Corona Update August 2020

Hey,

in the long time that I haven't written anything, (unfortunately) a lot has changed. I think my last post was from before the pandemic. And because of this, I had to make some decisions that were not easy to make.

During the pandemic, two more seminars were supposed to take place. Many consider these AFS seminars to be one of the best parts of their exchange year - but for exchange students 2020/21, the seminars were online. I don't want to complain, but they weren't particularly great. Sitting in front of the computer for almost two hours every Monday evening for four weeks was definitely not very exciting.

When the first seminar was over, it was already the end of May. And normally, I would have flown at the end of July/early August. Time was running out, but the number of infections in the USA kept increasing. At that time, however, I didn't majorly worry about it because it hadn't escalated that much yet. I was still very happy with my host family and that made me somewhat forget about Corona. I always had the thought that the main thing is to be with my host family, with the sweet dogs, to spend time with them, regardless of whether we can only stay at home and are generally more limited.

But just a few days later, the organization called to inform me that my high school in NC doesn't want/can't accept me. The entire school district, including my school, has decided not to host exchange students for the next school year because of Corona. That hit me hard because at that point I would have flown in about a month.

And then came the doubts. The situation with Corona in the USA is bad, it is not certain whether schools will reopen in September or continue with online classes, I no longer had a host family, and I would have had to start applying for my visa soon.

In the end, I decided not to leave in summer (10 months in the USA) for the following reasons: I no longer have a host family and don't want to end up with just any family. It's not certain if schools will reopen and honestly, I have absolutely no desire to do online classes during my exchange year - as a newcomer, nobody knows me, I don't know anyone, I would have to figure it out alone on an unfamiliar computer with unfamiliar software. Additionally, I wouldn't have any chance to make friends. My (former) host mother also said that I wouldn't have the 'real exchange year experience' because of this. My host family and I would have been extremely limited in our activities. In my exchange year, I want to see as much of the country as possible, but because of Corona, that wouldn't have been possible. I didn't want to just stay at home either. Besides, I didn't want to risk getting infected with Corona somehow in the USA. Although I am well insured through my organization, the uncertainty was just too great for me. I'd rather get infected here in DE, where the healthcare system is very good and I'm at home. Another thing that prevented me from leaving in summer was the way some Americans are dealing with the virus. Many of them act as if there is no Corona, they have big parties, refuse to wear a mask, and so on. I found that a bit alarming. Also, it would have been time to apply for my visa. As I said, at that point, I no longer had a host family and it was very uncertain whether I would go to the USA. If I didn't go, I would have been stuck with the cost of €300 for the visa.

All of this ultimately led me to switch to the winter departure (5 months in the USA). The departure would be in January 2021. Recently, my former host mom wrote to me that the school I would have attended may still accept exchange students from January onward. My host mom was super sweet and emphasized all the time that she would be very happy if I could still come to her in January. Of course, I would be too. Unfortunately, nothing is certain yet. However, I am very sure that if the situation with Corona in the USA does not improve, I will not go in January either. I would still have the opportunity to change countries. Of course, I would love to go to a high school, but if Corona doesn't allow it, I prefer to stay at home rather than put myself in 'danger' and spend a lot of money on an exchange year where I couldn't experience anything.

I will keep you updated and hope that everything will calm down soon.

Thanks for reading, Melina <3