Living with a Host Family

DSCN2281Kellie is an Abroad101 Global Ambassador, who spent the spring of 2013 studying abroad in Paris, France with AIFS.  In this post she tells us why you should consider living with a host family when you study abroad!

“When I chose to live with a host family I knew I would gain cultural and language experience, but I honestly had no idea what I was signing myself up for. Let me start by telling you about my first night in Paris where I started to question whether it was too late to just fly back to Texas. Continue reading

5 Ways to Explore Your Spirit of Adventure

Abroad101 Global Ambassador Katie O’Brien blogs from Perugia, Italy.  In between studying for midterms, Katie finds time to share with us the five ways to explore your sprit of adventure. DSC_0496 (1)

1. Find your place—a place that allows your mind to become completely in tune to the present moment. Wherever that place is, do me a favor and close your eyes—just listen to your senses. What does the city feel like? I discovered a priceless view of Perugia one afternoon by chance, and I love how peaceful I feel every time I visit. The way the wind tousles my hair as I stand in awe of the beauty of the city, the light chattering in Italian I hear off in the distance—it’s my time to feel smitten by Perugia.

InPerugia (1)

 

2. Always remind yourself that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be. I think about the times I spent daydreaming in my Linguistics class about traveling; to finally have the chance to be curious, and to learn from the people and culture surrounding me feels refreshing.

 

3. Listen to your intuition. Explore with fresh eyes, and be in touch with your surroundings.

 

4. There is something to cherish from the relationships you create as you travel. That heart-pumping momentum I felt as I left for Budapest on a whim, with friends I hardly knew, is what I’ll remember years from now. There’s really nothing like discovering a new place with new friends.

DSC_0195 (1)

 

5. Leave your expectations behind. You create the life you want. Spark up a conversation with a local at your favorite café, or try something you never thought you’d do. This is what makes your experiences abroad unique. I’ve come to appreciate the times I’ve felt challenged learning a new language, as well as the times I’ve felt carefree, laughing uncontrollably singing karaoke.

Share Your Story: Be an Abroad101 Ambassador

Share your story with the world, spread the study abroad love, and serve as an Abroad101 Ambassador this semester!

Whether you’re currently abroad or back home, read on to learn more about two exciting internships that will take you from traveling student to traveling stud!

Continue reading

A Final Farewell To Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Enjoying the scenery on our final outing

It was a very tearful goodbye yesterday morning to my fellow AIFS students in Istanbul, Turkey. We all have different plans- some are studying abroad again for fall semester so they are traveling around Turkey, some are going back to the states, and I’m traveling around Europe for a bit before heading home. I figure that I might as well take advantage of that while I’m here.

Continue reading

Secular Republic, Muslim World: Participating in Turkish Ramadan

Tons of Muslims gathering for activities, Sultanahmet in the background.

Submitted by Rachel Whitcomb, Global Ambassador in Istanbul, Turkey

A long skirt and covered shoulders gets you through most neighborhood and sights safely.

One of the most interesting parts about Istanbul and Turkey in general is that although it’s a secular state, and has been for decades, the population is 98% Islamic and at this time of year, Ramadan, it certainly shows. This unique combination leads to a variety of clothing styles- modest coverings ranging from burqa (fully veiled except for the eyes), hijab (only the face is showing), and just covering all of the arms and legs, to the modern European/Western style dressing. There are certain parts of the city that you need to be aware of what you are wearing, but most of the time it’s not something we worry about.

I’ve been in solidarity with the half of the Muslim population here in Istanbul that has been fasting for Ramadan- that’s no food or water from morning prayer at 3:55 a.m. until the sun sets at 8:40 p.m. (yes, that many hours without food or water). It’s been a challenging and humbling experience, especially to be a part of it around so many other people! By day, the city and areas around my campus are pretty barren, but after the sun sets people come from all over and hang out and celebrate. It’s a beautiful sight to see!

Continue reading

Pamplona, Segovia and San Sebastian: Weekends Done Right

Photo: jimcintosh

Submitted by Kristen Schlotman, Global Ambassador in Madrid, Spain.

Jumping in Segovia.

I can’t believe I only have one more week in Madrid! This experience has been such a whirlwind. Never in my life have I done so much in less than a month. One of the best parts of studying abroad is traveling on weekends. The first weekend all of us in USAC were in Spain for the Running of the Bulls. Without a second’s hesitation we bought tickets and headed to Pamplona. Most of the other students in the program also bought tickets. We knew right away this was going to be a great weekend to bond and to get to know each other.

Pamplona was probably one of the crazier weekends of my life. The bus departed from Madrid at 2 PM on Saturday and by 8 PM, we were ready to experience one of the biggest celebrations in Spain. Dressed in the traditional red and white, we walked around the city taking everything in. By 1 AM, we were bar hopping, drinking calimocho (red wine and Coca Cola), and meeting people from all over the world. Sleeping was not an option. The city was too vibrant and exhilarating to sit it out. At 6 AM we lined up to watch the running. This was somewhat anticlimactic, but the night itself was one of a kind.

Continue reading

Looking on the Bright Side in the Emerald Isle

Cliffs of Mohr

 

Submitted by Brendan Bond, Global Ambassador in Galway, Ireland

Within a few days of arriving in Ireland, I learned something very important about this country. I was told, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” Moral of the story is that the weather here is fickle, always changing and never making up its mind on whether it wants to be sunny, cloudy, windy, dreary, warm, cold, misty, rainy or downpouring.

Continue reading

Breaking the Rules: Learn to ‘Flex for Culture’ in Turkey

Photo: AntoniO BonvinO

Submitted by Rachel Whitcomb, Global Ambassador in Istanbul, Turkey.

 

Oh that’s right…I’m STUDYING abroad…

Sometimes you get so caught up in the traveling aspect of being abroad that you lose sight of what sent you here in the first place.  But of course, I’m attending class and doing homework, I would never forget!

Continue reading

Ireland: There’s City Life and Then Country Life

Galway

 

Submitted by Global Ambassador, Brendan, Galway, Ireland

The phrase “as different as night and day” is clichéd and I don’t like using it, but it’s hard to find another phrase to describe the difference between the city and the countryside here in Ireland. On Sunday, I spent the day exploring the city of Galway. I visited the markets, watched the street performers and grabbed food at food stands along the docks.

I got to take in the whole city feel where you walk around, and there is vibrant energy everywhere around you.

On Monday we went up into the highlands of Connemara, and an hour-long drive made me feel like I was transported a world away. People were replaced by sheep as the dominant population. The sound of music from performers and chatter from passerbys on the street was replaced by the sound of silence. As I hiked up the mountain with a group and looked at the landscape surrounding me, which was hard to make out through all the rain, I felt almost like I was going to knock on heaven’s door.

Galway, Ireland

The wind and the rain might have made many miserable, but not me at that moment. True, the bus ride back felt a lot longer in soaked jeans and I felt like I had a lake in each of my shoes, but sitting up there on that mountaintop, looking around, it was hard not to have a feeling of utter joy. There’s no other way to describe it as I looked back on where I came from, and looked down beneath me to see the sheep grazing on the grass and rocks I had just traversed over.

It was the image of the Emerald Isle that’s seared into one’s mind before visiting. The image of vibrant green landscape extending out as far as the eye can see. But that’s not the only image of Ireland that I found to be true over the last few days.

The Irish do certainly know how to celebrate. That much was evident this past weekend as the Volvo Ocean Race finished up. I have never seen a city center as crowded as I did then, and it was all ages out celebrating. The young and the old. It seemed as if the collective city of Ireland was out, enjoying the festivities throughout the entire day.

Oh, and one last image that is also totally true is that the Irish love to talk and tell stories. Wait in line for the toilets and you’ll hear a story. Order a pint at the pub and you’ll hear a story. Walk into a small store and you’re bound to hear at least three, more if there are no other customers at the time.

There is something different about Ireland, and if I had to pick a word to describe it, it would be “openness.” The openness to talk to strangers, the openness of celebrations in the streets and the openness of the rolling green hills of the countryside.

Oh Ireland, I am starting to like you!

Want to read insider reviews from fellow study abroad students? Click here to find your perfect study abroad program!

Madrid Adventure Begins…

 

Madrid, Spain

Submitted by Kristen Schlotman, Global Ambassador in Madrid, Spain

Eleven years ago, my sister studied abroad at Oxford. Ever since then I knew I had to study abroad. Going into college, it was number one on my list. Probably due to the fact that my sister studied in England, I always wanted to study there too. It wasn’t until this past year, when all my friends were coming back from their own experiences abroad, did I decide to study in Madrid, Spain. I researched several different programs and ended up with USAC, University Studies Abroad Consortium. A friend of mine did the same program last summer and highly recommended it. Not to mention, it is one of the cheapest programs out there.  USAC has several programs in Spain, but I chose Madrid because I love big cities and knew it would be a great place to practice my Spanish-speaking skills.

USAC Madrid offers two different housing options: apartments with other study abroad students or homestays with Spanish families. I picked homestay. I want to practice Spanish as much as possible and experience authentic Spanish culture. I want to drink café con leche every day and have paella for dinner. I can’t wait to talk to my host mother in Spanish and learn what you can’t learn in a classroom.

I knew I was going to study abroad no matter what, but luckily enough one of my best friends from my home university, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California, decided to do USAC Madrid as well. Hannah and I even managed to get assigned the same host mother. In addition to studying in Madrid, we planned a two-week adventure across Europe before the program started. In that short amount of time we went to Barcelona, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Venice, Rome, Athens, and Santorini. I don’t know if I would recommend trying for such a jam-packed schedule, but I would definitely suggest traveling to other cities and even countries while you are abroad.

I was told that a gift would be a nice gesture to present to our host mother. Unfortunately, Hannah and I were already in Europe when I got this suggestion. During our travels, I kept an eye out for a nice gift for our host mother. Finally in Santorini, we found a beautiful, blue, silk scarf. I knew this was a perfect souvenir from Greece and a great gift for our host mother.

The program is starting today. Hannah and I have already met a few others and will meet everyone tonight at a group dinner. I can’t believe I’ve been waiting over a decade for this to start. Wish me luck!

Want to read insider reviews from fellow study abroad students? Click here to find your perfect study abroad program!