Please tell me about your Y7 kids who went on school exchange trips and had a wonderful time...

[spiderlight]

DS is 12, in Year 7. He's off to Japan for ten days with the school later this week. He's been talking about going ever since the exchange was mentioned at their first transition day in primary - he loves Japanese cars and anime/manga and he's obsessed with planes at the moment so he's wildly excited about the flights and the airports. There was no question of not letting him go, because his heart has been so set on it for so long, but I am crapping myself :(

We haven't had any contact with the host family yet other than finding out that they have a boy of 13. They wouldn't have volunteered if they weren't going to make him welcome and look after him though, would they? He's the only Y7 going, although he's made friends with two of the Y8 lads who are absolutely lovely, and the teachers going with them have done the same trip three times before so they know what they're doing. I suffer terrible anxiety though and my head is spinning about it all. I'm not letting it show, but I'm just so scared that he'll be homesick, not get on with the host kid, struggle to communicate, lose his sunscreen, not like the food (he's vegetarian, which adds a whole other layer of potential drama!)....argh! It will be the greatest experience of his life though, right? Right??

Yes it will!

My very young Y8 did a French exchange and loved it. The family were lovely and really looked after her.

My DS did a music tour in Japan for 3 weeks in Y9 and had an amazing time. Not the same I know as he stayed in hotels etc, but he was fine in Japan.

When we had the French exchange staying with us, I treated her as one of my own kids. Dried wet clothes, lent gloves, asked her what she wanted to eat etc. HTe students spent their day time together, and we entertained them in the evenings/weekends usually by getting together with the other exchange families, so the foreign students were actually together a lot of the time.

If the school has run the trip before, they will have dealt with everything previously. He will be fine. Is he used to being away from home?

Google translate is brilliant.

Thank you - that's reassuring. He's done two residential in primary (three days in Y5 and five days in Y6) and he stays with his grandparents for a week every summer, so it won't be the first time he's been away from us. It will be his first time properly abroad though - the furthest he's been is Ireland. He has wanted to go to Japan for years but we've never managed it because of family circumstances. He's an only child so I'm going to be lost without him!

And the school's been running this trip since 1991, with the same Japanese school, and the teachers going this year have all been three times before, so they're dab hands at it all. I'm being totally irrational - just need to hear some positive stories to snap me out of it, I think!

Wow - it sounds amazing!

If he is used to being away, I am sure he will be fine.

Is he allowed to take a phone? My DS whatapp'd called us while he was in Japan which was lovely. Only if it won't make him homesick though.

Does he learn Japanese at school?

Yes, he's taking his phone, and we've got a prepaid Japanese data SIM to put in it so he can Whatsapp me. He's promised to put at least one photo on Instagram every day as well so I know he's alive even if he's having too much fun to bother messaging me.

He's been learning basic Japanese at a lunchtime club for the exchange kids but I'm not sure how proficient he is really. He can say 'hello', 'thank you' and 'vegetarian' though!

The school will probably put things on twitter/Facebook/school website too won't they?

Sounds like he has it all sorted. He'll be home before you know it. Well done on letting him go despite your anxiety.

Hopefully they will but they're a bit haphazard! We haven't been able to contact the host family because DS lost/forgot to pick up the sheet with their details on last Monday, and despite us ringing, emailing and even calling into the school office, they haven't managed to produce a copy of it for us yet. Hoping he'll get it today - they're having a rehearsal of the 'cultural display' they have to put on for the host school ('Mum, I need a wizard's costume for Japan' at 9.00 on Saturday night.... ) so he'll be seeing the teacher in charge of it all.

DS went to Taiwan when he was 13 for 12 nights. He had a brilliant time! He stayed with a family with a boy his age (who later came to stay with us for a week) and a younger sister. We only had a sheet of paper with scant details about them and he wasn’t allowed to bring his phone, though the family let him use their laptop to email us regularly.

The family took great care of him. DS really couldn’t speak any Mandarin and he brought his Spanish English dictionary by accident but he managed fine.

Thank you @WickedGoodDoge - glad he had a good time!

He's gone! he was a bit scared and clingy before we left home, but once he was with his friends at the school he was absolutely fine, and I think some of the older girls are going to sort of 'adopt' him because they were making a big fuss of him in the minibus. It's going to be a long ten days for me now though!

He will have a great time OP!

Have you got a project or something planned for while he is away? Do some decorating or plan trips to local exhibitions etc the you might not normally have time for?

Even a weekend away, or some evenings out without having to worry about childcare.

We're going to Devon with the dog for a week on Friday :)

Have a great time!

Just updating this to say that he had a fabulous time - loved his host, loved the family, loved the food, and has been moping around since he got back saying 'I miss Japan...' He did have one bout of homesickness and video-called me in tears, but a quick text to the teacher on the trip and his host mum was immediately on the case and cheered him up. He came home absolutely laden with gifts (and tat from the thousand-yen shop!) and is already planning to go again if he gets the opportunity.

@Seeline and @WickedGoodDoge - THANK YOU for reassuring me before he went!

That’s so lovely to hear! It’s obviously a successful trip or they wouldn’t keep doing it.

Oh, I’d missed your update! I’m glad he had a great time but feel the need to warn you that this is just the start. I have a thread in chat right now about DS how is now 17 and was quite adamant that he could do a tall ship sail from Aberdeen to Frederikstad then travel to Oslo and Stockholm on his own. The tall ship was fine but have had many many bemused/panicked messages yesterday/today when he couldn’t find the correct bus stop to Oslo and realised he can’t actually speak Norwegian!

You too may have created an overly confident child by letting him go to Japan!

Oh blimey!! Hope he found the bus in the end. I fully expect mine to become an insufferable jet-setter after this - he's already overly confident so there's no hope for me (or my bank balance). He's hoping to have his host lad to stay here next March so that'll be lovely.

This has just come up on FB and had to be shared here!!

www.goodnewsnetwork.org/young-traveler-uses-hilarious-photos-reassure-mom-look/

Hahahahahahaha, that’ll be both our DS’s in a decade! DH says I have created a monster.

Glad all's well!

Mine came home yesterday with the forms to go to Japan again in 2021, and for us to host in 2020 :)