I've been looking at some summer exchange programs to do before I start college, and have been thinking about studying abroad during college. I've only been outside the U.S once, so I'm curious what a longer experience is like.
Did a semester in Belfast, NI studying the politics of deeply divided societies. Totally useless academically- I was unaccustomed to and ill-equipped for study at a large university, and ended up blowing off most of my classes. I actually still have nightmares where I'm attending the final exam and realize I haven't showed up for a single class. Which was pretty much exactly how it went down, actually. Besides that, while the town was rich in history, the old sectarian rivalries had congealed into little more than gang warfare. The stakes were no longer as highfalutin as the soul of the territory (or at least not overtly), but rather control over turf, and drug/contraband distro therein. At least that was my lowbrow Yank perspective, which was carefully tended to by my classmates, who either felt it necessary to protect me from harsh realities, or else really didn't have a sense of their own history or a desire to mull over it. Or maybe they were trying to leave it behind and were practiced in the art of re-directing academic tourists such as myself hell-bent on clodhopping all over their carefully-established social boundaries. I wasn't smart enough then to tell the difference and it's been long enough that I can no longer reliably pick it all apart from my armchair. It was vastly informative, though, on a lot of unexpected levels. It was a master class in loneliness, for one. I made a couple acquaintances there, but for one reason or another (see above, perhaps) I remained at a remove from most of my classmates. They were polite enough and included me in whatever, but I wasn't really friends with anybody. I spent days walking through the city by myself, or in some movie theater or another, or in a pub. I had a shower in my room, like the bathroom was a big shower with a sink and a toilet, and I remember spending maybe an hour at a time just sitting under the hot water. No matter what I was doing, you can rest assured that I was stumbling-drunk for most of it. Stoli was cheap, way too cheap, and we'd mix it with anything. It came packaged with coke, but I think we tried milk one time late at night just because. Blech. It was also a great lesson in money management, or else the consequences of a lack thereof. I'd pissed away pretty much all of my student savings around 3/4 of the way through the semester (again, see above), and found myself with a month left and about 100 pounds to my name. I ate boiled potatoes, made my own crumbly bread, and when I was feeling decadent I'd buy one of those awful sausage-in-a-buns they sold at every corner store. By the end I even had to give up, gulp, my enormously debilitating drinking habit. Hard times, man. Are you getting the sense that I was a shitty kid with a shitty attitude who pissed away an opportunity to learn something in a culture-rich setting? Hopefully so. I can't impart any wisdom about where to go or how to experience it, because I was so hilariously bad at the whole thing. I can only provide my own crooked experience as a sort of morality tale: here's what not to do. If you're gonna go abroad, do it for the right reasons, be respectful, and drink it in. But not literally, because that's a goddamn waste, it turns out. EDIT on reflection, this comes off as really discouraging. I don't think there is anything wrong with semester abroad programs per se, I think there was a lot wrong re. my attitude. I've been abroad for protracted periods of time several times since then, and I've gleaned a lot from it each subsequent time. Think maybe the trick is to approach it with a sense of wonder rather than entitlement. Which shouldn't be hard for a lot of people. Also, bet humanodon would have a thing or two to say about productive time abroad.
If the question is about a productive study abroad, then no, I do not have much to say about that. My study abroad was in the Netherlands where I lived in a castle and traveled around studying art. I did some of the most awful writing of my life and then had that computer stolen once I was back in the States. Essentially, my experience was similar to yours, but with art and the backdrop of the Netherlands and all its wonders (like stroopwaffles, kaassouffle and kroketten!). I also drank most of a small village's supply of whiskey over the course of that semester as I had not yet discovered the joys of genever.
That said, I have had productive times abroad. Each experience has helped me to clarify my understanding of the world and my place in it, as well as my relationships with other people. It's always humbling to walk into a place where one knows nothing of real value in regard to everyday life and try to get by. I am all for people traveling to other places as part of their education.
"Or maybe they were trying to leave it behind and were practiced in the art of re-directing academic tourists such as myself hell-bent on clodhopping all over their carefully-established social boundaries." Realy awesome way to sum that up. That you could recognize that and word it so well speaks volumes and from what you wrote it sounds like you definitely picked up on a few things besides bac.
Roma, Italia for six months my junior year. I knew it would be tremendous and it was. It was exactly what I needed and much more than I deserved and the only thing better than the women was the food. (This last part is crucial, for you see once you return you'll have to sum up this enourmous experience in a few sentences at dinner/grandma's. I've narrowed it down and this one gets a laugh and you can all move on)
As others have hinted, solitude is a part of the game, especially on longer trips. Learn to live with yourself.
I studied abroad the summer of my freshman year of college. It was a great experience as I was already very familiar with the language (French) and had already been to France once before, and therefore was able to immerse myself in the culture with less difficulty than others. Similar to ghostoffuffle, I spent a lot of time by myself, although in mine case it was by design. I was so enamored by the place I was living in and studying that sometimes all I wanted to do was wander around, find a nice cafe and sit around and drink and take it all in, occasionally talk with whoever else might be around. If it's something you're going to do I would strongly encourage an effort to be made to become part of the culture and spend a lot of time immersing yourself with locals and whoever else might be interested in conversing with a foreigner. People, in my experiences, are incredibly kind if you are making an effort at their language and way of life and are more than happy to help.
I came to Uni in the UK and never went back to my southern European launchpad. (If you're European, open borders make it easy to settle wherever you want.) Regardless of where you end up, I think any multi-cultural experience is incredibly valuable in ways that aren't always immediately recognised or measurable. The advice by others to learn to live with yourself is a good one. Knowing how to cook food that you enjoy is a crucial skill if you don't have a big pocket. If you end up going to a country with a different language resist the temptation to seek and hang around with peers of your own country/language and try to immerse yourself in the local culture as much as you can/like. Contact with other cultures builds character and hopefully opens one's horizons.
I studied abroad my Junior year of college for 7 months in Brisbane, Australia and must say that I feel studying abroad should be required in college. I can only say good things that came from it. The lifestyle change, the people, the culture and everything else I can honestly say has made me a better person today. If you are thinking about studying abroad I can only say one thing, go for it!
As an adult I studied/rented apartment/worked in a Central American country for a bit more than a year. Do it. Do it any way that you can. Learn what evidence other nations bring to you about being from your homeland. Then gather it up, and return home. Go be an obvious minority national in another place and see what it feels like there. Do it in another language if you can. Then come home. Because every country needs more understanding of cosmopolitanism.
I did about 5 months in Israel during high school and about 4 months in rural Jordan during my undergrad. The high school program had a message to sell to young American Jewry and they did a very good job of sheltering us from outside opinions, so I intend to go back soon to study on my own and try to reconcile my complicated feelings that I have towards Israel. My 4 months in rural Jordan were miserable. It would take more time than I have right now to recount it but my blog at the time was chelseainjordan.tumblr.com if you're at all interested. edit omg mk or whoever is in charge of format programing... is it possible to change the blackout option to something else because it is infringing on my liberal use of tildes
Sigh, almost. I had completed the process of signing up for a semester abroad in Amsterdam--application, physical, vaccinations, everything. Then the trip was canceled because not enough math majors signed up. I was pretty pissed off. ...Although to be honest, it might be a good thing I didn't go. I was pretty heavily abusing psychedelics around that time, and being thrown into an environment like Amsterdam probably wouldn't have been the best thing for me. A friend of mine did a year abroad in London, though. I don't think it was a great experience for him. Everything I heard from him indicated that he was really lonely, and he picked up smoking. When he came back he seemed different, and I think it had to do with the fact that he left his friend group behind and we all experienced a year of growth within our own social context without him. My sister went to Ireland for a half-year and absolutely loved it. Just make sure it's somewhere you really want to go, and try to make good friends when you're there.
(Don't study abroad, go abroad. No reason to spend a bunch of money on credits you can get elsewhere cheaper, especially when you just want to spend your time exploring. Going abroad is cheap if you're intelligent. Studying abroad is basically never cheap.)
It's not through school, it's through the U.S State Department. If I'm accepted it's free.
thenewgreen is right. I've participated in a few study abroad programs. I did 2 months in France and one month in Ghana during my undergrad and one month during my grad program in Brazil. All of them were great and I don't regret any bit of it. I think this kind of "institutional" travel is an excellent way to see a new place because you typically will have better access to things that tourists might not. Assuming you'll be studying a topic of choice will also allow you time to focus your energy to perhaps gain a greater understanding of a particular aspect of the culture you're visiting. You'll then be able to use this insight to infer generalities about said culture that will help you navigate the day to days of living there. Do it.
I've been kind of doing that during my studies. I did a special thing where you alternatively study and work, so you get a contract with a company and then you work and study for them, while being paid, in 3 month intervals for 3 years till your Bachelor's degree. One of the practical terms you do is meant to be abroad on another site than the local one. I got lucky and wanted to go to Japan and also got it! So I worked in Tokyo for 3 months and it was awesome. I would recommend it to anyone! I also took some extracurricular courses and met a lot of international people who were in Germany, and everyone only talked positively about it. A foreign student joined my studies at my university and even a couple of years later on Facebook he posts how he misses his time in Germany and all the people there :) A couple of my friends went to Kyoto for half a year and yeah, all I've ever heard (and also all my student colleagues at work had to do a 3 month internship abroad) always really liked it. No bad example comes up in my mind, never heard anyone ever regretting it. And remember: after studying, when you start working, you won't have this much vacation time anymore and especially such an opportunity will rarely if ever come up again! This might be a once in a lifetime chance and you should think about if you want to let that one pass (unless you strife for a career with a lot of international traveling, of course, but even then, working travel is a lot different then studying abroad). View it like this: It's probably a once in a lifetime chance. The best thing that can happen is, that this is among the top 5 experiences in your entire life and you will enjoy the heck out of it. The worst that can happen is, that you have a bad time, feel lonely, and everything will be over after a couple of months. It will be sad to have wasted the money, but no one can take the experience from you (and at the least, it is a point in your CV, which will set you apart from other applicants). Bonus points: I met my fiancee and soon-wife in Germany, while she was doing a semester abroad in Germany (she's American). :)
I moved from home (Israel) to Germany for studies. For me it was the best decision I ever did, but that is probably not the kind of abroad experience you have in mind. I spent half a year in London for an internship at a lab at UCL. Even though I did not attend classes, I found my way into the Erasmus student groups :) I would suggest going abroad for anyone who has the chance. It gets you out of this routine thinking, you will meet many people from all around the world (I visited some of them during my Europe trip) and you will learn about the culture etc. Absolutely worth it.
sounds_sound, I recall you studying architecture in Ghana back in the day. Didn't you also spend some time in Brazil studying? I never studied abroad, but my wife did while we were married. In fact, while she was in Peru, I got the news that she was pregnant. Our subsequent 3 day hike to Machu Picchu was all the more interesting for her morning sickness. She is so competitive that she was still always the first to camp at the end of a long hike.
Where do you want to go? Asia? Europe? Latin America? Africa? I came back from my semester abroad in Warsaw recently and it was amazing. I've traveled around eastern Europe and the Balkans with my boyfriend after that. I had the time of my life, really :) Really, my best advice it to (almost) never say no. If somebody invites you to a garden-gnome themed party? Go! Asian cooking class? Go! Sketchy people offer you drugs? Ok, maybe don't go... Also, make friends with locals. If you're in Europe, look up the free walking tours in your city. Look up the couchsurfing meet-ups in the city because even if you have a place to stay, the people at the meet ups are super friendly and super cool. Enjoy yourself!