AFS Volunteer "Informer" 3/10 2008
Oct 3 - School presentation at Internationella Gymnasiet - 3 hours
I met up with Imogen, an exchange student from New Zeeland, and we held a presentation about AFS and its mission at Internationella Gymnasiet. Afterwards we set up a table with brochures and answered the students' questions about AFS and youth exchanges.
I've never spoken in front of so many people before and that was quite an experience, especially since we weren't given much time to prepare before. I think the actual speaking part went quite well - some people were even taking notes - but the table with brochures wasn't much of a success. Only one student came up to us - to tell us that she was sick of people trying to get her to go on an exchange. Apparently four other exchange organizations had been there doing presentations the same week. I tried to explain to her that that was something she would have to discuss with the school. So besides speaking in front of people I've also practised deflecting arguments in a gentle way...
I realized that many people don't see the point of going on an exchange. A lot of people (eg. the girl who told us she was sick of exchange organizations) only see it as a year off from school, where you go goof off in another country. Others (eg. the woman from Internationella Gymnasiet who booked our presentation) think of it as an educating experience, since you go to school in another country and get to see their point of view. I think the most important aspect is learing about politics, issues and cultural differences. Learning to see and understand the differences so we can get along without dropping nuclear bombs on each other. But I don't think many see that point of exchange, at least not the ones I talked to at Internationella Gymnasiet.
