Are you prepared? Are you really prepared?
It is rumoured to be ‘the best year of your entire degree’ (a statement that has had lecturers rolling their eyes since time immemorial). It may be an experience that language students eagerly look forward to yet we seem to only have this longing until it actually arrives! With all the hype and excitement that surrounds it; no one anticipates the hard work that proceeds the year abroad. My faux pas and last minute dash for organisation has led me to give the Scriptoeris readers tips and tricks to divide and conquer in terms of preparation. The awaited Year Abroad Check List has arrived!
Look early and do the legwork!
Much as it dismays me to tell you, an awesome placement or that dream University are not going to just fall into your lap! At the start of second year, tutors badger on about taking the initiative and, feeling inspired, you make promises to yourself to start looking straight after your talk. Then life tends to get in the way – ‘It will look tonight after I finish my essay’, ‘Centurion for your best friend’s birthday sounds like a good idea. Soon enough those smug Facebook statuses appear about placements at Disney and top law firms and suddenly it will be PANIC STATIONS. It may come as a shock but funnily enough those dream placements are achieved by being go-getters so be one of them! Manana won’t always do!
Print your paperwork early and do it!
Co-ordinators send form after form and even if it seems like they are getting a kick out of it they are really not. Every sheet of paper is important – not least of all because some of them may score you free money (i.e. your Erasmus grant). This money will be essential for your educational well-being whilst abroad, funding books, field trips and extra language classes (translate as: sun cream, salsa classes and sangria). Don’t leave it until the last minute, otherwise you may be faced with the embarrassing plane ride home because you’re not actually enrolled at the Universidad de Juan Carlos.
Research cultural differences and remember them!
The English are already fairly well known for wearing socks with sandals and being transparent (extremely pale and somewhat similar to the colour of a ghost). One way to grace through these horrible facts is blending in. The cultural awareness minefield can rear its ugly head even in destinations whose cultures seem comparable to our own. Not only could it influence how you behave but also what you pack! In Italy, wearing red to a wedding is saying ‘I’m the mistress’ and in Russia it is expected that shoes will be left outside the door before entering a household, therefore – pack slippers or risk using communal house shoes which thousands of feet covered in athletes foot have graced before! Research will spare your blushes – you can thank me later!
Pack things to document your time away!
Soon enough, you’ll be home and even if you live in California it is possible that the world will seem dull, your old friends will seem boring and your future is a misty abyss. In order to make those memories last keep a record of your time away; not only for yourself but one you can share with those back home – this means more time out enjoying yourself and less time emailing your progress to Auntie Ethel and your Gran’s knitting circle. Make a photo diary or stitch a quilt of memories.
Don’t forget about home or your sanity!
Every person I know that’s been away wishes that they had taken more photos of home, more DVDs, more home comforts, the teddy they’ve had since they were little. After a long hard day of foreign language and strange food, sometimes all you want is to watch Bridget Jones with a bar of Dairy Milk. Therefore, don’t forget the little things, they will make homesickness that much more bearable.
In the words of the great Cervantes, ‘to be prepared is half the victory’. A little leg work now can save you a lot of hassle later – delay that afternoon nap and sky plus the trashy programmes! Find that dream placement, fill out that risk assessment! Define the decade by nailing the preparation and look forward to a stress free semester!