My biggest struggle is how to understand perspectives that don't see the world as I see it - those brute and violent ideas that are so silently embedded in society that I have never understood - and witnessing someone attest to those tactics - and wondering how on earth did you get to this place? How on earth are you so rotten in your views? I am the lucky one. I see the beauty in the world and the power that those who do see the beauty have. I long to experience every beautiful thing I can find.
----
I found this saved as a note on my phone from January 11. I don't remember writing it, or if I did, in fact, write it at all. Perhaps I wanted to note something that I'd read in a book - but I tried googling the quote and found no results, leading me to believe I did write it. At least, I agree with myself... thought it was nice; a positive thing, even.
March 2, 2015
January 24, 2015
International Perspectives: A Short Anecdote
In my Multicultural Issues in Communication Disorders class, I gave a presentation on my experiences living abroad to offer my peers some more perspective. I asked some of my favorite people to answer questions about cultural values and perceptions of the United States present in their countries (Spain, France, Sweden.) I got some great responses and I am so pleased to have such brilliant friends who have taught me so much about our world and have shown me beautifully different ways to live life.
January 23, 2015
Kansas City, Missouri
Welcome to my home's city. Exploring your own city will make you very glad. Take the time to do that. Travel gives me perspective that makes me so thankful for Kansas City's warm and loving people who are genuinely here for good conversation and exchanging words, a tight-knit local music scene and supportive community bound by common interests, incredible craft beer and the most cooperative and positive coffee culture around. The sense of togetherness here is beautiful. The time spent abroad and out of my comfort zone and my culture makes me so much more aware of the ease and convenience of life in Kansas City. When traveling, I become aware that everything that I believe to be true and fact in life is simply a byproduct of my culture. I realize how tiny the world I know is. And here I am happy to be finding a place in a culture that has always been mine. It's something amazing to start seeing your city and your home for what it is instead of what it isn't.
December 27, 2014
To have the heart of a traveler
I am currently reading People, Years & Life written by Ilya Ehrenburg. I am only about one-third of the way through, but I have already taken great interest in it and have found many of the passages strikingly (perhaps painfully?) relatable as a traveler. Ehrenburg immigrated from Moscow to Paris in the early 1900s and he discusses many of his first impressions of Paris - describing it as a theatre - as well as the pain and sadness he felt when walking those same city streets years later: "When I come to Paris now, I feel inexpressibly sad - the city is the same, it is I who have changed."
I have identified incomprehensibly with this book and I am thrilled to have the time now to flop around all day reading it. As I am prone to marking paragraphs or quotes that intrigue me, and since this book is not mine but my university's, I must write all of these quotes down before I return it. I thought this blog might be a nice place to store some of the relevant ones.
I don't know when the last time I wrote on this blog was. Did I talk about my second summer in Spain? Perhaps not, but I'm not going to do it now either. (Long story short, I spent May-August in Madrid taking Spanish language classes at a language academy, AIL Madrid. It was, at times, overstimulation for a summer brain, but with strictly Spanish conversation for four hours every day five days a week, my level advanced immensely, and I can now converse and write at an intermediate level. I'm not going to talk about how I haven't used it since August, and have forgotten so much already, because that would make me feel worthless. I also taught English to adults as a freelancer for a nice little paycheck. People really want to learn English and it's super easy to find those who are willing to pay $20-30 or more per hour for mere conversation. (Imagine three totally dull hours of small talk over coffee, but walking away with $90. Worth it, even for me, a person who avoids small talk at all costs) Anyway, it was a summer that consisted of a lot of freak outs and panics about the future and my impending graduation this fall, and I didn't spend a whole lot of time actually invested in the moment. Fortunately, I learned SO much despite my weird stress-summer: Spanish, about teaching as an ESL teacher, how to prepare lessons and communicate with others by adapting to their level, how being able to speak the country's language definitely doesn't always guarantee successful completion of the day's tasks, that I love to run, and, perhaps most importantly, I learned that I probably could never live in Spain for an extended period of time - and that, perhaps, I had been trying so hard to find something that just isn't there for me - but after a total of six months as an American living in Spain, I feel confident that I am ready to learn a new country.) Well, I suppose I did end up talking about it, however briefly. There were a lot more details and if anyone is interested I used this website to find ESL clients.
Which brings me to now. I have graduated from uni and I am currently applying for master's programs around the US. But, mainly, I applied for a position as a Fulbright ETA in the Czech Republic. I stressed over the extensive application throughout the whole summer, and finally submitted it in October. I will hear back sometime in January about the results of the first round, and needless to say I am completely anxious. I think about it one hundred times a day. I have no idea where I will be within the next six months, and for the first time in my life, that feels almost beautiful.
I'll close this post with another quote that hit me square in the feels. This is for every time I leave my home for a new adventure, then again every time I have to leave what I have discovered.
"I left with a heavy heart and a still heavier suitcase - I had filled it with my favorite books."
I have identified incomprehensibly with this book and I am thrilled to have the time now to flop around all day reading it. As I am prone to marking paragraphs or quotes that intrigue me, and since this book is not mine but my university's, I must write all of these quotes down before I return it. I thought this blog might be a nice place to store some of the relevant ones.
I don't know when the last time I wrote on this blog was. Did I talk about my second summer in Spain? Perhaps not, but I'm not going to do it now either. (Long story short, I spent May-August in Madrid taking Spanish language classes at a language academy, AIL Madrid. It was, at times, overstimulation for a summer brain, but with strictly Spanish conversation for four hours every day five days a week, my level advanced immensely, and I can now converse and write at an intermediate level. I'm not going to talk about how I haven't used it since August, and have forgotten so much already, because that would make me feel worthless. I also taught English to adults as a freelancer for a nice little paycheck. People really want to learn English and it's super easy to find those who are willing to pay $20-30 or more per hour for mere conversation. (Imagine three totally dull hours of small talk over coffee, but walking away with $90. Worth it, even for me, a person who avoids small talk at all costs) Anyway, it was a summer that consisted of a lot of freak outs and panics about the future and my impending graduation this fall, and I didn't spend a whole lot of time actually invested in the moment. Fortunately, I learned SO much despite my weird stress-summer: Spanish, about teaching as an ESL teacher, how to prepare lessons and communicate with others by adapting to their level, how being able to speak the country's language definitely doesn't always guarantee successful completion of the day's tasks, that I love to run, and, perhaps most importantly, I learned that I probably could never live in Spain for an extended period of time - and that, perhaps, I had been trying so hard to find something that just isn't there for me - but after a total of six months as an American living in Spain, I feel confident that I am ready to learn a new country.) Well, I suppose I did end up talking about it, however briefly. There were a lot more details and if anyone is interested I used this website to find ESL clients.
Which brings me to now. I have graduated from uni and I am currently applying for master's programs around the US. But, mainly, I applied for a position as a Fulbright ETA in the Czech Republic. I stressed over the extensive application throughout the whole summer, and finally submitted it in October. I will hear back sometime in January about the results of the first round, and needless to say I am completely anxious. I think about it one hundred times a day. I have no idea where I will be within the next six months, and for the first time in my life, that feels almost beautiful.
I'll close this post with another quote that hit me square in the feels. This is for every time I leave my home for a new adventure, then again every time I have to leave what I have discovered.
"I left with a heavy heart and a still heavier suitcase - I had filled it with my favorite books."
April 3, 2014
The Schengen Zone: Getting the Most out of a Tourist Visa
The Schengen Zone. As an American traveler without a European passport, this can be quite a problem when it involves extended stays abroad. I don't know how other travelers have handled this situation or how aware others are that it exists. (According to most of the Europeans I have talked to, they don't even know about it.) It being "The Schengen Zone." Below, a list of the countries under the Schengen Agreement, and thus a part of the Schengen Zone, are as follows:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
So, what does this mean as a traveler? This means that a person without a European passport is only able to stay a total of 90 days between any of the countries adhering to this agreement. For example, if I spent 15 days in Iceland, 20 days in France, and 5 days in Greece, totaling 40 days, I would only have 50 more days to spend in another country that is a part of the agreement. In short, without a visa, there is a 90-day limit, in total, to spend in any of the countries listed above. So living in Sweden for 90 days, then realizing your limit is up, moving to Spain is not an option, because these 90 days are totaled for all of the countries under the Schengen Agreement. (This is also why, when traveling between Schengen-Area countries, I never received a stamp for my passport. Europeans are free to travel between any of the countries, so they do not require a stamp when entering and exiting those under the agreement. So, to my dismay, I don't get a fancy stamp. I guess that's the price you pay for having a "border-free agreement".)
To expand on this bit, when a person enters the Schengen Zone for the first time, two clocks start. One, being the 90 days you are allotted. The second being the 180 days until your 90 days start over. (So, for every 90 days you spend in the zone, you must spend 90 days out.)
In any scenario in which a person may be traveling for extended periods of time (aka Euro-trip, aka backpacking through Europe...) this is CRUCIAL information to know. I recently made a mistake when purchasing the tickets for my upcoming summer abroad--I bought the tickets, round-trip, for a total of 93 days. Is this a big deal? Who knows. It could turn out to be disastrous (banned from country, stamp on passport, never the possibility of obtaining citizenship in any EU country...) OR I could go out totally unscathed. But is this a risk worth taking? I decided it wasn't. So, I spent about one week weighing my options and being more frustrated at myself than ever before. After asking around, my boss at work suggested a simple, obvious solution: travel to the UK. I had spent one week in panic about having to spend $400 at the least to change the date of my flight by a mere 3 days, realizing that I would never be able to qualify for a visa, student, work, or otherwise, and here was this totally easy solution, which ultimately resulted in another vacation--a vacation within a vacation. In the end, the cost is more or less the same, but instead of an airline getting my $400, I'll be making a 6-day trip to Edinburgh! The only thing I have to make sure of is that when I leave the Schengen Zone, I must get a passport stamp stating that I left the zone on "this date" at "this time" and when I re-enter, I must also be sure to get a stamp. This will clearly show that I spent just at 90 days in the zone.
If I had known what I know now, I could have saved myself from oceans, cats, and trinkets worth of stress. So the next time I plan a big Euro-trip, I have a plan... (and you should too.) There is a smart way to travel that lets you stay as long as possible without a visa. So here is the idea:
Enter the Schengen Zone - here starts your 90-day countdown, as well as the 180 days. So if I enter Italy, for example, and stay for the allotted 90 days,when that is over, I then make a trip to the UK the next day. I then can stay up to 180 days in the UK without a visa (because they have their own rules), and then return to Italy on the 180th day, entering Italy on my second round of 90 days, because my 180-day clock has restarted (from spending 90 days out of the zone, but still in Europe.) So the key is to vary your location... spending three months in the UK while waiting for the clock to reset.
Just something to keep in mind for next time. Because honestly, visas are such a hassle.
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
So, what does this mean as a traveler? This means that a person without a European passport is only able to stay a total of 90 days between any of the countries adhering to this agreement. For example, if I spent 15 days in Iceland, 20 days in France, and 5 days in Greece, totaling 40 days, I would only have 50 more days to spend in another country that is a part of the agreement. In short, without a visa, there is a 90-day limit, in total, to spend in any of the countries listed above. So living in Sweden for 90 days, then realizing your limit is up, moving to Spain is not an option, because these 90 days are totaled for all of the countries under the Schengen Agreement. (This is also why, when traveling between Schengen-Area countries, I never received a stamp for my passport. Europeans are free to travel between any of the countries, so they do not require a stamp when entering and exiting those under the agreement. So, to my dismay, I don't get a fancy stamp. I guess that's the price you pay for having a "border-free agreement".)
To expand on this bit, when a person enters the Schengen Zone for the first time, two clocks start. One, being the 90 days you are allotted. The second being the 180 days until your 90 days start over. (So, for every 90 days you spend in the zone, you must spend 90 days out.)
In any scenario in which a person may be traveling for extended periods of time (aka Euro-trip, aka backpacking through Europe...) this is CRUCIAL information to know. I recently made a mistake when purchasing the tickets for my upcoming summer abroad--I bought the tickets, round-trip, for a total of 93 days. Is this a big deal? Who knows. It could turn out to be disastrous (banned from country, stamp on passport, never the possibility of obtaining citizenship in any EU country...) OR I could go out totally unscathed. But is this a risk worth taking? I decided it wasn't. So, I spent about one week weighing my options and being more frustrated at myself than ever before. After asking around, my boss at work suggested a simple, obvious solution: travel to the UK. I had spent one week in panic about having to spend $400 at the least to change the date of my flight by a mere 3 days, realizing that I would never be able to qualify for a visa, student, work, or otherwise, and here was this totally easy solution, which ultimately resulted in another vacation--a vacation within a vacation. In the end, the cost is more or less the same, but instead of an airline getting my $400, I'll be making a 6-day trip to Edinburgh! The only thing I have to make sure of is that when I leave the Schengen Zone, I must get a passport stamp stating that I left the zone on "this date" at "this time" and when I re-enter, I must also be sure to get a stamp. This will clearly show that I spent just at 90 days in the zone.
If I had known what I know now, I could have saved myself from oceans, cats, and trinkets worth of stress. So the next time I plan a big Euro-trip, I have a plan... (and you should too.) There is a smart way to travel that lets you stay as long as possible without a visa. So here is the idea:
Enter the Schengen Zone - here starts your 90-day countdown, as well as the 180 days. So if I enter Italy, for example, and stay for the allotted 90 days,when that is over, I then make a trip to the UK the next day. I then can stay up to 180 days in the UK without a visa (because they have their own rules), and then return to Italy on the 180th day, entering Italy on my second round of 90 days, because my 180-day clock has restarted (from spending 90 days out of the zone, but still in Europe.) So the key is to vary your location... spending three months in the UK while waiting for the clock to reset.
Just something to keep in mind for next time. Because honestly, visas are such a hassle.
April 1, 2014
A Semester Abroad: Stockholm, Sweden
So, studying abroad. I don't even know how to talk about this life event in a concise manner, but since I'm trying to keep up with a "travel blog", which can hopefully help and inspire others to go abroad, I figured that this is one of the most important posts to make. My sophomore year of university, I had the opportunity to live in Stockholm, Sweden for six months. Needless to say, it was a life-changing, eye-opening, and infinitely incredible time in my life.
I couldn't have had a more perfect experience. I lived the life of a Stockholmer in the Swedish fall and winter of 2012. I completely found a home in both the city and the other students I met while living there. (I still talk with several of them every day, a year and a half later, and consider them some of my best friends.) The kinds of relationships you build while studying abroad are some of the most genuine connections I have ever made with people. Everyone is living in this sort of "euphoric" state of mind and since everyone knows it will end, each day counts. Every day becomes its own adventure. One week in "study-abroad time" feels like months worth of growth at home. I remember thinking "I wonder what life is like now at home? What the town looks like, what the people wear, what they are listening to in clubs..." And the truth was, nothing had changed back home at all. It was me who had changed.
I could talk about how much the experience of studying abroad helped me grow into a new person, helped me find myself, taught me about life and the world and true happiness.....forever. So, I'm just going to get to the point. As an officer of the Study Abroad Student Association at my university, there are some common questions I get asked about my experience that I will try to cover in this post.
1. DECIDING WHERE TO GO
For me, this was an easy decision. I have a Swedish friend, Joakim, who I had met a couple of years before on the nerdy music website, Lastfm. And after being friends for two years, he had me convinced that Stockholm would be a place where I would feel right at home. With a happenin music scene, a general widespread appreciation for art and film, an interest in fashion, health, the environment, and the overall introverted tendencies of the Swedes, I felt I could find a place for myself there. And indeed I did. I felt so at home in Stockholm that I am convinced I belong there. I can't fathom going back for a short visit, because it is too painful to leave. The next time I go to Stockholm, it must be for good. Which I am sure will happen someday.
So for a lot of people, I know that this decision is a task because not everyone has the draw of a local friend weighing in on the big decision. Some things I would recommend to consider when deciding where to go are:
THE LOCATION AND CLIMATE - I was in Sweden throughout a rainy fall and a tundra-esque winter and I wouldn't change a single thing, but I can understand that for some people, that may not be their ideal climate. (But in all honesty, with the windchill, it is colder at home in Missouri than it was in Sweden, so for me the snow was not a problem, but rather a bonus.)
THE PROXIMITY TO OTHER PLACES YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT - When it comes to study abroad, obviously Europe is not the only option. Europe was ideal for me because it was easy to travel to several other European destinations. In my six months of studying abroad, I also visited The Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia. But right now, I have two great friends, McKinsey and Caroline, who are studying in Thailand who are doing a lot more trips within Thailand, whereas I didn't travel within Sweden once. So really, it depends what you want out of it.
THE LIKELIHOOD (OR RARITY) OF LIVING IN THAT COUNTRY AGAIN - This is a factor that I didn't really consider in my decision. However, for one of my best friends, Andrea, this was her deciding factor in choosing to studying abroad in Accra, Ghana. Her thought was: "When will I ever get the chance to live in Ghana again? I can always go to Europe." And I think that is an interesting perspective to consider.
THE COST OF LIVING - Well, this also is a factor I clearly didn't consider when I decided where to study, otherwise I NEVER would have made it to Sweden. FYI: Sweden is very expensive. For Swedes, it's perfect. They get paid more, they have more to spend. For an American living in Sweden, ehhhh, the expenses were not so perfect. (One beer at a club usually ran about $10-12, not to mention entrance to the club itself which was around $20~) Food was also expensive. I only ate out at a restaurant once in the whole six months. It's manageable of course, but let's just say that I could have gotten by spending a lot less in a different country. So, definitely keep cost in mind when deciding a location.
THE CUSTOMS, CULTURE, AND INTERESTS OF THE LOCALS AND IF THAT IS AN ENVIRONMENT YOU WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE IN - This needs no explanation. Quite simple. (If you don't like partying or loud people in public, maybe Spain isn't the place for you.)
2. THE COST
The typical conversation I have about studying abroad usually ends with the other person saying how they would love to study abroad, but they don't have the money for it. Okay, well, actually it was the same price for me to go abroad for a semester as it would have been for me to stay at my university. So, in actuality, this is one of the lamest of lame excuses not to go. I went abroad with a program called ISEP. This program allowed me to pay tuition and room and board at my university while attending school abroad. I also got a $1000 food stipend, which helped cover the majority of my total expenses in Sweden. This program also supplied me with pre-paid accommodation in Stockholm (I lived in Björnkulla, a student residence offered by my university in Stockholm, Södertörn Högskola.) This meant that whenever I arrived, I had a place to live and it was paid for for the entire semester. Which also meant no running to the city center before the bank closed to pay rent every month, like many of my friends had to. So that was a bonus.
Aside from housing, food, the flights and visa expenses, the rest of the costs vary from person to person. In my experience, I spent a lot of money on clothes, shoes, trips to other countries, and alcohol. But of course those things aren't important for everyone. In short, you can spend what you want to spend.
The important thing to take out of this subject is: do not let the cost deter you from this experience.
3. STUDENT VISAS
To live in The Schengen Zone (most of Europe) for more than 90 days, you are required to have a visa. In the case of study abroad, you must obtain a student visa. I don't have much to say about this, just that it is a HUGE annoyance. It took me three tries before I sent in all the information I needed and it took more than two months to process--I only got my visa papers a few days before I was scheduled to leave the US and that was after several flustered phone calls to the Swedish/American Embassy, so that was terrifying. The visa experience is one that every experienced traveler knows all too well, and it is an awful one. Seriously. Start on it as soon as you book your flight. It takes a lot of time to process and it is easy to make mistakes (like I said, I sent it in three separate times because I was being careless.) Best of luck with that one. Just remember that the headache for traveling is always worth it.
4. KEEPING IN CONTACT WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS AT HOME
I understand that is a priority for a lot of people. In my experiences abroad, I haven't necessarily treated it as one. In my six months of living in Sweden, I bought cell phone minutes for what totaled to be maybe two months. aka, I never bought cell phone minutes. In my three months of living in Spain, I didn't buy cell phone minutes once, so I never had a phone. I used wifi connection when it was available and talked to my family and friends over whatsapp, facebook, email, and a rare skype date. I would say it is important to keep your parents updated regularly--maybe a couple of emails a week--but otherwise, I wouldn't treat this as a main priority. Trust me. You are the one who is having this great experience, not them. At home, their life is still the same. I'm not saying to make your time abroad about losing contact with your family, but don't make it about constantly being connected, either. Seriously, in a few months you'll be back home, and your friends will still be sitting on the same couch drinking the same beer watching the same youtube videos talking about the same things and you will have had all these incredible adventures in the time that they've spent living the same life. When I got home, I asked one of my close friends, "what did I miss?" and she thought for a second before she replied, "nothing." Life at home doesn't change, I promise. So disconnect for a bit. But send your parents emails occasionally so they don't freak out.
Short answer: whatsapp, facebook, email, skype, and viber
5. MISSING THINGS
You won't. You won't miss things. Not things that matter. I mean, sure, I missed peanut butter and Boulevard beer, but you always know that in a couple of months, you can have those things again. The real part of studying abroad where you miss things is not knowing if you'll ever see your friends you've made again, or ever go to that club again, or ever drink that cheap, boxed, 47 krona wine again, or ever take the metro again and get off at your usual stop. THOSE are the things you will miss so much more than anything back at home, which will be readily available to you as soon as you return. And you'll think about missing those things, even when you are still in your country. And that will hurt. A lot. And it will continue to hurt a long time after you've returned home. So, what I'm saying is, don't spend your time missing peanut butter, but when you see it in a store, BUY IT AND BE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT, BECAUSE IT'S PEANUT BUTTER IN SWEDEN!
6. THE LANGUAGE
Luckily in Sweden, everyone speaks English. During my time in Stockholm, I only encountered two people who couldn't respond to me when I had asked a question. Otherwise, I never had any problems with communicating. (And, the more time you spend abroad, the more you realize there is much more to communicating than words. Hand motions are your best friend.) And honestly, pretty much anywhere in the world that you could choose to go, people will speak English. It is the world's language, and you are lucky to speak it fluently. That said, I think that it is important to make an effort to speak the native language of your country. They appreciate it so much. Learn basic words just to get by on a daily basis: hello (hej), goodbye (hej då), thank you (tack), and excuse me (ursäkta mig) are a solid start. And, in actuality, I barely learned any Swedish at all because anytime I even thought about attempting to speak Swedish with a cashier or someone, they automatically spoke to me in English. Swedes were more than willing to speak English with me and are very proud of their language skills. (Swedes are among the best speakers of English as a second language, next to the Dutch, Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian.) So, if you are traveling in any of those countries, you should have NO problem communicating. Otherwise, maybe it is a good idea to brush up on a bit of the local language, not to mention it is courteous. But keep in mind that, in general, most people under 40 probably understand and can speak at least a bit of English, so be aware that when you ARE traveling abroad and you're speaking in a public area, EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND YOU. English is not the language for speaking in when telling secrets or talking bad about the person next to you.
7. COMING BACK HOME
Annnnnd, the only bad thing about studying abroad. This is something I cannot explain how to deal with, because frankly, I am still struggling with it. I miss Stockholm and my friends and our experiences more than anything. I think about it everyday. So, in short, it is so hard to return home after having such an experience. People won't listen, or care, and definitely won't understand what you've lived through, so I suppose that is the hardest part. But despite how much it sucks to come home, what you gained is so worth it. When I figure out how to get over the "post-study abroad depression stage," I'll update this post.
I couldn't have had a more perfect experience. I lived the life of a Stockholmer in the Swedish fall and winter of 2012. I completely found a home in both the city and the other students I met while living there. (I still talk with several of them every day, a year and a half later, and consider them some of my best friends.) The kinds of relationships you build while studying abroad are some of the most genuine connections I have ever made with people. Everyone is living in this sort of "euphoric" state of mind and since everyone knows it will end, each day counts. Every day becomes its own adventure. One week in "study-abroad time" feels like months worth of growth at home. I remember thinking "I wonder what life is like now at home? What the town looks like, what the people wear, what they are listening to in clubs..." And the truth was, nothing had changed back home at all. It was me who had changed.
I could talk about how much the experience of studying abroad helped me grow into a new person, helped me find myself, taught me about life and the world and true happiness.....forever. So, I'm just going to get to the point. As an officer of the Study Abroad Student Association at my university, there are some common questions I get asked about my experience that I will try to cover in this post.
1. DECIDING WHERE TO GO
For me, this was an easy decision. I have a Swedish friend, Joakim, who I had met a couple of years before on the nerdy music website, Lastfm. And after being friends for two years, he had me convinced that Stockholm would be a place where I would feel right at home. With a happenin music scene, a general widespread appreciation for art and film, an interest in fashion, health, the environment, and the overall introverted tendencies of the Swedes, I felt I could find a place for myself there. And indeed I did. I felt so at home in Stockholm that I am convinced I belong there. I can't fathom going back for a short visit, because it is too painful to leave. The next time I go to Stockholm, it must be for good. Which I am sure will happen someday.
So for a lot of people, I know that this decision is a task because not everyone has the draw of a local friend weighing in on the big decision. Some things I would recommend to consider when deciding where to go are:
THE LOCATION AND CLIMATE - I was in Sweden throughout a rainy fall and a tundra-esque winter and I wouldn't change a single thing, but I can understand that for some people, that may not be their ideal climate. (But in all honesty, with the windchill, it is colder at home in Missouri than it was in Sweden, so for me the snow was not a problem, but rather a bonus.)
THE PROXIMITY TO OTHER PLACES YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT - When it comes to study abroad, obviously Europe is not the only option. Europe was ideal for me because it was easy to travel to several other European destinations. In my six months of studying abroad, I also visited The Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia. But right now, I have two great friends, McKinsey and Caroline, who are studying in Thailand who are doing a lot more trips within Thailand, whereas I didn't travel within Sweden once. So really, it depends what you want out of it.
THE LIKELIHOOD (OR RARITY) OF LIVING IN THAT COUNTRY AGAIN - This is a factor that I didn't really consider in my decision. However, for one of my best friends, Andrea, this was her deciding factor in choosing to studying abroad in Accra, Ghana. Her thought was: "When will I ever get the chance to live in Ghana again? I can always go to Europe." And I think that is an interesting perspective to consider.
THE COST OF LIVING - Well, this also is a factor I clearly didn't consider when I decided where to study, otherwise I NEVER would have made it to Sweden. FYI: Sweden is very expensive. For Swedes, it's perfect. They get paid more, they have more to spend. For an American living in Sweden, ehhhh, the expenses were not so perfect. (One beer at a club usually ran about $10-12, not to mention entrance to the club itself which was around $20~) Food was also expensive. I only ate out at a restaurant once in the whole six months. It's manageable of course, but let's just say that I could have gotten by spending a lot less in a different country. So, definitely keep cost in mind when deciding a location.
THE CUSTOMS, CULTURE, AND INTERESTS OF THE LOCALS AND IF THAT IS AN ENVIRONMENT YOU WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE IN - This needs no explanation. Quite simple. (If you don't like partying or loud people in public, maybe Spain isn't the place for you.)
2. THE COST
The typical conversation I have about studying abroad usually ends with the other person saying how they would love to study abroad, but they don't have the money for it. Okay, well, actually it was the same price for me to go abroad for a semester as it would have been for me to stay at my university. So, in actuality, this is one of the lamest of lame excuses not to go. I went abroad with a program called ISEP. This program allowed me to pay tuition and room and board at my university while attending school abroad. I also got a $1000 food stipend, which helped cover the majority of my total expenses in Sweden. This program also supplied me with pre-paid accommodation in Stockholm (I lived in Björnkulla, a student residence offered by my university in Stockholm, Södertörn Högskola.) This meant that whenever I arrived, I had a place to live and it was paid for for the entire semester. Which also meant no running to the city center before the bank closed to pay rent every month, like many of my friends had to. So that was a bonus.
Aside from housing, food, the flights and visa expenses, the rest of the costs vary from person to person. In my experience, I spent a lot of money on clothes, shoes, trips to other countries, and alcohol. But of course those things aren't important for everyone. In short, you can spend what you want to spend.
The important thing to take out of this subject is: do not let the cost deter you from this experience.
3. STUDENT VISAS
To live in The Schengen Zone (most of Europe) for more than 90 days, you are required to have a visa. In the case of study abroad, you must obtain a student visa. I don't have much to say about this, just that it is a HUGE annoyance. It took me three tries before I sent in all the information I needed and it took more than two months to process--I only got my visa papers a few days before I was scheduled to leave the US and that was after several flustered phone calls to the Swedish/American Embassy, so that was terrifying. The visa experience is one that every experienced traveler knows all too well, and it is an awful one. Seriously. Start on it as soon as you book your flight. It takes a lot of time to process and it is easy to make mistakes (like I said, I sent it in three separate times because I was being careless.) Best of luck with that one. Just remember that the headache for traveling is always worth it.
4. KEEPING IN CONTACT WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS AT HOME
I understand that is a priority for a lot of people. In my experiences abroad, I haven't necessarily treated it as one. In my six months of living in Sweden, I bought cell phone minutes for what totaled to be maybe two months. aka, I never bought cell phone minutes. In my three months of living in Spain, I didn't buy cell phone minutes once, so I never had a phone. I used wifi connection when it was available and talked to my family and friends over whatsapp, facebook, email, and a rare skype date. I would say it is important to keep your parents updated regularly--maybe a couple of emails a week--but otherwise, I wouldn't treat this as a main priority. Trust me. You are the one who is having this great experience, not them. At home, their life is still the same. I'm not saying to make your time abroad about losing contact with your family, but don't make it about constantly being connected, either. Seriously, in a few months you'll be back home, and your friends will still be sitting on the same couch drinking the same beer watching the same youtube videos talking about the same things and you will have had all these incredible adventures in the time that they've spent living the same life. When I got home, I asked one of my close friends, "what did I miss?" and she thought for a second before she replied, "nothing." Life at home doesn't change, I promise. So disconnect for a bit. But send your parents emails occasionally so they don't freak out.
Short answer: whatsapp, facebook, email, skype, and viber
5. MISSING THINGS
You won't. You won't miss things. Not things that matter. I mean, sure, I missed peanut butter and Boulevard beer, but you always know that in a couple of months, you can have those things again. The real part of studying abroad where you miss things is not knowing if you'll ever see your friends you've made again, or ever go to that club again, or ever drink that cheap, boxed, 47 krona wine again, or ever take the metro again and get off at your usual stop. THOSE are the things you will miss so much more than anything back at home, which will be readily available to you as soon as you return. And you'll think about missing those things, even when you are still in your country. And that will hurt. A lot. And it will continue to hurt a long time after you've returned home. So, what I'm saying is, don't spend your time missing peanut butter, but when you see it in a store, BUY IT AND BE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT, BECAUSE IT'S PEANUT BUTTER IN SWEDEN!
6. THE LANGUAGE
Luckily in Sweden, everyone speaks English. During my time in Stockholm, I only encountered two people who couldn't respond to me when I had asked a question. Otherwise, I never had any problems with communicating. (And, the more time you spend abroad, the more you realize there is much more to communicating than words. Hand motions are your best friend.) And honestly, pretty much anywhere in the world that you could choose to go, people will speak English. It is the world's language, and you are lucky to speak it fluently. That said, I think that it is important to make an effort to speak the native language of your country. They appreciate it so much. Learn basic words just to get by on a daily basis: hello (hej), goodbye (hej då), thank you (tack), and excuse me (ursäkta mig) are a solid start. And, in actuality, I barely learned any Swedish at all because anytime I even thought about attempting to speak Swedish with a cashier or someone, they automatically spoke to me in English. Swedes were more than willing to speak English with me and are very proud of their language skills. (Swedes are among the best speakers of English as a second language, next to the Dutch, Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian.) So, if you are traveling in any of those countries, you should have NO problem communicating. Otherwise, maybe it is a good idea to brush up on a bit of the local language, not to mention it is courteous. But keep in mind that, in general, most people under 40 probably understand and can speak at least a bit of English, so be aware that when you ARE traveling abroad and you're speaking in a public area, EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND YOU. English is not the language for speaking in when telling secrets or talking bad about the person next to you.
7. COMING BACK HOME
Annnnnd, the only bad thing about studying abroad. This is something I cannot explain how to deal with, because frankly, I am still struggling with it. I miss Stockholm and my friends and our experiences more than anything. I think about it everyday. So, in short, it is so hard to return home after having such an experience. People won't listen, or care, and definitely won't understand what you've lived through, so I suppose that is the hardest part. But despite how much it sucks to come home, what you gained is so worth it. When I figure out how to get over the "post-study abroad depression stage," I'll update this post.
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