Creativity Action Service IB logg

Our whole family has become a support family for a girl named Guitar this year. The job description is slightly different from "fadderkompis" but the core is still the same. We are still there to support her through hardships in her year abroad. Guitar has stayed at our house a few days every now and then as she has had problems with her family, and we've also taken her to a harvest festival at Wiks slott and other "exotic" activities. She's helped us pick rowan berries to make jelly and we've made her a birthday cake (which in the end was ruined, so we had to buy one, but it's the thought that counts!) I've had some contact with her over e-mail as well, discussing what she can do about every day issues such as not understanding the bus system for the "lantisbussarna". She even calls me her "sister" which I find very flattering!

The second camp I was a leader for was a whole lot bigger than the first one. This camp had around 80 parcipitants and we had to keep track of them all! Once, we had to wake up in the middle of the night and chase some guys out of the swimming pool. (They'd decided to take a midnight swim, but the pool was closed!) It was harder to be a leader this time because I was an actual leader and not just a helper, sort of. It's pretty hard to have authority over 80 kids just a couple of years younger than myself! It went relatively well, however, since some did respect me and saw me as someone in an "authority position"! Getting some of the kids talking and discussing was just impossible, during one of the discussions I led I had a really quiet group and I pretty much had to direct every question at one person in particular.

I learnt a whole lot, herding the soon to be exchangers all weekend. I learnt that I can be polite but commanding, and be taking seriously too!, if I set my mind to it. I don't particularly like ordering people around, but I can get them to listen to me. Beatrice, the other new camp leader,  and I helped the more experienced leaders and didn't take as much responsibility but we were mainly there to support and learn since we were both new to this. This is my third assignment as an AFS voluteer, the other two have been "support buddy" and sort of a PR-person. I really liked interacting with the Swedish exchnage students too, before it's only been the foreign ones and the possible ones. Some of the things we talked about during the camp was culture shock, how to handle adjusting to a new culture including language and values etc. How to deal with differing values was a big deal, I shared my experiences with homophobes and racists in foreign cultures. The point wasn't to scare them but rather (as was the point of the whole camp) to give them realistic expectations. The whole camp stretched from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

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.

Aug 30 - Returnee meeting - 6 hours

Discussions:

• The positive and negative parts of youth exchange
• Cultural differences
• Ways of dealing with hardships
• Fun activities for the new foreign exchange students
• Our roles as support friends

Aug 31 - Welcome meeting for the exchange students - 3 hours

• Greeting the exchange students and their host families
• Information about how AFS works as an organization
• Trust-building games between support friends and exchange students

Sept 3 - Support friend meeting - 1 hour

I met with Angela over a coffee and discussed cultural differences, the school system, Swedish customs, Swedish mannerisms, the Swiss and Swedish currencies

Sept 4 - City tour of Stockholm - 3 hours

• The support friends and other AFS volunteers guided the exchange students through Åhléns City, Sergels torg, Kungsan, the royal castle and Gamla stan.
• I discussed Sweden, Russia, Spain and Switzerland and their cultural differences with three exchange students. We talked about fashion, youth culture, laws, relationships, families and family hierarchies. I also helped them with the Swedish train and subway system and Angela's phone.

Sept 7 - Support friend meeting - 5 hours

I met with Angela and two other exchange students and showed them around Stockholm city, the parts we hadn't covered on September 4^th. Besides talking about things we'd discussed before we talked about their host families, their habits, and how to get used to living with a new family.

Oct 2 - International dinner - 3 hours

All exchange students in the Stockholm area met and brought food from their countries. I helped set up the tables and the buffé. I helped eating the food too.

Nov 6 - Support friend meeting - 2 hours