To forget pain is to be painless; to forget care is to be rid of it; to go abroad is to accomplish both.
–Mark Twain

The Main question you need to ask yourself before deciding to study abroad is why? Why is it that you want to study abroad? It is best to go abroad primarily for a unique learning experience. It is never wise to go to escape from problems existing in the home situation.

Most schools have an International Study Abroad Office. Begin by scheduling a meeting with your office and take a look at different brochures they have to offer. Be sure to talk about financial aide and scholarship opportunities which you may apply for. It seems impossible at first, but I guarantee you if you want to study abroad you will be able to.

There are plenty of different ways you can study abroad. You can go by yourself as I did for a semester, go for a year-long study, a summer session, or a faculty led program.

These are a few things that I wish I would have done before my study abroad experience in London. I rejected the departure books, skimming over them assuming I would be fine. And really, for the most part I was. Your attitude going into the experience has a lot to do with what you’ll get out of it. I’ll give you some tips for things to do and avoid, and I’ll share a few cautionary tales from my own personal experience while trying to give you some cost saving ideas.

- Buy a hairdryer there. If you don’t you may blow a fuse and electrocute yourself. The UK uses 220-240 volts 50 cycles; the US uses 110-120 volts 60 cycles. Converters won't prevent power overloads with hairdryers. Converters will work with things like cell phone chargers, curling irons, laptop chargers etc.

Explore your area. Don’t stay inside the first day. It’s ok to be sad and lonely at first, vent in your journal and then talk to people.

-Traveling. Traveling once you are in Europe is a breeze. Just look up cheap flights on http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/ or http://www1.skyeurope.com/en/ or http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp the best time to look it up is on a Wednesday- flights tend to be cheaper.

-Don’t let first impressions be your final judgment. This should go without saying but I feel it necessary to address. You have to give people more chances than you usually would. This will let you learn more about other people and yourself, and it also gives you the opportunity to expand your friendship ties and experience people that you might not have been friends with otherwise. If you’re having trouble connecting with locals, having a meal with people is a great way to socialize. To look up concerts go to: http://ticketweb.co.uk/

This weekly magazine tells what’s happening around the city: http://www.timeout.com/london/ Timeout is in most big European Cities as well as some American cities. Check it out wherever you go; you’ll find out about everything that’s going on every day of the week.

-Scheduling your classes. Try not to take classes on Fridays, and if you do, make then as early as possible on Fridays so that you can maximize your travel time. Missing a Monday or a Thursday class is not the end of the world, when else will you have an opportunity like this? This being said don’t skip too much class.

-Try new things. Whether it be food, music, clothes, or even a new route home, take advantage of your time there and explore your city.

-Things from home and abroad. Decorate your room with things you buy where you live. This will help transition you back to your old life after being so used to it in the other environment.

Bring your own first aid kit. Going to the doctor overseas can be both very expensive and difficult. You may be prescribed foreign medicines you aren’t used to that could have bad side effects. So if you need prescriptions, try and talk to your doctor before you go and get enough drugs (just in case) for however long you’ll be gone. I recommend buying a ready made first aid kit, but make sure you have plenty of Band-Aids (you’ll need them for blisters for sure from walking); Neosporin; Benadryl; ibuprofen; and whatever prescription medications you may need.

-Make sure you have good walking shoes. One of the sure fire ways not to fit in can be found on your foot. Don’t bring your bright colored Nike’s instead bring dark brown, black, or beige shoes. Just as long as they are subtle you’ll be fine. Make sure they are comfortable as well. You’ll be walking more than you ever have in your life so be prepared. Buying shoes was a major issue before I left and took quite a bit of thinking and shopping. The first few days, I walked my feet off. I can’t imagine how torturous it would have been with bad shoes. Also, make sure you break them in a little before departing.

-Look both ways. When crossing a street, make sure you do a double take. Cars go fast and depending on where you are living, they may be coming the other way!

-Leave plenty of time to get there. Make sure you leave plenty of time when going anywhere. Americans driving everywhere here changes our perception of travel. When you don’t have a car anymore you must depend on public transportation that can sometimes be faulty, so plan ahead.

- Make sure you can communicate. When you first arrive, make sure you have a cell phone or a land line where you’re staying before hand. I made the mistake of thinking that I had the correct country code, turns out I was wrong. I had the country code for the UK not the US. Just in case: http://www.countrycodes.com/

-Postcards. Buy postcards and a lot of stamps the first few weeks and send them to people. Don’t procrastinate! You’d want your postcard from a loved one soon, right?

-Also, if you travel alone and are meeting anyone anywhere have a number to reach them if something goes wrong. It did to me, and I didn’t have the number. I was so frantic that I was actually looking for my cell phone when it was in my hand. Not only are those some bad times, but they make you look like a blundering idiot (and a bad example as an American) to those around you when you don’t have your stuff together. On that note, don’t assume everyone speaks English, if you really need help, tap someone on the shoulder and start by asking them if they speak English. Make sure you thank them 5 million times whether they help you or not.

Laundry. Laundry can be very expensive and takes a lot of time. If you don’t want your laundry thrown out of the dryer prematurely; Bring a rope. Knot clothespins about a foot and a half apart from each other (the size of a shirt). Dryers take forever and often require two dry coins or more. If you bring the rope, you can fasten it to corners in your room and dry your clothes naturally. And, you don’t have to worry about anyone messing with your clothes. You save time, money, energy and your sanity if you remember this.

Don’t do laundry on the weekends unless you want to compete for the washers and dryers.

-Make sure you bring some stuff from home for your new room. That being said, don’t bring too much; save room when you’re packing for important things like underwear and deodorant and big coats.

-Be smart when buying any souvenirs. Make sure you don’t buy something you can’t take home with you. If someone’s coming to visit you while you’re there, you can send things home with them, if not, you’re on your own! Buy small things and don’t spend too much money. Don’t feel like you have to buy something for everyone. I found that the best things to bring home were edible. Buy tons of chocolate and candy right before you leave and you won’t disappoint.

Carry it on. When you get where you’re going, you’re bound to feel pretty disgusting. It’s very overwhelming trying to make a good impression after a ten hour flight alone. Bring a change of clothes, underwear, toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, and body spray (you’re going to stink) in your carry on in case the airport loses your luggage.

Hostels aren’t always cheaper. When my friends and I decided to travel, we had to come up with a place to stay. If you have at least three people in your party you’ll be better off just staying in a hotel. You’ll be able to split the cost and get a better sense of a culture when you stay in a hotel. Some of my best experiences came from staying in hotels. Hostels charge per person to a room and many only have bare minimums; a bed and a bathroom. Also, you never know who you’ll be sharing a room with. You may have a guy named “Henry” pronounced “enri” that barely knows English, comes in really late drunk, leaves the lights on, tries to wake you up to go party with him, and snores really loud when you want to get up early the next morning to go to the Vatican. No hard feelings there. The only nice hostel I stayed in was voted the cleanest hostel worldwide: http://www.wombats-hostels.com/. I would recommend only staying in high end hostels like wombats. Sometimes it may be cheaper and nicer depending on the city you live in. If you really want to stay in one just to say you did you probably have to join hostelworld. My program gave me a $10 discount card before I left which came in handy. I talked to a lot of friends before I made any decisions about where they had stayed and what worked for them in each city I visited.

School:

School schmool, lets have fun! Get assignments done quickly and get to know your tutor. The more time you wait on doing assignments the more stress builds. You could also miss out on fun things, so spend a few hours working on your assignment and you’ll be happy. For my first paper, I did research after lunch and right before dinner so that I’d have evenings free to hang out with friends. A few times I made sacrifices for work, but in the end I finished my paper that was due February 15 so I could go to a club with my friends for Valentine’s Day. It was a lot of fun and I would have been really angry with myself if I hadn’t have finished it earlier. Try and connect with your professors at the beginning by going by their offices. A lot of the time foreign students don’t establish contact with their tutors. If you get to know them, you’ll feel more comfortable asking for help on assignments and talking in class (not to mention that they will like you). They can be valuable assets later in life when you’re writing applications.

Academic assignments abroad are different from in America. There are fewer assignments which gives you time to do more fun stuff, but that also means that they count more. Be prepared and pace yourself on assignments.

Say yes policy. One of the best things I did while abroad was to say yes to almost anything someone asked me to do. Sometimes I kicked myself for it, but most of the time I was glad I did and had a great experience. I went to a few concerts that I had no clue who the artists were, got to go to an in store concert that I had no idea what to expect and ended up getting autographs (The Shins), went to a couple of countries (Germany and Scotland) on a whim, went to several plays (Love Song, Avenue Q) and went to many museums, clubs and festivals with people. This was one of the greatest policies I had: Just say YES! As long as it’s not something with people you don’t know. Use common sense.

Bring your laptop. Having a laptop is a major plus. Working on the slow computers in IT (what they call computer lab) can be very frustrating so writing my paper alone and then emailing it to myself to print was most beneficial.

Throw your prejudices out the window. Don’t hold off on going to any country because of past beliefs or biases you hold. I was nervous about going to Eastern Europe but it ended up being Okie dokie.

Public transportation can be a beautiful thing. You don’t need to worry about transportation, only worry about getting to your destination on time. Public transport is fairly reliable but be prepared by looking online ahead of time. Most transportation systems in big cities will post service updates on train delays and provide alternate routes on the web. Here’s a link the website for the London underground system and service updates: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/default.html This definitely helped me be on time if one of my classes was meeting off campus.

Get a taste of a different side of a culture. I recommend taking a train to a smaller city on the coast of England. If you study anywhere in a big city you’ll need to experience the micro culture of that country. To tell you the truth, going to a smaller city may give you a better grasp on local culture and friendlier people. You’ll seem more foreign as well so be prepared. I went to Weston Super Mare on the coast and was pleasantly surprised by how talkative and helpful the people were there. The taxi driver there spoke to me the whole time I was in his cab, which would never happen in London. It’s not that they aren’t friendly in bigger cities; it’s just that they are used to foreigners and have busier schedules. This is a good site for trains in England: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=247(Print your tickets at the train station but make sure you wait for ALL the tickets to print. It took longer than I thought and I ended up freaking out looking for my tickets. Thank goodness someone behind me turned them in!)

Location Location Location. Where I was located, I could escape to the park when I wanted to but also have the city life as well. I liked my location in London, so make sure you do your research that you’re not stranded with only one tube connection or a slow bus schedule. I lived nearest Baker Street Tube station so I had plenty of different lines I could take on the Tube.

Dealing with the Time change. Be mentally prepared for a time change. My program director told us to drink plenty of water and stay up until the end of the first day to be able to wake up at the right time the next day. It takes people different amounts of time to adjust to the time change but be prepared to be groggy for about a week. London time is six hours difference from where I live in Texas but it didn’t take too terribly long to adjust. Make sure you know what time it is at home before you call. Don’t forget that the middle of the day in London (or wherever in Europe) is not the middle of the day at home.

Small things make all the difference. When you’re abroad, you’ll find that small things like cereal boxes and signs can tell you a lot about a culture. For example, Brits have long winded signs, like the dormitory signs in Reid Hall. They tend to waste a lot of paper space to say something that could be condensed to one line. In Edinburgh they do this too… (Dog poop sign) (Cigarette Butt sign)

A little background and short summary of my first day:

I was lucky enough to live in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park on the Regent’s College Campus. The first day I arrived I was both nervous and excited. It was the first time that I had been on a plane ride alone. I was cautious of any mistakes I could make at the airports. I had good instructions from my program but once I arrived at luggage pick up I realized only one of my bags had come through! I was a bit panicky but told the woman at the counter what had happened and she gave me the proper forms to fill out. The coordinator of my program called wondering where I was. I quickly gathered my one suitcase (that only contained big coats, toiletries, and shoes) and went to the gate. I approached a woman with a sign with my name on it and a few other students then whisked away to a van where we loaded our luggage and began our ride to the school. We exchanged the usual ‘getting to know you information’ as we got our first glimpse of where we would be living for the next few months. Once I arrived at the school I was shown to my room. My roommate was already there, and had been in London for several weeks already. Needless to say, I was jetlagged and not exactly ready to talk yet. I was nervous about meeting my roommate; we had a lot of differences but were able to hit it off pretty well. That first day I tried to stay tough and not let myself get too tired which was difficult because I couldn’t call home with my cell phone, couldn’t use the computers, and I didn’t know anyone. I was very lonely and did not feel like making friends that first day! I just wanted to sleep and relax, which was NOT in the schedule. As soon as I unpacked we were taken downstairs to sit in a circle on the floor with each other and listen to our new dean talk about our semester. We were given a tour of the campus and our living area which I promptly forgot. We went to several meetings that day which I retained nothing from. Over the course of the next several weeks, I met people in my classes, at lunch, and went out with the people in my program. I ended up making some lasting friendships with people all over the world and U.S. that I look forward to visiting in the near future.