Study/Living Abroad Help
Hey everyone! So I'm in an online homeschool/school (there are other students on Zoom but I'm at home) and I'm trying to put together my senior year schedule. There's an independent elective where you can propose your own initiative and I've always wanted to study abroad in Japan (I'm taking Japanese classes with my school right now). The problem is:
1) They've never had a student study abroad before so they don't know what to do.
2) Doing my online classes in the Japan timezone would have me waking up at midnight to attend them
3) If I were to do school in Japan, I would either have to pause my online school (which wouldn't give me credit) or somehow manage to do both my Japan schoolwork and my online schoolwork.
So my question is: Does anyone know a program that would allow me to live aboard for a semester but not attend a school? I would be fine with cultural events or having to do some local programs. I want to do it for the Winter/Spring Semester (about January to May) since most of the Fall semester programs are likely already filled/closed.
Thank you so much!
Hi, I want to start off by saying that it is AMAZING that you're interested in perusing this, what a great opportunity! I don't have experience with this topic, however these are the steps I would take based on your situation.
1. Since your school has never had to deal with this in the past, I would work with them as well as research on your own time, a program that allows and helps students study abroad. I did some research to help out and found this resource, you may want to take a look at it! afsusa.org/programs/japan-high-school/#afs-nav-eligibility
2. Time zones can be a great challenge, talk with the school to see if your teachers could start recording their lessons so you don't have to stay up at night to do the work. Teachers recording their lessons would be a great practice no matter what, so maybe this could become a schoolwide thing (if it's not already). You could work one on one with your teachers in personal zoom calls with any questions you have after watching the lesson if needed since there are some reasonably times parts of the day even factoring in the time difference.
3. I would recommend sticking with your online school and try doing dual enrolment at a Japanese community college. I'm not sure if this is a thing or not over there, but it would be a great opportunity to get your feet wet in the culture as well as workload. As long as you meet the course requirements and register/speak with the college to get permission I don't see a reason you wouldn't be able to take a class or two. This would help you advance in your college work (as long as it transfers) and even if it doesn't, you get the experience.
Thank you so much! Unfortunately, due to the stark time difference and not having someone to stay with, I'm no longer going to study abroad in Japan. But, we figured out an alternative to do: a study/living abroad in my parents' home country and an internship (plus living with) with a family friend in the fall semester. It has a closer time difference (so I can attend live classes though they do record all their classes for those who self-study or are absent) and the internship will be good for college applications. But thank you so much for the ideas, especially the college dual enrollment. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll do it for the winter semester or as a fun graduation trip.
That sounds great! I’m so exited for you! Reach out if you need any other recommendations!
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