[TenmaAi]

hello ^^
I hope I can help you ..A group who organizes student exchange programs came to my old school once and explained it to me. They told me it's actually a 2 years plan. The first year is used to set up everything like where you will be staying date of leave and return and all that jazz.. also in that whole year you will learn the basics of the foreign language and contact you 'second family' ( the family you will be staying with ) and get to know them a little and the second year you will actually go there ( this is for a whole year basis) but I think it should be rather the same for the shorter periods. I wanted to go to Finland or Japan but it was to expensive for my family and they wouldn't let me xD

Hope this is usefull to some point.
This is how they do it in Belgium xD