AFS Luncheon Reflection

Source: https://ysnews.com/news/2018/07/afs-seeks-host-families-in-yellow-springs

This Sunday (March 10), Ella and I led the discussion for the AFS panel. We had prepared a list of around 12 questions that covered several different topics. The panel featured four AFS students, two from Italy, one from Jordan, and one from Tunisia. I was very happy with how the panel turned out, for I learned several different things about all of the countries that the AFS students were from as well as how they view certain aspects of the US that I am so accustomed to and seem normal to me (like driving as a 16 year old, living in a relatively diverse area, etc.).

I was very curious to learn more about the difference in their school systems than ours. In Jordan and Tunisia (which seemed to be very similar in several different aspects like the languages their classes are in, certain cultural traditions, etc.), the students take around 13 different subjects at once (compared to the 5-6 we take here in the US). In Italy meanwhile, most of the students attend specialized schools in certain subject areas (like the classics, the sciences, etc.). However, in all three of the countries, it seems like there is way less of an emphasis on homework than there is here (the students on the panel all adamantly agreed on this point and expressed their annoyance with the homework they have to do here, which I thought was hilarious).

While I found the panel discussion to be very interesting, I almost enjoyed talking to them during the lunch even more because it was more of a casual conversation (plus the food they had made was DELICIOUS). I learned more about their lives and they asked about mine as well. I learned about where else they are going while here in the U.S. (one said he was going to D.C., the other to Chicago, etc.). All in all, my conversations with them were very fun and interesting and made me wish I had studied abroad with a host family for a year myself. I now feel even more motivated to study abroad over college and travel whenever I get the chance after I graduate. This luncheon was a fun experience that I hope other Poly students take advantage of in the future.