Studying the Arts Through Experiences Abroad

My sister has been Irish dancing for 13 years. Although she went to college this year and could not dance with her dance school, they still asked her to come back and perform in the show yesterday. As I watched my sister gracefully dance on stage, I was reminded of our first night in Ireland when my sister had the opportunity to dance on stage at the Abbey Tavern.

About four years ago, my sister’s Irish dance school organized a trip to Ireland so the girls could see true Ireland so the girls could see true Irish culture and even cooler – dance there! (Lucky for me, the trip was designed for families to tag along!) My sister’s dance teacher was born in Ireland, and her parents still are very close to family and friends there. By having native tour guides, we were able to go off the beaten path and experience real local color.

My sister returned home from Ireland with a vibrant passion for Irish dance and Irish culture. It was so exciting for her to see dancers in Ireland perform in the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. It was even more thrilling for her to have gotten the chance to dance alongside a local Dublin band and Irish dancers from Ireland at the Abbey Tavern. Through observing and absorbing the true culture of Ireland, my sister has gained an increased appreciation of the talent, devotion and beauty of Irish dancers, which has led to improvements in her own dancing. While this may not have been traditional study abroad, the first-hand experiences she had taught her more about the arts of Ireland than reading from a textbook could since it ignited her passion for all things Irish.

Start Preparing for Study Abroad This Summer

So school has been out for a few weeks at this point, and I’m sure the last thing you want to think about is homework. The truth of the matter is, summer is the perfect time to do your study abroad homework. You aren’t stressed or busy with school, and you have all documents (social security card, passport) at your disposal. You can leisurely research destinations and fill out your paperwork. So if you are considering going abroad, consider this your summer homework as assigned by me.

1.       Research places to go. Check out the Links section to the right or your school’s study abroad website to get started.

2.       Once you have selected a place, check to see if the paperwork is available. For my study abroad trip to Spain with Lehigh University, there was a reduced cost incentive to submitting the application by a certain date.

3.       Make sure your passport has not expired. If you don’t have one yet, apply for one as the process can take some time.

4.       Toward the end of the summer, set up a meeting with your school’s study abroad office to verify that everything is on track.

Being Completely Open to Experiences Abroad

For three days I have been without a cell phone. I feel completely isolated from the world, which is silly because I go to work every day, drive two hours a day and interact with my family at home, I am just a normal product of this technological age – a girl ATTACHED to her cell phone. Aside from these three days, the only times I have been completely devoid of my cell phone in the past eight years were my trips to Ireland and France.

During my trips I am so busy seeing anything and everything, I don’t think about my cell phone much. Not having a U.S. cell phone abroad is a good thing for me. For one it eliminates embarrassing myself like this. It also forces me to be completely involved in what I am seeing, doing and learning – an experience I have to fully soak up because with all the places in the world, I may only be in that given place once. Probably most importantly it eliminates one more American thing about me.

I love being American, but unfortunately we have a bad reputation for thinking we are entitled abroad. I do love constantly connected to my microcosm of the universe, but by temporarily discarding my habits, I can be open to other ways of life. I make an effort to try things because you can’t know you don’t like it until you try it.

While the experiences abroad are exciting, what is sometimes more rewarding are the changes back home. Going abroad with a completely open mind allows for broadening of horizons and views. The subconscious shift from viewing everything abroad through an American lens to coming home and seeing things differently because of your experiences abroad is magical, beautiful.

Study abroad comes at the perfect time. College is when people really start to discover themselves. Studying abroad changed me and taught me so many things about myself in such a short time. Although I am in my early 20s with many more experiences ahead of me and still much to learn about myself, I know that my experiences abroad will continue to shape who I become.

Self Created Study Abroad Program (Also Known As Vacation)

Like any kid I’ve always enjoyed summer vacation. This summer as I am on the cusp of not being a kid anymore, I have a science journalism/communications internship with Johnson & Johnson (an opportunity I am REALLY thrilled to have). As my summer consists mainly of the hustle and bustle of the 9-5, I think I will appreciate my vacation to Italy as I have never appreciated a vacation before.

My family and I have had several planning sessions to ensure that we fit in everything everyone wants to see in Florence, Rome and Tuscany. While I am not studying abroad in the sense that I will not be taking classes, I still consider travel a form of study abroad. I will be visiting museums to gain an appreciation of the evolution of art and culture in Italy. I will be shopping in local markets and dining in authentic restaurants to truly learn the Italian way. I think learning and understanding the history of a place leads to more astute observations of the present day situation. This is what I strive to do in order to fully absorb the Italian experience. While this is supposed to be my time for relaxation this summer, I doubt I will be doing much of that. We will be running around trying to do everything possible – and that’s the way I want it!

Do you think the cast of the Jersey Shore (who have been causing trouble in Florence) will want to join me on the cultural adventure?

Twitter Helps Students Abroad Stay Connected

One of my best friends is on a short term study abroad trip to Prague. She has been tweeting updates about what she’s doing and seeing (which is making me really jealous!). Being fairly new to Twitter, I didn’t have an account on any of my abroad experiences, but seeing Brittany’s use of it during her trip made me realize just how valuable it can be as a means of staying in touch with family and friends.

In Spain I found it difficult to communicate with my family and friends in the U.S. Because my cell phone carrier is Verizon, my phone did not function overseas. I did end up purchasing a pre-paid cell phone in Spain to communicate with the other students on my trip. It only cost about 20 Euros. I also brought my iPod Touch with me, and this is mainly how I talked to my family and friends. Many hotels offer free WiFi, and even restaurants offer WiFi with purchase of an item. I was able to log into my e-mail and Facebook accounts to send messages home.

Eventually I did buy a pre-paid phone card, the cheapest way to call home (I think 5 or 10 Euros for 50 minutes of talking time). Finding public telephones was easy, too. The problems I did encounter included finding a mutually convenient time to call on account of schedules and time zones, not being able to talk very long because I was using public telephones, not having long periods of free time to talk and not being able to commit to the next time I would call. These problems could partly be remedied by Twitter.

By tweeting multiple times a day, people would know where I was and how I was doing no matter what time they check my profile. The 140 character limit is perfect for on-the-go travelers who don’t have much time for longer updates in the hustle and bustle of the day. The fast, instant nature of Twitter could also help in finding a time to call. As many smartphones notify users of an @ mention, sending a “hey are you free?” tweet could provided an instant response to inform if you should/could call. As more and more forms of media spring up, it is easier to stay in touch abroad, at home – anywhere!

Cancelations Could Disrupt Flights Home From Study Abroad

Because of ash from the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland, thousands of passengers have had flights from Scotland and northern England canceled Tuesday. According to an article in The Australian, British Airways, easyJet, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, KLM and Loganair canceled flights into and out of Edinburgh and Glasgow, but these cancelations are not as significant as those from the last volcanic eruption.

As started in an article from Gulf News, “‘Airlines will not suffer the same magnitude of revenue loss as they did last year in volcanic ash. Last year’s closure of almost all European airspace for nearly a week was the biggest shutdown in modern aviation history. This year we are not seeing anything like the same shutdown,’ an IATA spokesperson told Gulf News.”

Despite the fact that officials are confident that cancelations will not continue to disrupt travel plans, it does create some last minute stress as study abroad students are returning home. My friend Marissa has been studying in Scotland all semester and is scheduled to return home Friday. While I am sure leaving is bittersweet, I hope Marissa doesn’t run into any problems leaving Scotland. I bet Marissa would enjoy some extra days studying abroad, but I don’t think being frustrated in the airport would be the perfect end to her semester. Let’s hope the flight cancelations do not continue.

The Perfect Phrasebook for College Students Studying Abroad

Last summer before I went to Paris, I was chosen as the family member that would learn French. I turned to Rosetta Stone to help me learn the basics. While I did learn numbers and how to conjugate verbs, I had one complaint: I wasn’t learning the need-to-know phrases (as I didn’t have time to make it through the whole program).

I could say “the blue car” or “the man fell” or “the horse walks,” but I didn’t learn many phrases that tourists need to know. Two Dartmouth seniors, Dan Hochman and Mike Lewis, ran into the same problems with traditional phrasebooks. According to an article in The Dartmouth, “‘We were in Florence, Italy, for sophomore Spring and we had a bunch of standard phrasebooks, but we didn’t want to use any of the phrases in there,’ Hochman said.

“Their resources provided “irrelevant” phrases including ‘Where can I get diapers?’ so the pair decided to create a book that catered specifically to the needs of college students, he said.”

Their book titled “Can We Swim Here (Naked)?: The College Student’s Phrasebook for Having Fun” includes phrases translated into French, Italian and Spanish. The phrases are categorized into six chapters: “Eat,” “Sleep,” “Daytime Fun,” “Nighttime Fun,” “No Fun,” and “The Basics.”

This book is the perfect resource for a student going abroad. The phrases were translated by native speakers and are phonetically spelled out to facilitate learning. As this phrasebook is pocket-sized, it is easy to carry so that students’ will always have the means of saying exactly what they want despite language barriers. So if you know a student going abroad, think about visiting Barnes and Noble to buy them (or yourself) a departure gift that you know they will enjoy and really use!