The beginning

I started this new blog because I am currently planning my exchange year. In just a few weeks I'll start University. I'll double major in English and History. I don't know yet, what I'll be doing afterwards I think that's not so important right now. However I always wanted to live abroad for a certain time and now I have the chance to do that. I will spend an entire year in the States and I want to write all down about that experience and I thought I might just do that on a blog. It might also be a way to help others who are going abroad or I might find people who are experiencing the same thing right now. So now you know what this blog is going to be about. I will talk regularly about the process of applying until I'll finally be leaving next summer.

To start the whole thing off I want to tell you about the exchange organization called ISEP (international student exchange programm). ISEP organizes exchanges between the USA and the rest of the world but also international-to-international exchanges. For me ISEP is a great opportunity because I'll have to pay the tuition fees of my home University and not those of my host University. That's great because in Switzerland I only have to pay 1400 Swiss Francs per year which is currently around $1800. Yup University is quite cheap here. So ISEP is probably the cheapest way for me to spend a year abroad.

Right now I chose ten Universities that I'll be applying for but I still have to take my TOEFL (Test of English as a foreign language) before I can make sure that I'll actually be able to apply to these Universities. So all I have right now is a list of possible Universities. Here it is:

• Tennessee State University
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• Eckerd College
• Rhodes College
• Atlantic Armstrong College
• Miami University
• Austin Peay University
• Middle Tennessee University
• Indiana State University
• Louisiana State University

It was kinda hard to choose between all the participating Universities since I don't know too much about them and certainly not much more about the places itself. However at one point I just had to decide which ones would get on my list and I think that in the end I'll have a great time no matter where I'll be going.

So as soon as I have news I'll tell you.