Before You Arrive...

SCHOOL IMMUNIZATIONS are extremely important. You will not be allowed to attend school in New York State unless you have ALL of the required immunizations. See the links at left to find out what they are. You must bring with you a health form addendum that shows the exact dates that you received the immunizations. Having the doctor write all up to date on the form is NOT acceptable.
Traveling to Canada Because we live fairly close to Canada, many host families like to show students Montreal or Niagara Falls. For some students this will require a Travel Visa from Canada. You should talk to your host family to see if they plan a trip to Canada, and if so, click here, for visa information.
Sports Physicals If you intend to try out for a school sport while in the U.S., you will be required to have a sports physical. This is often given at the school by a physician for free on the Monday after you arrive. However, some schools require that your doctor do the physical and use the school's form. Please ask Your host family about this requirement. If available we will try to have links to those forms on this page.

Sports Physical Forms
Ballston Spa
Mohonasen
Shaker
Voorheesville
Winter coats, hats, and mittens are necessary here, but we do have a small supply of winter clothes that we will donate to students from warm climates. Javi is wearing one of our coats right here!
Cultural Sharing During your stay, you will be asked to speak to elementary school classes or other groups about your country and culture. The easiest way to do this is to bring a CD or thumb drive (we will give you one of these upon arrival) with photos that you can talk about. If you can, make these personal. Show your town, your house, pets, etc., so that kids get a sense of what your life is really like, not what a tourist would see. It's a chance to be creative!

Welcome to the US, and the Eastern New York Team of AFS-USA!

The Eastern New York volunteers look forward to your AFS year and hope that we can help you make this time a valuable experience for you, your family, your school, and your new community.
Where is Eastern New York? AFS has more than 60 Area Teams in the United States, and five of them are in New York State. You may not realize that New York State is huge; more than 18 million people live here! Our area team extends from about a half-hour drive south of Albany (the capital city of New York State with a population of 100,000) all the way to the border with Canada, and west to the small town of Cooperstown (known around the world as the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) and east to the Vermont and Massachusetts border. So we have a pretty big area to cover!
How far are we from New York City? Albany is about 3 hours drive north of New York City, and some of you will live north of Albany. But donŐt worry, most of our AFS students will get a chance to visit New York City at some point! Although you may think of New York City when you think of New York State, actually much of New York State is quite rural, and you will probably live in a small town, a suburb, or even in a very quiet and rural area. Sometimes we even have students who live on farms. So it will depend on where you will be placed.
WeatherWe definitely have four seasons in our area, so be prepared that it may be hot when you arrive in August. By September we have autumn (fall) and the leaves changing are very beautiful in our area. We have quite a bit of snow and cold weather. Spring comes to us in April, and it seems like the flowers pop up right after the snow melts.
We hope you will be open for any type of adventure, and we have lots of great volunteers who will help you adjust. In our experience, it doesnŐt matter if your family has a big house or a small house, has children your age, younger or older, or no children at home at all, or if you go to a large high school or a small high school. Your happiness will depend on how open you are to become part of a family, and how willing you are to get involved in your school and community.
What will happen after I arrive in New York City in August? All Eastern New York students will arrive by plane to one of the airports in New York City. After your arrival, you will go to a local hotel near the airport where all the AFS students going to the Eastern part of the United States will be meeting. You will either stay overnight at that hotel, or get on a bus that evening that will take you to Albany (about three hours). DonŐt be surprised if the bus leaves very late at night because sometimes they have to wait for students to arrive on a late plane. In Albany, you will be met by volunteers. You will be driven to the house of one of our wonderful volunteers, where you and other AFS students who are coming to Eastern New York, will stay for a few days. You probably will stay with about 4 or 5 other AFS students at the same house. We will have some orientation discussions, give you a chance to relax, and be fresh and excited when you meet your host family on Sunday August 17 when your family will come and pick you up.
About School Your school will start on either September 4 or 5.
School Sports? We encourage ALL of our AFS students to join a sports team at your school in the fall. Please email your host family to talk about what sports team you might want to join. Joining a sports team is the best way to meet students from your school before school starts. Your sports team will begin tryouts on Monday August 18, the day after you go to your host family. PLEASE be ready for sports practices that could be 3 or 4 hours a day in August. So make sure you are in physical shape to handle the practices, and also bring shoes that you may need if you are going to play soccer or volleyball or other sports. You want to have comfortable shoes that you can wear for practices on the first day! Please check with your host family to see if you need to have your doctor at home fill out a special sports physical form in English before you come. Check the website of your school to see what sports are offered in the FALL (August-November). There are three sports seasons: fall, winter (December-February) and spring (March-May). You can play a different sport in each season.
If you aren't sporty, that's okay! There are other activities you can try!
How will I decide what classes to take at school? Your host family will bring you to school to register for classes. You will have choices about what classes to take, but you must take United States History and an English class. Check the website of your school to see what classes are offered. But you may not be able to take all of the classes you would like, as there may not be room in certain classes, or they may meet at the same time.
Should I bring a cell phone or a laptop? Your mobile (cell) phone will probably not work in the US without buying a special SIM card. We recommend that you leave your phone at home, and get a phone when you are here. Some host families may even give you a phone to use. You can buy a phone for about $20 and then buy minutes. In the United States, it costs minutes to make AND receive mobile phone calls. It would be better for your parents to call you on your family's home phone.
Computers? Most families have several computers so it is not necessary to bring a laptop. If you do bring your laptop, please know that we are going to strongly recommend that you spend as little time as possible talking with your family and friends at home. In our experience, the more time you spend on the computer, the harder it is to become part of a family and adjust to your life in the United States.
What if I have other questions? If you are in touch with your host family, you can ask them, but if you or your parents have other questions, you can contact Happy Scherer, Area Team Chair, at happy12054@aol.com, or Robin Schnell, hosting coordinator, at rschnell@nycap.rr.com. We can't wait to meet you!