<p>Hello everyone</p>
<p>I have engaged in a 3 months exchange program in Ontario, Canada in 1994 and 1995 while I was in high school (I'm french-vietnamese by the way living in France). Back then the region council was handling the french part of the program and the cost was pretty low. It has stopped since then (don't ask me why!)
My little cousin (now 13) would like to engage in a similar exchange program (his big sister did so as well): 3 months in the US - or Canada- with a host family going to high school, 3 months receiving the american sibling in France in similar conditions. We've been looking for a program which cost would sound reasonable and were not quite successful.
So we're now looking for a family that would be interested in sharing that experience. I'd like to discuss that possibility first through mails and then maybe on the phone with the people that will contact us.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I believe its getting pretty hard to get a visa to be a student in the PS district
here unless you go through a program. It might even be a law now. We had an exchange student at the time, (about 8 or so years ago) and I remember reading something about in the papers. She had made a friend with a girl from Germany who was doing a private exchange. The parents had met each other on a trip and then they set up the exchange. The parents here didn't have children yet, so it was easy for them to have a teenager because she was self reliant. The parents in Germany paid to the American family the equivalent of the exchange so it covered the cost of her food and other expenses. When we hosted our student her family paid a lot of money to the agency, but we weren't reimbursed at all for any of her expenses. (when you have children of your own it would make it awkward to break out expenses anyway) My daughter is interested in studying in France (she's 14) but we can't reciprocate since our local school doesn't accept any more exchange students. I think the agencies really lobbied for the law so that kids would have the families screened and checked out.</p>