Japanese Student Exchange

Overview

San Carlos Sister City Association (SCSCA) is a nonprofit that offers a homestay exchange experience for select time periods from late June to late July with an exchange student in Omura（大村市). A home-hosted international exchange is a valuable experience because of the exposure to new foods and cultures that cannot be seen normally through tourism alone. This is an experience that opens new perspectives, transforms perceptions, develops new thinking, and makes a lasting impression on your student’s life.

Although SCSCA does not charge a fee for this exchange program, parents are asked to pay the cost of air travel for their student and a portion of the chaperone's airfare and stay. The exchange dates are set well ahead of time to allow us to coordinate with parents about the designated dates and flights to ensure everyone is traveling together. We do not allow families to choose different flights or itineraries without prior permission from SCSCA (ie. student is staying in Japan after the exchange to spend more time with the actual family).

We value communication, so each family is given contact information of all exchange students and their parents, as well as the Omura International Department. We encourage communication between parents and between students through texts, emails, and pictures prior to meeting to get more familiar with each other. We sincerely hope that this exchange forms long-lasting relationships that will sustain even after the program!

For our candidates, we require that they are in high school. Some things that we look for are: if the student is mature, able to benefit from the exchange, and can contribute something that would enhance the experience for the Omura exchange students. The online application is due by December 1st, along with a single-page essay on why they wish to go, what they anticipate getting from the experience, and what they feel they would contribute. We hold interviews in which parents are encouraged to join and later announce candidates in mid-January. 

Our Past Programs