Summer Exchange Programs - Finland

Age Range:

Birth Date Range:

Travel Dates:

Application Deadline: March 15, 2012

Finland Summer Homestay Program

Imagine having six weeks in this beautiful country during summer to enjoy daily life with your host family. The country is predominantly an unspoiled natural playground with vast forests and almost two hundred thousand lakes.

Program Details

The program duration is 6 weeks. The first 5 weeks will be spent with your host family in your host community. The final week will consist of end-of-stay activities including a 1 day cruise to Tallinn, Estonia, and a final evaluation camp to reflect on your stay and prepare for your return home.

Day-to-day activities during your time abroad are largely unstructured so that your schedule is flexible and you are free to spend as much time as possible engaging with your host family and host community. In addition to the orientations, some local chapters organize activities for students and host families throughout the summer. These will vary from chapter to chapter but may include parties or excursions to other cities or regions in Finland. Unlike the orientations, these activities are optional and are at the student’s expense.

Placement Realities

Many host families will take their student to visit their summer cottage by the lake. There is an arrival orientation in Helsinki and an End-of-Stay Orientation including a cruise to Tallinn, Estonia that is paid for by AFS Finland. Students may be placed throughout Finland, including Lapland. Most placements (about 80%) are in small cities or in rural areas.Even though you will be placed with a Finnish-speaking host families, you do not need to speak Finnish in order to participate in the program. In fact, many Finnish host families can speak or understand some English.

Often, your host family will want to share their culture with you by taking trips to museums, festivals, different cities, and other parts of Finland. In order to take advantage of these opportunities, we suggest that you bring at least 300 euros (approx. $400) for spending money.

Meals and Diet

The Finnish diet is based on meat, fish, potatoes, pasta, bread and dairy products. Coffee is a favorite beverage, even among teenagers. Salads and smorgasbord are popular. Although vegetarianism is not rare, vegetarians are difficult to place.

Eligibility

To participate in this program, you must:

• Be within the age range at the start of the program (age range located above)
• Have a passing GPA (on a 4.0 scale)
• Be in good mental, physical, and emotional health in accordance with the AFS Medical Evaluation Policies
• Have an open mind, willingness to be flexible, and the ability to adapt to new a culture, school, and environment
• Be in possession or have applied for a U.S. passport at the time of application.