By Cole
My Semester in Belgium (Part 1)
Hello! My name is Cole. I am a foreign exchange student in Belgium for a semester. I arrived a few days ago and I am so satisfied with my experience so far. I have already seen a lot of amazing monuments and been around the city. I have also eaten at some delicious restaurants. My host family was so excited to see me and they were so welcoming when I arrived. Thanks to ISE! They found me an amazing family that lives in a beautiful house.
My favorite part about Belgium so far is how welcoming the people are. I am still learning French, so I only know a little. It’s hard for me to communicate at times, but the people here help me to understand and are very polite about it. It’s only been a few days and I am already learning so many more words and phrases to say.
At the start of my program experience when I was a few months from leaving, my priorities were getting my visa and my flight ready, as well as my passport and documents for the program. All of this was overwhelming at first, but with the amazing help of ISE and my coordinator Ted, it was a lot more simple and made my life easier with the amount of help and support I received from them. Without their help navigating, none of it would have been possible.
Until next time, Au revoir!
By Cole
My Semester in Belgium (Part 2)
Greetings! My name is Cole. I am a foreign exchange student in Belgium for a semester. Well, it has been about a month now since I arrived in Belgium and it is still going absolutely amazing! I am so thankful to be here and to be able to make memories with so many new people and experience a new culture that is different than the one I know at home!
I have made friends at school that have been very nice to me and helpful. As for my French, it is improving a lot. In my opinion, as soon as I started school, I started learning a lot faster and my French was improving very quickly. I also really appreciate the help from ISE and WEP while I am over here. The local coordinator for WEP checks in on me every week or so, whether it’s a text message or a short call. And, Ted from ISE checks on my well-being by email every so often.
So far I have been to so many amazing cities and restaurants and little villages. I enjoy and appreciate the towns a lot knowing the history and culture behind them.
Well, that’s all for today. Have a great day!
By Cole
My Semester in Belgium (Part 3)
Cole is an exchange student in Belgium for a semester. He recently described his experience as, “amazing and tremendous, and it’s flying by!” He speaks about school, making friends, and he describes his host family as, “very loving and caring and I’ve been able to build an incredible relationship with them that I’ll take with me through my life!” You can watch his full story below.
Check out Cole’s YouTube video here.
Cole highly recommends the international student exchange program. “ISE and WEP are a great program! Whenever I need anything, I text my local coordinator and they get back to me within minutes to an hour, if not the next day and the same with ISE. Ted is an amazing coordinator! He has helped me with my documentation, passport, flight, and visa information. Whatever I needed, he would help me with it and get me through. It’s pretty amazing to have programs that care so much about their students and the reaction they take positively affects the students and I really appreciate that!”
We invite you to read more about becoming an exchange student and our study abroad programs. To find out even more about different available options, complete our Travel & Study Abroad interest form and our program coordinator will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
Please note that ISE now offers study abroad scholarships to our host families’ kids. Check out our host family section of the website to learn more about other benefits of hosting an exchange student.
