Xplore USA (English version)

USA

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Jens & Bethany Behrm

Up, close and personal Dear Parents!

Xplore USA is a little piece of “language immersion heaven”. Our students experience the United States “up close and personal”! We invite you to Asheville, located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where we are truly at home. “We” being the team from Xplore USA: Jens Behrmann, my American wife Bethany, our English tutors, and all the chaperones and host families.

We believe our American home should be a “home away from home” for our exchange students. For this reason we combine the fun and adventure of a language immersion trip with an authentic engagement in the American lifestyle and we dive into the everyday happenings of our beautiful hometown, Asheville.

Xplore students experience America as an insider; they live with friendly host families or at the beautiful campus of a local private college. They take English classes, enjoy themselves during free time activities and have fun on field trips.

The students also give back to the community by participating in small local volunteer projects.

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The Xplore USA trips are unique for many reasons, not just because of our 100% English-speaking environment guarantee. Unlike many other youth travel organizations we actually run all programs we are promoting and not just function as an agent.

We invite you to browse through the following pages in order to learn more about our Asheville language immersion trips. With the registration of your child, you invest at the same time in their future. Additionally, you help the American host families get to know your son or daughter, become friends with each other, and allow them to share America with your child.

Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina!

Jens Behrmann, Director Xplore USA

Feel at Home in America The most important principle of our Xplore USA trips, regardless of “host family” or “campus”, is the extensive involvement of our American host families as well as local institutions.

All activities and day trips are open to the host families and their friends. We do not promote the camp in Montreat College only in continental Europe or internationally, but locally in Asheville and the surrounding area. Here we know many families whose children gladly spend their vacation hanging out with young people from all over the world.

In the end, how good the relationship with the Americans will actually be depends upon the behavior of each individual. How about saying “thank you” to your host family, the chaperones and the college employees in Montreat?

“To show appreciation” is one of the most important values in the USA! Be a good ambassador and interested as well as interesting guest.

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English Courses

Volunteer Projects

For you as a parent, the English aspect is a very important component of the whole trip. And for you as a participant, it is important to know that the English courses in the USA are not just a continuation of your school lessons.

Social engagement in the United States is a pillar of American society and a widespread virtue, also among young people. Therefore our exchange students will participate one afternoon a week for a few hours doing “community service”, that is social projects.

Over the course of your three week trip to Asheville you will spend 45 hours altogether with your American teacher in class. Key concepts of the lessons will be general local topics: education, (youth) culture, holidays, politics, history and also the themes of “high school” and “college” with their own characteristics: school spirit, course offerings and extracurricular activities.

What makes Xplore USA trips unique: you learn together with participants from other countries.

Also your host siblings are right there beside you during lessons! German won’t be spoken here at all. That’s our promise!

So we organize a fundraising activity for the local orphanage, clear hiking trails, beautify gardens, or help at the Food Bank MANNA, an organization that provides low income families and individuals with groceries and hygiene products.

The complete free time and fieldtrip program itinerary is detailed on the following pages.

Passport to English

This is the guide for our English courses. Within the three levels there are even further groupings.

A written language test and a long roundtable discussion at the beginning of the course help our American teachers determine your individual language competency.

Intermediate At about four years of English courses, Intermediate is the “comfortable” level.

Advanced To participate in the advanced courses, the student should have already completed 9th or 10th grade.

Proficiency

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Courses for students that already have a very good command of English and would like to develop further competency. (Note: This level will only be offered in the campus program).

Free Time Program USA – of course, that means Disneyland, SeaWorld, etc! But have you ever heard of Carowinds? It is THE theme park of Charlotte!

Or have you ever been white water rafting in the mountains of Tennessee? No? Doesn’t matter – you’ll experience everything with us!

We will turn you into USA-insiders. With us on the Xplore trips you will experience real local highlights and do what American youths do in their free time. Here is a small sample: We will visit a pro-baseball game, explore the largest private residence in the USA, shop in huge malls, hit a couple of baseballs from the machines at the batting cages, or plop down in movie seats armed with popcorn to excitedly check out the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Asheville is nestled in a true dreamlike landscape. Not only will we visit the movie theaters and malls, but we will venture into the great outdoors: we will paddle down rapids during white water rafting, we’ll take a dip- for many this is the coolest free time activity- in the swimming holes at the base of majestic waterfalls, and visit a real “sheriff’s office” which includes a tour of the jail and a presentation of a few special units.

Just go on Facebook and search “Xplore” and become a fan! Get a taste of what’s to come this summer and check out “XPLORE Asheville 2011”!

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Asheville - Host Family According to a survey, Asheville is the home to the “happiest Americans.” Asheville was proclaimed to be among the ten most beautiful places in the United States by the live TV show “Good Morning America”.

In the meantime it was named the “Paris of the South” and compared to top destinations such as Aspen or Austin.

Located in the soft rolling mountains of Western North Carolina, Asheville is home to 75,000 people, and is no ordinary city.

Here the relaxed southern US lifestyle blends harmoniously with creative young vibes from Europe. The US President’s Obama verdict after a short private vacation in 2010: “Spectacular!”

Our Host Families

Home away from home- each family individually chooses their desired student (single placement guarantee!) themselves. All families are unpaid of course, and have been personally visited and trained by us. Upon request we do try to place friends or siblings with the same family.

Passport to English • Intermediate • Advanced

Key Facts • 45 hours of English classes together with US host siblings • Supervised free time activities every Monday to Friday • Welcome and Farewell BBQ parties • Student and host family orientation • “Family time” with host families on the weekends

Day Trips

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• Carowinds Theme Park, Charlotte • White Water Rafting, TN • Tubing & Picnic, Saluda

Target age group 13 to 18 years old

Dates July 7 to July 28 July 28 to August 18 *) Minimum number of participants per trip: 8 people

Registration Deadline Until May 18 / June 1

Price for 3 Weeks € 1,795.00

Benefits: Highlights • • • •

Host family accommodation (single placement) English course including teaching materials More than 25 different free time activities 3 day excursions including transport and all admissions • Pick-up from Charlotte International Airport (CLT) Extras

Flights, spending money, health insurance, visa costs (if applicable)

Free time - made in Asheville

Asheville is nestled in a dream landscape with more than 250(!) awe-inspiring waterfalls! We will go hiking and stop for a refreshing swim at the foot of the “High Falls” waterfalls. And there’s more: we will visit a pro-baseball game and see the Asheville T’s, shop in malls where you won’t come across trndy shops like Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister, meet together to play a round of Frisbee golf and beach volleyball, hit some baseballs at the batting cages, sift through dirt to uncover semi-precious stones at Gem Mining, and test out some delicious ice cream hotspots like Piggy’s, Dolly’s, Ya Ya, or Marble Clap.

Day Trips

We will go off on tour- a highlight of the Asheville trip is the white water rafting in nearby Tennessee! A further road trip will take us to Charlotte in THE theme park, Carowinds. And another summer favorite in North Carolina’s mountains: tubing- and lazily float down the idyllic Green River in rubber inner tubes.

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Asheville - Campus The fact that Asheville and Western North Carolina belong to the top US vacation destinations is no longer a secret. Asheville however, has yet another jewel in its crown: Montreat College.

In this program you will stay at the Montreat college campus.

Montreat is a small town and is located about 8 miles northeast of Asheville. At the heart of the town is the private college, whose delightful architecture blends in perfectly with the picturesque rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Montreat College

Living and free time comfort at its best: our quarters are located at the beautiful McGregor building (every student lives in double bedrooms). Diagonally across is Belk Building, a true free time oasis with computer rooms, Wi-Fi, billiards, ping-pong and foosball, cable TV and comfy lounges for hanging out. To satisfy our appetites, there is American cuisine (also vegetarian or vegan) freshly prepared from the friendly catering team.

Passport to English • Advanced • Proficiency

Key Facts • 45 hours of English lessons in an internationally diverse classroom • Supervised free time activities seven days a week • Activities and “Family Time” with US families on a free will basis • This program is also ideal for international academic year students who want to spend a three week vacation in the USA before returning to their home countries

Day Trips • Carowinds Theme Park, Charlotte • White Water Rafting, TN

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• Tubing & Picnic, Saluda

Target Age Group 15 to 20 years old

Dates June 16 to July 7* July 7 to July 28* *) Minimum number of participants per trip: 12 people

Registration Deadline Until May 4 / June 25, 2012

Price for 3 Weeks € 2,445.00

Benefits: Highlights • • • • •

Double room occupancy English lessons incl. teaching materials More than 50 activities 3 day excursions incl. transportation and admissions Airport pick-up from Charlotte (CLT)

Extras Flights, spending money, health insurance, visa costs (if applicable)

Campus Living

Our most important concern with all USA trips is that our students have as much regular contact with Americans as possible. You have requested for us to immerse you in the English language and to give you a real picture of what life is like in the US. With our Montreat Program, we invite US teenagers to spend their holidays with our students from Europe. With this approach, our US chaperone staff team creates a diverse colorful participant mix of Germans, Americans, Italians, Spanish, and teenagers from other countries. For summer campers interested in an overseas/US study abroad experience, we offer a separate informational session. Perhaps you loved it so much here in Asheville and Montreat College that you want to study here!

Free time Info

In addition to the three day excursions are many daily free time activities that coincide with the host family program; these occur in the evenings and on the weekends and include: airbrush tattoos, games night, singstar, tennis, unihoc, yoga, baseball, Wii, theme party, spa night, high ropes course, pool party, speed- and badminton and jewelry making.

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Florida - Special Two weeks of language camp living with a host family in Inverness, not far from Tampa. An additional week of touring theme parks including Disney’s super parks in Orlando. Only Xplore offers such an intense holiday experience in Florida.

Xplore is proud to be able to offer US fans, in addition to the Asheville trips, this exclusive innovative trip in sunny Florida. After two weeks of language camp, free time activities, and American family life in Inverness follows a further week of visiting 5 world famous super parks in Orlando- including Magic Kingdom and SeaWorld!

Idyllic Inverness (circa 7,500 inhabitants) Idyllic Inverness and surrounding area offer awesome opportunities for activities and excursions. The region wasn’t named “The Water Lover’s Florida” for nothing. After two weeks, we will move to Orlando to a hotel next to the gigantic theme parks! Here we will just be having fun: we’ll visit the coolest parks in the city, relax in the hotel’s pool, go out for dinner, shop in the giant outlet malls, and much more!

Passport to English • Intermediate • Advanced

Key Facts

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• Inverness - Live with host familes - 25 classroom hours of English - Supervised free time program every Monday through Friday - Student and host family orientation • Orlando - Stay in a hotel - Visit 5 theme parks - 24/7 supervision - Short day excursions, ex. Downtown Disney Area, outlet malls

Target Age Group 13 to 18 years old

Dates of Travel 2012 July 7 to July 28 Minimum number of participants: 8 people

Price for 3 Weeks € 1,895.00

Until May 15, 2012

Day by day

Benefits: Highlights

A small exclusive excerpt from the program:

Registration Deadline

• 25 classroom hours of English lessons • Supervised free time program • Shopping trips, day excursions • Visit five(!) theme parks in Orlando -

Host family accommodation (single placement) Hotel accommodation (6 nights) English course including teaching materials More than 20 different free time activities 2 day excursions including transport and admissions - Visit of 5 theme parks in Orlando - Pick-up from Orlando International Airport (MCO)

WEEK

Sat, July 7

Arrival. Pick up by host families

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Mon, July 9

AM: English Class / PM: Lunch, Scavenger Hunt

Inverness

Fri, July 13

Day excursion to Tampa (IMAX Theater and beach trip)

WEEK

Mon, July 16 AM: English Class / PM: Tubing (Rainbow River)

2 Inverness

WEEK

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Orlando

Wed, July 18 A WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Manatee Swimming!

Frid, July 20

AM: English Class / PM: Volunteer Work

Sun, July 22

PM: Lunch & Pool Time, PM: Disney Downtown Area

Mon, July 23 2 x Disney: Epcot Center & Animal Kingdom Tue, July 24

Theme Park Disney‘s Magic Kingdom

Extras Flights, spending money, health insurance, visa costs (if applicable)

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HOWOTKO BO

“It was a great opportunity for all of us to wrap up our wonderful experience. Thanks for providing us with a summer to remember. We have all been enriched by Xplore!“ Brian Fraga, Fletcher, USA

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y “I just want toagsa I had ai ‘ ‚THANK YOUmmer n!! ever!

the best su n ever!!

The best vacatio k Xplore, an So I want to th students, and of all s, ilie all host fam Bethany!! course Jens and THANK YOU!!“

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Julia Koch, Inde