Exchange year?

"You want to do a exchange year?"
"Yes."
"One year? Wow that´s quite long. Don´t you will miss your friends? Your family? And school? You had to stay one year longer at school. Then we´re already done!"
 "I know."
"That´s stupid, after school it´s better. If  I were you, I would go after school." 
Yeah. You stand in the middle of your classmates and they are just... they do not undestand.
In the first moment, I had to take a deep breath. I knew that this would happen.
So I smiled and answered:  Yes. I will spend a year abroad. In the USA. 

Where is this idea from?
I will tell you all about it:
I´m the little girl in my family. My oldest brother is 13 years older than me. And he begun a big tratition (I guess you can call it already like this^^) in my family. He wanted to spend a year abroad, in the USA. So he informed hiself and search for a organization and my parents just had to accept it... and of course they had to pay it. My parents are really cool, so they acepted it.I was to young, so I did not even noticed that he wasn´t there and how my parents reacted on this new situation. Probebly they had enough kids arround them... I mean they had my other two older brothers and of course me. However, my oldest brother was happy and came as a new boy back. He was a real adult now, he knew how to be independent. My other brother, who is 11 years older than me, also spent a year in the USA. It was right after my oldest brother came back. They learned so mutch and they speak now perfectly english. They were in two really  differnet (really, really like day&night) host familys, but it´s to long to tell you about this. Maybe later. So it was a really great desicion.
Now, my other older brother (the last one, I swear), spend his exchange year also in the USA.
For him, it was clear, to do the same as his two older brothers. It was no question. I guess he want be like them. That´s cool an I really understand. So my parents already knows that he will go to the USA.
For me, there was always the Question "Are you going to do a exchange year like your brothers?" My mom said: "Don´t hurry you have time to decide this big question." And my dad said laughing: "My little girl will stay here. At home with her daddy." But I knew, he will let me go, if I want to.
And the time pass over and then I was already 14. My brother had to write the application for his exchange year. Health certificates, school  certificates, visa and all this stuff. It was a huge mountain of paper work. And I know: "If I want to spend a year in the USA, I had to decide it now."

Sunset at the coast of Belgium. Summer Vacation 2012

  In the next post I will tell you why my desicion is YES.