Whether it is for only a few weeks or as long as a year, some students take the opportunity to study overseas. Last year at the University, about 800 students studied abroad, and 15 percent of the University’s students will study overseas before graduation, according to statistics from the Overseas Study Program.
One of these students was international studies major Erin Blanton, who traveled to Poitiers, France, for 10 months.
Blanton lived with a host family for three months before getting an apartment on her own. She said she had to make adjustments and adapt to a different way of life.
“One of the biggest challenges of moving abroad is dealing with a different culture,” she said. “You have to get used to transportation, food, a landlord, host family, etc. You’re basically just finding a routine for living abroad.”
Blanton discovered life in a new country was not everything she imagined it to be.
“Not everything will be perfect,” she said. “If you expect that, you’ll be disappointed. But if you expect some glitches, it will work out and be better than you expected.”
Cari Vanderkar, an Overseas Study Program coordinator for Europe, Asia and the Middle East, agrees that it is important to go into the experience with an open mind.
“It’s important for students to know that they should be informed, respectful and open-minded while in a foreign country,” Vanderkar said.
All students studying abroad through the University must participate in the general orientation procedure sponsored by the University, Vanderkar said.
“The program deals with academic elements, such as how to receive credit being abroad, as well as health and safety, cultural adjustment issues and conduct,” she said. “It also provides workshops for beginning and advanced travelers, how to live with host families, the logistics of traveling and other helpful information.”
In addition to this general orientation, all students must attend specific orientations for their country or program.
“We also invite international students and former students from the programs,” she said. “Students can get a great wealth of information from those students who have already done the program as well as individuals from that country or region.”
Senior Sonja Handy, a 21-year-old from Troutdale, traveled to Bergen, Norway, for five months last winter. She said the best way to prepare for life in a new country is to research the place before you leave.
“Get a map of the city you’ll be in so that you know where you’re going when you get there,” she said. “Find out the country’s policies on currency and money. Know what the climate will be like there.”
Vanderkar agreed with Handy that being informed is one of the best ways to prepare for an overseas experience. The University’s Overseas Study Program encourages students to do their own research and become as informed as possible on the country by taking advantage of the many resources available, Vanderkar said.
“Students are encouraged to read about the country and get an idea of it in their mind,” Vanderkar said.
Blanton, Handy and Vanderkar agreed that with packing, less is more.
“You don’t have to bring toiletries and other basic products because they will have them there,” Blanton said. “They won’t have everything you expect, but you can easily compromise and make do.”
Handy said the point of studying abroad is to get a different experience.
“If you bring what you’re comfortable with, you miss half of the point,” Handy said.
Handy found the university system to be a new experience.
“College is free there, so they have a lot less resources available to them because education is nationally funded,” she said. “The academics are a lot more laid-back.”
Students also experience many day-to-day challenges when living abroad for the first time. Handy described the challenge of dealing with the time change, as well as learning how people in a new country interact.
“It’s hard learning how to look at things in a Norwegian perspective at first when you always want to look at it in an American perspective instead,” Handy said. “It’s about finding an alternate point of view.”
One of the best ways to adapt to moving abroad is to become informed, Vanderkar said.
“Be a mini-anthropologist,” she said. “Learn about the culture.”
Another way to adapt to a new country is to make a comfortable home.
“Bring a picture of your house with you to show people where you live and where you are from,” Handy said. “I wish I had done that. I brought pictures of local things from where I’m from. It gives others a better idea of who you are.”