me and my husband. What a great time this will be for all of us! Choosing to host one or two students will have to be discussed further here at home, but I certainly appreciate your thoughts about being comfortable with ourselves as the people we are - whether or not we still have children at home. Thank you again.
i have a question, i have found a really good school in london that i wanna start in when im becoming and exchange student, but i dont know exactly how it works when it comes to schools. i saw that on the side explorius there is a thing called selcet highschool where u can choose some off the best local/private schools in different countries, so i really hope i am able to choose the school i want to start in. Were you able to choose school?
Hi! I am going to talk about this is more detail in one of my upcoming videos but here is a short answer: most programs work like this: you pick a country and then your future host family picks you and that will determine where you will live. I know some programs allow you to pick a state or even a school if you can find a family there for yourself (which might be impossible if you donÄt already know someone. I am guessing that if you're willing to spend a lot of money there will be private services who can make that happen for you. However, my recommendation will always be to keep an open mind and to kind of just let things happen. I ended up in Texas (which I would have never chosen for myself) and I loved it and met some amazing people there. Don't be too focused on London or a specific school, if you're open to it you might discover new places and meet some incredible people in a place you've never even heard of before. But: it's just a suggestion and you can of course choose to go the other way
@@honey27003 yeah that sounds like an good idea! i have connections who lives near the school so hopefully if there isnt a family near the school i could live with them!
Hi Laura... Just wanted to ask you,were you a part of a paid or free exchange program and which organization did you went through. Btw love all ur videos 💚💚
Hi lovely! Thank you so much that is a huge compliment. If you don't mind, I would love to include the answer of your questions in one of my upcoming Q&As
Yea I know :/ I wasn't really too active on there so I need to figure out how I want to use Instagram. Until I figure it out, I will mostly only be here on TH-cam
Not knowing, getting out of your comfort zone is part of the beauty of it all. You faced challenges, you overcame them, came out stronger, wiser, fearless, more mature for your age & confident. You wish you knew, yes it would've made life easier but not knowing brought the best out of you & made you the person you are today .
Thank you! I couldn't have said it any better
Your accent is incredible- I'm an American and I thought you were American until I read the description to make sure
Edit: also when you said when you came from Germany. Great job!
Three quick Questions Laura....1) On a Scale from 1 to 10,.... 1 being Horrible and 10 being Super Great, how would you rate your Exchange Year experience! 2) After 6 years back in Germany, have you maintained contact with any friends you made during your exchange? and 3) Have you been back to the US since you left after that year? Bitte Antworten!! Tschuess Laura!!
Definitely going to answer those in one of my upcoming Q&As :) Thank you so much as always!
I'm going on a exchange year in august and your videos' are very helpful thank you
It makes me so happy to hear that! Please let me know whether there are any specific topics you would like to hear my advice or opinions on!
same... in august too maybe the same one :)
@@eviestoten1872 me too
Laura: It's an exciting time for my family! My husband and I have decided to be host parents this fall 2022 - we are looking forward to a 16 year German girl joining us in Florida. So question here....with some background: Our one 23 yoa child is out on his own now so it's just us and I am beginning to wonder, after viewing numerous You Tube videos from other students, if we should consider hosting two girls instead of one ....for the students sake. Maybe it'd be nice for her to have some company besides us? Would you mind sharing your thoughts and feeling about this possibility? Would that have been disruptive for you? Do you think you have been able to make friends easier...or been more confident with someone your ageto share your feelings/days with.....?
That's absolutely amazing!!! Congrats for making this decision. I would say host families come in all shapes and sizes and as long as you're informed and committed, your exchange student will have a great time. The fact that you're watching my videos is already a great indicator that she will be lucky to have you as host parents. Of course it is nice for them to have a buddy that is going through the same thing. But your decision to host another student should really be intrinsically motivated. That means if you feel like it would be great and you're looking forward to it, do it. If the idea of hosting two at the same time is too scary and you would only do it because you feel like you two alone wouldn't be enough for her then don't. Having someone in the same boat as you is nice but that could also lead to them clinging onto each other as security blankets. It might also depend on your jobs. If you two are very busy working then hosting two might be good so they can keep each other company. But to put it briefly: as long as you two are excited about hosting her and know that you can make time to support her emotionally and show her some cool stuff on the weekend then she will be fine either way. Never force anything that doesn't feel right. Don't feel like you need to fit into the model of a picture-perfect host family.
@@honey27003 I truly appreciate those comments and your time Laura - thank you. I have made myself available to enjoy this wonderful experience (I work when I want to so no set schedule...), and look forward to having so much fun with whomever is living with me and my husband. What a great time this will be for all of us! Choosing to host one or two students will have to be discussed further here at home, but I certainly appreciate your thoughts about being comfortable with ourselves as the people we are - whether or not we still have children at home. Thank you again.
@@sherylemmett270 No problem. You can always ask me if you're ever unsure about anything
LOVED THIS
I am so glad you liked it! Please let me know if there are any other topics you would like me to talk about or whether you have any sorts of questions
I really enjoyed this video, I love the way you talk and how you explain things
Great video ❤️
Thank you so much love!!!!
i have a question, i have found a really good school in london that i wanna start in when im becoming and exchange student, but i dont know exactly how it works when it comes to schools. i saw that on the side explorius there is a thing called selcet highschool where u can choose some off the best local/private schools in different countries, so i really hope i am able to choose the school i want to start in. Were you able to choose school?
Hi! I am going to talk about this is more detail in one of my upcoming videos but here is a short answer: most programs work like this: you pick a country and then your future host family picks you and that will determine where you will live. I know some programs allow you to pick a state or even a school if you can find a family there for yourself (which might be impossible if you donÄt already know someone. I am guessing that if you're willing to spend a lot of money there will be private services who can make that happen for you. However, my recommendation will always be to keep an open mind and to kind of just let things happen. I ended up in Texas (which I would have never chosen for myself) and I loved it and met some amazing people there. Don't be too focused on London or a specific school, if you're open to it you might discover new places and meet some incredible people in a place you've never even heard of before. But: it's just a suggestion and you can of course choose to go the other way
@@honey27003 yeah that sounds like an good idea! i have connections who lives near the school so hopefully if there isnt a family near the school i could live with them!
@@lyssa.subliminals Yes, that might work. Just talk to an organization about it and I am sure they can give you some advice on how to make it happen
if you want do do a sport like cheerleading at the school, do you have to pay? or is it for free?
I'll include this question in one of my upcoming Q&As :) Really good one! Let me know if you have any more!
Great ❤
Thank you so much!!!
Hi Laura... Just wanted to ask you,were you a part of a paid or free exchange program and which organization did you went through. Btw love all ur videos 💚💚
Hi lovely! Thank you so much that is a huge compliment. If you don't mind, I would love to include the answer of your questions in one of my upcoming Q&As
you have a great accent
Thank you so so much!
What company did you go with ?
I'll talk about this in a bit more depth in an upcoming Q&A but I went with Experiment e.V. on the German side and CIEE on the American side
Hi Laura I'm just sad because ur ig disabled so if u create a new one
Tell me
Yea I know :/ I wasn't really too active on there so I need to figure out how I want to use Instagram. Until I figure it out, I will mostly only be here on TH-cam