Study Abroad Stories

Studying in a foreign country is an amazing experience that many of our students are more than happy to share with others. Read about what it's like to surf in Australia, bike ride in France or watch traditional Spanish dance. Our study abroad students have taken their new host countries by storm, and have boiled down their experiences and advice just for you. Learn what it's like to live abroad from students just like you, who've already been there and want you to go too.

Outbound Student Story Archive

Finding a Utopia
Charles in Japan Read Story

Summer Exploration 2007

Charles, Center, with buddies

To those who have not experienced Tokyo first hand I think it can be summed up with images of people and steel, harsh clashing forms cutting across one's vision scarcely before they can be comprehended. Like all cities, people congregate in swarms, great herds of man-flesh moving through these cold rain-swept streets, each one moving toward their own ends and seemingly leaving the individual with nothing but a sense of isolation to his name. When one looks up and sees the great buildings looming over you as you scuttle along some tight alleyway with two strangers at either flank dragging you along by sheer momentum and a strange sort of peer-pressure, one begins to feel alone, unimportant, like some errant cog of a great construct which moves with no care to how he is slowly ground away until such time in which he must be replaced, which he promptly is.

But if you move along the right alleys, take a proper turn at Yoyogi station, and look for green bedazzled arms reaching out to comfort you then you will find one of the most majestic places mankind has yet been graced with on this earth.

Friends in Japan

As soon as you cross the torii (gate), the formerly cacophonous clamor of streetcars and trains dulls till it is but a murmur, a murmur which, strangely enough, does not distract but rather elevates the consciousness. It is not like a monastery located on some distant mount, trying desperately to pretend that a cold, harsh world of machines and men does not exist. Dreaming dogmas that cry out only in denial and which attempt to create a Utopia by gouging outones eyes. No… this seems far wiser. Rather than flee from the fire, it bends with it, adapts to it, like a certain type of tree that uses forest fires to thrive, letting itself be consumed so that its seeds may disperse and proliferate. So that each seed may find itself a human mind, a human soul, in which to grow and to be made all the grander then the mother tree from whence it spawned.

So you are there in this forest surrounded by trees. By lush greenery that seems to contrast so sharply with the pitiful, half-dead shrubs that struggle to grow up in pathetically small allotments of ground along sideways and bypasses. No, these actually carry a true vitality, that if not for that consciousness-elevating hum (which, if I may interject does not sound unlike on of those bowls which a Buddhist monk would tap and the move a small wooden peg around its circumference creating a deep, hum that seemed to drag the mind into the realm of thoughtfulness) would make one think that one is in the country.

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The German Life
Nathan in Germany Read Story

Berlin, Academic Year

Hi,

I'm just writing to share some of my experiences and pictures, and check in and tell you all how I'm doing, and how wonderful everything is. Right now I'm in the wonderful city of Berlin, Germany for a year, and I love it!! I've been having a blast ever since I hopped off the plane, and discovered that even being a passenger in a car is an adventure in Germany! They're so quick with the gas (and thankfully even faster with the brakes) that it's like a rollercoaster ride every time you go to the market.

During my first weekend in Germany, we went to a vacation house on a lake that my host grandparents own, and I learned and experienced first hand lots of important things pretty fast! I learned how to say (and experienced) "poison ivy" in German the first day, "mosquitoes" the second day, and "blisters" the third day. Thankfully, I was fully recovered by the time school started up a week later!

The first day of school was by far the hardest; I had never heard German slang before, and my host family had always been nice enough to talk slow to me. School was a different story completely! The students were talking up a storm with each other, and then would forget to talk slow to me, and blabber on at an amazing pace until seeing the lost look on my face. My math teacher talked so quickly I couldn't understand a word, and one of the elderly male teachers muttered in such a low pitch I could catch maybe only half of what he was saying. I was also so nervous at first I was shaking, and when you're that hyped up, it's really hard to understand a different language. Thankfully the other kids helped me a ton for the first couple weeks, until I could get the hang of things, and now everything is going great! I can even participate in the class discussions, and do almost all of the homework without requiring any help!

My third week of school, the whole 10th grade class did a three week long Job Shadow. I ended up going to work with my host dad, and had an absolutely wonderful time!! He never got annoyed when I asked constantly what everything meant and was called. My host dad repairs enormous drying and folding machines for dry cleaners all over Germany, and is somewhat of a specialist, so we had to travel a lot too. Most of the time we travelled an hour or an hour and a half away at the most, but we were on the Baltic Coast for a week too, and I really enjoyed seeing some other parts of Germany. All in all it was a great experience, and I now appreciate school a LOT more than I used to, and am not looking forward so much to the working world.

Since then I've been studying a lot for school, and trying desperately to find a sport club that I like. I also go out with friends almost every weekend, and am having the time of my life! Homesickness comes and goes, but it's never too bad because I'm almost always busy with something, whether it's going to the Grandmother's house to go hiking, going to concerts with friends, doing homework, or checking out sport clubs all over Berlin. Whenever we have vacation, the whole family travels too, and last week we went to Dresden! It was awesome, and is an amazingly beautiful city.

I hope everything is going as great in the U.S. as it is here! Tschüß!

Sincerely,
Nathan Hanson

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Loving Australia
Elena in Australia Read Story

Fall Semester 2007

I have just started to kick into super experience mode in the last week. My school holidays have begun and I find myself with so much more time. There was a heat wave of 35°C, which I found like the outback: dry and oven-like. I have started to connect with my Aussie friends as well. I invited them over to my house and we had lots of fun. We didn't need a game plan, we just had so many things that we wanted to do that we just flowed into one after the other. Some activities, like dancing for a half hour after eating homemade sushi, were not planned at all.

My host-brother German Johannes is at the Gold Coast and Sydney with most of the other exchange students. My parents, and I can understand them perfectly well in this decision, did not want me traveling to a strange city for the first time with a group of teenagers as my guides. So, I am left maneuvering the radius of Adelaide. I went to the free art gallery and saw the most amazing painting of Circe poisoning a lagoon. I stared at its crisp and green imagery for several minutes (and even returned later). I am also going to give blood on Thursday, which will be an experience. One of my friends (an Aussie at the sleepover) is a Blood Ambassador because she was in England for the mad cow disease period, so she cannot donate herself.

I am thinking more about home and it does scare me. I kind of want to return, but the thought of leaving this new and wonderful place scares me so I avoid it. Some time soon I will have to face the reality. Also, foreign cultures do not fascinate me like zoo animals. I love the personalities of the people and relish who they are and where they came from. There is no time where I gape at their accent and forget the words that emerge. I noticed that when I met some Brits and Scots in the city. I have come to love the area and feel perfectly at home here. But, to be sure, this is only the beginning of my traveling. I know for a concrete fact now that I will come back to Australia and also visit other countries.

Heaps Good!

Elena Nardozzi

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Adventures in China
Sami in China Read Story

Summer Exploration 2007

My homestay experience was soooo great. When my homestay partner Mushroom (her English nickname) picked me up with her father, I was so nervous. I was still with my friend Terry and her homestay partner WangYing (because they live in the same apartment complex as Mushroom's family). We dropped WangYing and Terry off at the complex, and her father, Mushroom and I went out to eat dinner.

Her father was very nice to me, and saw that I was really nervous. He told me to just relax and act like I'm home. But honestly, I couldn't act like I was home. During dinner, I had trouble eating chicken with my chopsticks, because the bone kept getting in the way. Mushroom and her father laughed a little, and told me to use my hands. I felt embarrassed. I was too scared to use my hands at first. But after a while I relaxed a bit and ate chicken with my hands. haha. That night I met her mother, coincidently she is one of the chemistry teachers at Mushroom's High School.

The next day was my first at High School in China!! I was SO excited and nervous at the same time! I remember waking up early and getting ready and making sure I looked okay and suitable, wondering all the possibilities for the day. There were so many. Would I make friends? Would the students like me? What if they all think I'm like an alien or something? Or shame me for not understanding Chinese when its my native culture? So many thoughts ran through my mind. But I was still so excited to make friends and see what school was all about here in China.

Mushroom and I ate a very Chinese breakfast, noodle soup with leftover chicken from last night, and eggs. It was delicious. Her father was a very good cook. Her father drove Mushroom and me to school that day. We arrived at the front gate waiting for Susanna and her homestay partner (our own on-site coordinate Hailin's daughter Xiao Ying). We all went to class together and we already stuck out. Mushroom introduced me to her friends and told them all I was her American friend (meiguo de pengyou).

At the beginning of the first class, the teacher asked Susanna and I to introduce ourselves in the front of the class. Susanna and I were both pretty nervous. All we could basically say was "Nimen hao. Wo jiao Sunmingyi. Jinnian wo shi qi sui...Nimen hao. Wo jiao Liweiyi. Wo shi qi sui" which basically is "Hi. I'm Sunmingyi. This year I'm 17 years old… Hi. I'm Liweiyi. I'm 17 years old" And then we smiled, they clapped and we went back to our seats.

Class was quite boring, just like American classes. It wasn't THAT much different. I talked with Mushroom's classmate, Liyuheng aka Mikko. He seemed very eager to meet me and talk in English with me. During class I taught him some English and Spanish too! Only basic stuff, like… Hola, Adios, Como estas, bien. etc. Ha ha ha… it was fun teaching him. I wrote notes with him during class too. We also all spent lunch together and he gave me a tour of the campus. I made another friend too. His nickname in class was "Hua" Flower, cuz in their class he is the most beautiful guy. I found that really funny at first, to call a boy flower in the US would probably be insulting, but here it was fine! He also came to lunch with us.

In English class, I got up and read a passage to the class. It was fun. Later, in the afternoon, Nick, his partner David, and I went to Wang Ying's and Terry's Class to watch their play performance of Merchant in Venice. It was really cute. Their students had pretty good English. We watched them and then watched the English teacher sing. After the play, students got up to sing in Chinese or English. They kept trying to get us to sing, but we were all too shy at first. I helped two girls sing English Songs, and in the end I sang a song too. I sang Back Here, by BBmak. It was embarrassing but fun too.

After school we played volleyball and basketball with Mikko and everyone else. When we went home, I met up with her mother and went to WangYing's house to make dumplings (jiao zi) with them. It was a lot of fun, we all tried to make funky designs with them without breaking them at the same time. We ate dinner with the homestay families and friends too. We took pictures with everyone too. Afterwards, we went to KARAOKE! it was so much fun! Nick and his homestay family and friends came too, and so did "Flower!" We all sang in English and Chinese. It was a great way for us to spend our last night with our homestay families. The karoake room was so big and fancy! All the kids sang while the parents talked, drank and used the internet ha ha ha. Flower gave me a book, about Yunnan and the 8 things that make it unique. Unfortunately it's in Chinese, so I cant understand most of it, but its the thought that counts, right? haha. I felt really touched when he gave it to me and very surprised. I gave him a big hug when we all left cuz I would never see him again. I was really sad and a lady asked me if I thought if he was "hen shuai," very handsome, and of course I said Hen shuai!

We went home and that was the end of my day. My family let me call my family back in New York, and after that I had a shower and went to sleep. That night before I slept I wrote letters to all the new friends I made at school that day and to my homestay partner telling them how thankful I was for their kindness. I also gave them all my email so I could keep in touch with all of them. I miss them very much and hope to see them in the future sometime soon.

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A Vivid Spanish Life
Annika in Andújar, Spain Read Story

Spring Semester 2007

Well, this past week was just one of those weeks where you soak up the small things and just appreciate. Friday I got out of school early and headed off to Paola's house… ¡que sueño! It was great there because (I know I am going to get some smiles from this) Paola's madre and I had some great deep conversations about the Basque! (Left, Annika is serenaded)

I have asked many people's opinions of the Basque, and they have all said that they really like them, have no problem whatsoever with them, and that they have a unique, genuine, and caring personality that you can't help but love. So, some questions pertaining to my senior research paper are now affirmed and answered! Also, I made some of my friends peanut butter and honey sandwiches (I used the peanut butter mom and dad sent). They all LOVED them! (right, Annika with her housemom)

Friday night was my favorite night of the week. A bunch of the girls and I celebrated Virginia's birthday by eating tons of food in her house, and then we went to Fama and all had fun bailando (dancing) together! I LOVE when the flamenco music comes on because then all of the girls start dancing the traditional Andalucían dance together!

Last night I saw a "runway" show of flamenco dresses and horseback riding wear, and there was a live performance of music and dancing. When the women sing flamenco, the way they use their voice is so unique. Also: I get to start horseback riding lessons with Virginia and Lauren and my friend Ana! Once every Friday! Today, my host mother Angela and I went to mass at 1 and then went to an outdoor cafe (JUST like what you see in the movies!) tomar algo – which, of course, was served with queso and pan splashed with aceite (cheese and bread splashed with oil).

Sevillana Baile Attire

The girls buying hair dryers

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A Great Host Family Makes a Wonderful Stay
Jocelyn in Spain Read Story

Spring Semester 2007

I share a room with my host sister Janire (left), which works out well. We go to the same school by tram every day and that gives us plenty of time to bond. She is a lovely, goofy girl who loves fashion, her friends, and her sister (even though they have frequent verbal sparring!), laughing, and getting up in the morning "to take in the sun and be content." I enjoy her presence greatly. Her younger sister, Saioa, is a boisterous little thing who loves patinando (roller-skating) and learning hip-hop dance off of tutorial videos. She is an active child who seeks attention, but is very loving. For the first week, I had to concentrate very hard to understand her chatter. I've relaxed into it now, but I still have to ask her to slow down sometimes!

Piri, my host dad, is an athletic man who goes running every day, works in the civil guard, and loves to make jokes. The jokes are good... when I can understand them! He taught me how to play paddle, which is like tennis with a different variety of ball and racket and where you play bouncing the ball off of the walls as well as the ground. Idoia (with Jocelyn, lower right) is the classic Spanish mother, with her constant caressing and concern over my food intake. She loves playing dominoes and hardly seems to sleep during the week as she stays on the computer playing dominoes electronically with her friends until all hours of the night! She is a good cook and a very open communicator; she and I have had many frank and open conversations over the weeks, which have proven essential to my survival in this world of un-established expectations. She and I played dominoes a week ago and she taught me how to make the Spanish tortilla today! This consists of frying potato and egg together into something akin to an omelet - only better! I guarantee you that, whoever you are, you will like this traditional Spanish dish.

Jocelyn with Sevilliana dancers

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