*le sigh*

[Ava]

I wanted so bad to do a summer study abroad this year, but we can't afford it. *sigh* the cheapest one i could find was a two week program in the UK for 1,000 bucks and i can't afford that. i had always hoped to do a summer study abroad program before heading of to college, but guess that isn't going to work out. oh well

[graywarrior]

1. There's always Canada!

[Ava]

3. i didn't see any study programs in canada oddly enough

:shrug:

[graywarrior]

4. You can go on my BIL's fishing boat.

[oregonjen]

2. Perhaps you can study abroad during your college years?

I did. Studied in Tokyo for a year as part of a program at my college. LOVED it! Don't give up Ava! Where there's a will, there's a way. :hi:

By the way, my Dad lost his job just one month before my departure to Japan. My Mom worked her butt off to make sure I went. I will never forget that.

[MassLiberal]

5. can you find a job abroad as an au pair?

You'd have to work, but you could try to find a family that would give you lots of time off. Just a thought.

[Ava]

7. would someone my age qualify for that?

i don't now much about it, but i wouldn't think that i would qualify

[MassLiberal]

8. how old are you?

I found one site that says "the United States Au Pair Program requires aupairs to be between the ages of 18 and 26. The UK AuPair program requires au pairs to be between the ages of 17 and 27 years old." http://www.greataupair.com/support.cfm/topic/FAQ/faqID/49

It may depend upon what country you want to go to.

[Ava]

11. i'm 17

i don't speak any other language fluently so i would have to be in an english speaking country for something such as being an au pair

[MassLiberal]

15. you're my daughter's age

:hi: You might look around a bit, if you think this could be an option -- I did see a couple of sites that match au pairs with families, and in some cases you could be under 18.

[madinmaryland]

6. I understand there are really cheap study programs in Delaware.

Ask LynneSin.

:hide:

[harmonicon]

10. sort of

yeah, the programs are cheap, but it's not worth it, once you add in how much money you have to pay in tolls to get there.

[harmonicon]

9. study schmudy

just go somewhere you're interested (with friends, or visiting people you know), hang out, look at shit, get drunk. It'll be cheaper and more educational than a formal study abroad thing would have been.

[Ava]

12. i can't afford that either

and i don't do the whole getting drunk thing

[harmonicon]

16. I see

that's too bad. I went to Europe the summer when I was 17. His older brother lived in London, so we stayed with him for a bit, and then tooled around. It was a hell of a lot cheaper then though. Maybe some other time.... maybe year or summer in college.

[oregonjen]

14. Yeah because the whole living in a different country,

learning a foreign language and experiencing a different culture is sooo overrated. :sarcasm:

Don't give up your dreams Ava. Can you ask a school counselor about programs you may be able to afford? Any scholarships you could apply for?

[harmonicon]

19. those are things I'm advocating for!!

I don't think the best way to learn about another culture is to go to some study program. I learned a lot more about the Czech republic by spending one Christmas with Czech family (I was a sort of friend via boyfriend of one of them) in a small village than I ever would have at a university program in Prague. Part of that was definitely drinking their local booze, which is distilled from a plum mash the families ferment themselves. The end product is stored in recycled soda bottles - you don't learn that from a study program.

[oregonjen]

25. Living with a host family immersed in the culture is the best way

I'm sorry. I thought you were being an ass in your post. Took you seriously. Oops! :blush:
The particular program I was on was for one year, living with a host family and studying at a college that my university had ties to. Best experience ever. Learned the language so much easier than in a darn language class and made awesome memories that will be with me forever.

[harmonicon]

27. I was being serious

sort of. There's a lot to be learned by having fun too :) I'm plenty educated in the university sense, but I also advocate taking time away from classes just to hang out, travel, meet new people, etc. One thing I have never done is learn another language, apart from just enough to order a coffee or beer and buy some groceries or cigarettes. I travel a lot, but I never seem to be in one country (ok, one non english speaking country) for longer than a month.

[Ava]

20. i homeschool

but i'm going to keep looking around ;) :hi:

[MassLiberal]

22. no wonder you're so cool

;-)

[cbayer]

13. How about doing a volunteer job in an underprivileged country?

I think there are a lot of opportunities through medical and religious organization.

It might cost you nothing and give you something incredible.

[Ava]

17. i don't know if my mom would let me do that

because in many of those volunteer jobs there is some risk and a certain amount of danger :shrug:

i'm going to just keep looking around, and if nothing comes up then that's just that. not the end of the world. ;) :hi:

[cbayer]

23. That's why you do it.

Because there is a certain amount of risk and danger.

And because your mom doesn't want you to.

[Ava]

24. i don't do stuff because my mom doesn't want me to

i love my mom and her opinion perhaps matters more to me than anyone else's

[MassLiberal]

18. or an internship?

Check out Idealist.org: http://www.idealist.org/

[Ava]

21. thanks for the link

:hi:

[LynzM]

26. Oh man, dude, that sucks...

Have you looked at something like WWOOF or something similar? You'd still need to pay for flights, but at least you might be able to see some other places and travel some and meet people. Check out www.statravel.com for cheap flights.

I hope that you're able to do study abroad while in college, at least. It's a fantastic experience. :hug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Bummer! *hugs*

[CreekDog]

29. be careful with what you sign up for in order to be somewhere else

some of those people are just looking for cheap labor.

once in college, there are a lot of study abroad programs associated with the school and by the time you go, you can take language courses to prepare for it.

also, there are programs where you can teach english in many parts of the world and this doesn't require you to know other languages. i had friends go to Hungary and really had an interesting experience.