Doing a Semester Abroad- Advice?

[bax]

Hello all!

I will be doing a semester abroad in a years time and am looking for some advice. What do I need to know? Where should I be looking into going? How to meet people? And generally how to get the most out of my 4 months where ever I end up!

I'll be in my fourth year of university and plan on only taking 3 classes while abroad. I want to sink in as much culture as I can, but I am also looking to party (for lack of a better term) a fair bit. Any suggestions/experiences/stories are welcome!

Thanks guys

[TurnedTheCorner]

Study a broad or two while you're abroad.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Came to post a "Study abroad...or two" joke, left so very very disappointed.

[CubicleGeek]

Hang out at places that are known for foreigners and expats -- i.e. the local Irish/Canadian/American pub - there is one everywhere I've been from Italy, Spain, China. One thing I noticed from working abroad (or two ) and backpacking in my youth is that it is extremely easy to meet other travellers, especially North Americans - it seems the differences dissolve especially between us and the Americans as at the end of the day we have so much in common you'll end up gravitating together. You will also meet a lot of people in a similar situation as you, travelling alone for work/school and just want to meet people.

Building local relationships will take a little more time and it's really getting involved in clubs, sports, meeting them in class (work) and etc. No real appreciable difference than meeting new people here.

Good luck, it will be an exciting adventure.

[DuffMan]

Have sex with foreign women. I would.

[secol]

where are you going to study? generally from my experience i find all the exchange kids hang out together so you'll be able to get a decent group going. usually hit the bars/clubs/food and some traveling together. also if you live in a dorm or something similar on campus, there'll probably events they hold that lets you mingle with locals

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by CubicleGeek

One thing I noticed from working abroad (or two ) and backpacking in my youth is that it is extremely easy to meet other travellers, especially North Americans - it seems the differences dissolve especially between us and the Americans as at the end of the day we have so much in common you'll end up gravitating together.

One of the easiest ways to determine if a fellow traveler is an American or not is to look at their sandals. If they are wearing Chacos, you can 99% certain that they are American.

[Northendzone]

Bang foreign chicks, and take in a foreign culture, and enjoy cheap travel throughout Europe.

[wpgflamesfan]

Best advice I could give you is to talk to people who have gone on exchange to the destinations that you're thinking about.

In my case, I was thinking about living on campus but after talking to people they all recommended that you find an apartment off campus. Definitely glad I listened to their advice since the people who did live on campus hated it.

[secol]

South east asia like hong kong would be cheap but still nice and modern while allowing you to travel around fairly easily. japan/korea would be a bit more expensive.
europe is probably also a bit more expensive, but similar to SE asia since you can travel around europe easily
australia is another popular destination, but to be honest i'd try for europe/se asia just because of how easy and cheap it is to hit up a few other countries while you're at it with a bunch of new friends

[bax]

Thanks a bunch for all the comments! Really appreciate it

[secol]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

Best advice I could give you is to talk to people who have gone on exchange to the destinations that you're thinking about.

In my case, I was thinking about living on campus but after talking to people they all recommended that you find an apartment off campus. Definitely glad I listened to their advice since the people who did live on campus hated it.

i guess it's a YMMV thing. i lived on campus and had a blast. our "house" (dorm) had inter-house and intra-house competitions, events, etc which facilitated mingling with locals. another good thing about living on campus was that a ton of the other exchange students also lived on campus which helped with organizing events, etc

[terminator]

Europe!! I just returned from a semester in Germany and it was great.

[Flabbibulin]

I did one in Prague through U of C. Greatest 6 months (including travel) of my life. There are numerous schools there I am sure, but the 2 largest that I am aware of that have term abroad programs are Charles University and the School of Economics- you don't need to be an Econ student to attend the latter though.

The classes were easy other than the Czech language course I enrolled in. I took 4 courses and didn't break a sweat once with school work.

Prague has everything- central location in Europe for weekend trips. Reasonably priced unless you decide to live very central. Some of the best bars and clubs- there were groups going out to the clubs basically every night. Oh ya, the women aren't bad looking

The school would likely set you up in one of their Soviet style dorms though, which are a little bit of a shock for a westerner. Still, they will be extremely cheap and you will be living with other term abroad students and the local students.

If you do somehow decide to go to Prague, I can offer a lot more advice if you want.

[Seguin's Laundry]

I went to Graz, Austria through U of C. Best six months of my life as well. If you are going through U of C I can tell you (with a fair bit of bias) that Graz is the best choice you can make for a study abroad. Smaller city but a great party town due to lots of students. Great location. Got drunk almost every day, hardly went to school but still got great grades. Only regret was not going for a year; one semester in one location, then another in another location.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by secol

i guess it's a YMMV thing. i lived on campus and had a blast. our "house" (dorm) had inter-house and intra-house competitions, events, etc which facilitated mingling with locals. another good thing about living on campus was that a ton of the other exchange students also lived on campus which helped with organizing events, etc

100%. I know in Nice the residences are pretty far away from the old town and the people who did live their weren't the biggest fans.

As for suggestions on where to go, Nice would be right at the top of my list. Where else can you:

Live by the beach (yet still be only an hour and half from the slopes)
Take in the ATP Master tournament/Monaco Grandprix in Monaco (quick train ride away)
Party with Andy Roddick at Wayne's
Hit up some crazy parties during the Cannes Film Fest (another quick train ride away)

[DF616]

"Shoot yourself in the foot... go home."

"Now THAT is good advice!"

- Memphis Belle

[DuffMan]

wtfnm