Kate's Exchange Year in Japan

Final update!

She leave on March 17 and flies to LAX. There she will meet up with the other AFS students who are headed to Japan and they will fly to Tokyo together. They will stay in Tokyo for an orientation together before they are sent out to their host families. Kate does not have a host family yet but this is not uncommon. We can't wait to find out. It's rather unsettling to not know where your kid is heading and who they will be living with for the next year but I have all the faith in the world in the AFS organization.

Kate also has created an Instagram page for people to follow along on her year. I'll post that once it gets going.

UPDATE!

we ultimately ended up deciding to use AFS for the exchange organization.

Today she was fully accepted into the program! Her deposit has been paid...this is getting REAL!

She will be leaving in mid-March 2025 to head to Japan for 10 months, to study in a fully immersed Japanese school program and live her Japanese dream.

So many emotions are swirling around the house today. Thank you to those that have donated so far and if anyone can spare anything it is truly a case of every little bit counts. We appreciate it all.

Hello, my name is MaryAnn and I am Kate's mom. Kate has a love of all things Japan and has been working towards spending her Junior year in high school in Japan. She is looking to go through the Greenheart program. This is an academic year in Japan.

She has been gathering the necessary information and doggedly working towards meeting the requirements of the program. She has advocated for herself at school and is beginning formal Japanese language instruction through a program in Portland. This will be paid for through a grant Windham High School found to work for this and will count as her foreign language credits towards graduation.

She is currently a freshman. The deposits and payment towards the program are due this year. There is a 1,500 application fee as well as a 5,000 program fee if accepted. Additional funding would go towards the almost 3,000 roundtrip flight and program fees. Kate is applying for jobs and will be saving towards this as well.

We appreciate your consideration and support in helping Kate realize her dreams.