Tips of the Day!

This month, I decided to start a new post style: Tips of the Day. These words of advice will come from my experiences and from others who would like to share small suggestions for making your semester abroad easier!

Addicted to Australia

Ryan Houlihan

Sydney, Australia

Fall 2009

What made you decide to go abroad?

I felt like it was part of the college experience and there’s no other time in your life you get the chance to do this.

What is the first thing you did after you decided you wanted to study abroad?

I picked a few places that I would want to go and kind of felt out what the programs had to offer, like how many Americans they hosted each semester.

What helped you pick your program? How did you decide?

Other than people answering questions for me, I came to the decision on my own after I talked to a lot of faculty because I feel like for the most part, students are going to like wherever they end up going abroad.

Do you feel that you were prepared when you left?

I was prepared, but I didn’t feel prepared. When I left, I was really unsure of myself and uneducated about the things I would deal with over there, from living spaces to travel and transportation to the type of people I would meet.

How could the abroad office have made your preparations easier?

I think there was a packet or a handout for pretty much everything. They explained processes, but then when the day comes you kind of figure out everything by yourself. I think we found out that Australia, in fact, was very much like America in some ways but very different in so many other ways.

Is there anything you wish they could have told you?

I wish they had told us that when we went there, it wouldn’t be as foreign in some ways and not so foreign in other ways. I wish I knew that money conversion wasn’t going to end up being a long term issue or that you’ll get to know the trains quicker than you might think. The long term issues were more about their cultural outlooks, ideas and concepts because I feel that they are totally different than ours. For example, when they make jokes, it’s normally at the expense of another person, but it’s just how they are, they aren’t trying to be insulting.

Once you get there…

What did you think of the classes there? Was there an orientation or anything that helped ease your nerves before your first class?

Orientation was much more helpful at Macquarie than the orientation at Marist. I personally thought their academic system was far more effective than that of American institutions. The classes were harder but it was easier to succeed and to learn in them.

How different were your expectations from the real thing? If very different, did that stress you out? And how did you relieve that stress?

I expected to be in a setting where I would meet more people from the university but I ended up meeting more people from the college, which was the dorm style building I lived in called Dunmore Lang College. I ended up having minimal connections at the actual university. It was stressful the first day because you felt like you should really join some clubs or activities so you really tried, but that’s not how it was. I wish we knew it was like that, so I didn’t have unrealistic expectations of myself.

Your favorite place to eat?

There was a place in circular quay (pronounced key) where you could get anything covered in chocolate called the Chocolate Bar. I think they have one in New York City, too.

Food or drink you MUST try?

Am I allowed to say a Jelly Donut Shot? But also, I’m a vegetarian and I wasn’t aware that there aren’t normally full meals that are served without meat. I also lived off of Milo, which is similar to hot chocolate.

Favorite place to go out with friends?

The Ranch was where everyone from DLC went every Wednesday night, which was within walking distance from the college. In downtown Sydney there was a German bar called Lowenbrau that I loved to go to because of the atmosphere it provided. During one of our organized pub crawls we went to a bar called Home, also in downtown Sydney which was a lot of fun, especially if you’re in the mood to dance and mingle.

Place students MUST visit?

You have to go to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but it is a little expensive to do the walk over the bridge. You should get to every beach you can possibly visit, and Luna Park was really cool, we had our college formal there and I had a blast.

Place with the best deals?

Paddy’s Market, I think anyone will agree has the best deals and is the best place to get souvenirs to take home with you. They literally sell any kind of souvenir you can think of, but then there’s also a fresh produce market, a whole section with just jewelry, and really just anything you could possibly want to buy.

Place that was a little over-hyped, you wouldn’t recommend?

The Sydney Aquarium, I think I just wanted to go to because it was in Sydney, but really it was just like any other aquarium I’ve gone to. I went there just to say I went there.

What is the best piece of advice you can give others going abroad?

Make a ton of friends and don’t think about home because you’ll get home sooner than you want to.  I think being home sick is a waste of time, just enjoy where you are, and get a cell phone!

Australia changed my perspective on people. There was so little judgment there and it’s something I feel like Americans can’t understand until you go. It’s the same price as Marist- just go.

Packing for a whole semester!? No problem.

Some helpful packing tips

Fancy That, Florence

Alyssa Longobucco

Florence, Italy

Spring 2009

What made you decide to go abroad?

Mostly I really wanted to get out and experience new things. I felt, what better way to do it than to live in a new country for an entire semester? As far as the choice of Italy goes, my Dad’s parents are from Italy and my whole family is Italian so it was the only real place I could see myself going.

What is the first thing you did after you decided you wanted to study abroad?

I needed to find people to go with, so luckily it so happened that 3 of my housemates were also interested; so we went to the abroad office and got some information on Florence.

Do you feel that you were prepared when you left?

No. I read a lot of books on going abroad and we had informational meetings leading up to when we left but I don’t think there’s really a way to be prepared until you arrive. I wore a fanny pack to the market the first time and caused more attention to myself that way than I would if I had a regular bag with me. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but looking back it was a silly idea, having to lift my shirt up every time I had to pay because avoiding getting pick-pocketed was so ingrained in us before we left!

How could the abroad office have made your preparations easier?

I think a big thing they could have done is bring in students who had already been abroad to where were going. We really didn’t get the student perspective or undercover work as to what students found out when they got there, like things the abroad office couldn’t necessarily tell you but that we could really appreciate knowing.

Is there anything you wish they could have told you?

It’s the same thing in the sense with college, your parents can prep you for college and go on visits but you can’t really experience college until you get there, it’s always easier if you have an older sibling to tell you what it’s really like. For example, I wish someone had pulled me aside and told me not to pack my fanny pack, or I wish I had known here to get the best and least expensive hair straightener; things the Marist abroad office might not think of.

Once you get there…

What did you think of the classes there? Was there an orientation or anything that helped ease your nerves before your first class?

There was an orientation that showed us the buildings but it was basically your regular first day of school orientation, As far as the classes go, it was nice that it was a Marist University so it was easy to take the classes I needed to take.  I also liked the variety of Italian classes, like my cooking classes…I got to go and cook all day which was incredible, and my history classes that were so much more interesting because we could see everything we were actually talking about. I thought that was definitely a positive thing.

How different were your expectations from the real thing? If very different, did that stress you out? And how did you relieve that stress?

It was definitely hard going into it. My 3 friends and I were sophomores, which was young so there was already that disconnect and hard to put ourselves out there. That being said, it was also better than I expected. I loved the culture and the possibilities for the weekends. How often can you say you lived in Florence and went to Paris for the weekend?

Your favorite place to eat?

My favorite place to get gelato was Grom. (They also have one in New York City in Greenwich Village!) I’d always get the dark chocolate and coffee. It was so delicious and to die for.

My favorite Panini places were called IntiqueNoe, and the other was another sandwich place by our school where you could make your own Panini.

My favorite restaurants Il Gato e Il Vople, Aqua al Due, where you have to try the balsamic steak and pasta sampler, and Salamancas was a Mexican place that had surprisingly amazing Mexican food if you need a change of pace. Quattro Leoni also has amazing pear tortellini and Gusta Pizza has the best woodfire pizza in the city for 5 euro!

Food or drink you MUST try?

On the street I lived on there were always these waffle carts that had waffles with nutella, and it’s always wafting up into your windows it’s hard to resist. Everyone’s daily diet should include gelato, a perfect woodfire pizza, some balsamic steak from aqua al due and tortellini.

Favorite place to go out with friends?

I think anyone who’s from Marist that’s been to Florence will agree Café Biggalo. There’s a guy there named Georgio that everyone becomes friends with, and literally everyone will go there every night to hang out for a little or stay there for the night. They have 3 drink punch cards that are a great bargain, and it’s not just wine at the bar, which is hard to find.

Place students MUST visit?

Ponte Vecchio, an old bridge filled with jewelry shops and gold shops definitely a place Marist students have to get to. I got a necklace made out of an old gold coin that I got here and its one of my favorite possessions.

Place with the best deals?

The leather market. We were privileged enough to walk through it on our way from apartment to school. There was this guy who would be like, Seniorita! Seniorita! You dropped something! And it would always be something like, My heart! Or, My phone number! So it’s definitely an experience, but you can find amazing leather deal goods and perfect for souvenirs, they have everything you can think of from jackets to bags to little key chains.

What is the best piece of advice you can give others going abroad?

I’d say, as cheesy as it sounds, live for the moment. You won’t believe how fast those 4 months go by. Don’t stay in for a night or turn down a single experience and eat as much pizza as your stomach can take. It was my first time out of the country, so I wish I embraced it more and took some more chances but at the same time it was one of the best times of my life. And watch out for pick-pocketers!

You can go anywhere!

A great site if you're thinking of making your own program; you can search the country you're interested in, the type of program you'd like, and the subject's you'll be studying.

Mad About Madrid

Steph Caraballo

Madrid, Fall 2010

“Everyone was like YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING. That didn’t work”

What made you decide to go abroad?

I wanted to better my skills in the Spanish language by immersing myself in the culture. I also wanted to get a sense of how independent I could be and throw myself into a situation where I had to rely on myself and force myself to grow up

What is the first thing you did after you decided you wanted to study abroad?

I talked to all of my close friends about it and asked for their opinions, got mixed feedback, talked to people who had been abroad, people who I knew definitely weren’t going abroad, and asked my really close friends about what they thought of it

What helped you pick your program? How did you decide?

I always knew I wanted to go to Spain. In high school I went to Spain for 10 days with 20 students and when I was there I fell in love with the country, and knew I really wanted to study here in college, but I thought that’s in four years… (Which comes faster than you think!)

I also wanted to be fluent in Spanish, and that’s the only way I thought I could accomplish that.

Do you feel that you were prepared when you left?
Not at all. Oh my gosh I was so scared. When I took a van to JFK I was so upset and so not ready. I knew the kids in my group from meetings, but I wasn’t really friends with them. I was scared to be away from my family, my friends and everything I knew. The other students were a little intimidating because a lot of them knew each other already, and I was pretty much on my own even though I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going.

How could the abroad office have made your preparations easier?

I feel like some of the stuff they did with us in those meetings was really useless but other stuff wasn’t discussed enough, like the procedure of what exactly was going to happen when you got to the airport. When I talked to the people in my group after we had became better friends, I found out that they were feeling the exact same way. We ended up becoming like a family by the end. Everyone had been just as nervous, and everyone felt they could have been better prepared. There was no emergency procedures, either, which had me nervous and none of us had internet, so at times it was really difficult. There was this one meeting, though, where someone who had gone abroad to Madrid who talked to us for an hour and it helped me more than any of the meetings we had already had. When my group realized how helpful that one person was, we decided we were going to do the same for the next group of people going to Madrid as well.

Is there anything you wish they could have told you?

I wish they had more people come in who had been there the semester before, like the student did from the semester before us. The group we talked to who were preparing to leave for this semester trusted us more because we had already been there, and I really feel like they got a lot out of it.

Once you got there…

What did you think of the classes there? Was there an orientation or anything that helped ease your nerves before your first class?

Each class was presented to us by the professor during orientation week. We got to choose which classes we wanted to take from that presentation. I wish the abroad office made it more clear what classes on Marist campus are equivalent to that in Madrid. We got to see a classroom and hear from the professor you’d take the class from so you can tell if you’ll be able to understand their Spanish, which was really helpful.

How different were your expectations from the real thing? If very different, did that stress you out? And how did you relieve that stress?

Living with a host family was different. At first, I was like, Oh. My. God. The first two weeks were horrible and I was really upset. I didn’t feel comfortable in the house and just wanted to sit alone in my room, but then I got more comfortable as I got closer with the kids in my group and with my Señora. But at first it was very stressful. I think time really helps; it’s just like when I moved back here with a house full of 7 seniors who I had never met before. It was exactly the same as when I got to Spain, I was thrown into a situation where everyone was already friends and I just felt uncomfortable but time helped everything move along. You can’t make yourself automatically feel comfortable in a completely new situation. You need to be open to everything. In some sense, being abroad can almost be overrated. You have those people who specifically talk about “their place” but there are different places for different people. I had a great time and it was a great 4 months of my life, but I wouldn’t call it top of the line, THE best time of my life, but it’s not the end all, better than everything sense.

While you’re abroad, you are trying to feel everything that people tell you, and you’re like “Wow, I can’t wait to feel like that.” But then, the first few weeks I was like, “Why am I not feeling that way?”

We received a packet about culture shock and I quickly realized I was actually feeling all of the things it was describing. I think the amount of fun you have abroad is how quickly you come out of that feeling of culture shock, and if you don’t, you’re basically still living in America and you won’t have as great of an experience. You need to think; when else will I be in Spain for 4 months?

Your favorite place to eat?

My Señora was a fabulous cook, but I’d say Museo Del Jamon and Cien Mondaditos.

Food or drink you MUST try?

I tried everything I could. They’ve very big on seafood, but they don’t consider it fresh unless there’s bones in it, something to keep in mind. And be prepared because ham in Madrid is real ham- they have hanging pig legs and just cut slices off of it in front of you! I also tried escargot in Paris; I felt it was something I had to do.

Favorite place to go out with friends?

La Solera. We’d always meet at Sol, the city center, that has a statue of a bear on a tree “el oso” and we’d just be like, okay, meet at the bear. And we’d just figure out where we wanted to go from there. We just stumbled upon it one night. They have the best sangria in all of Madrid. We would all get “jarras,” pitchers, and share them. They also have great mojitos and you get a free “tapa,” or appetizer with it. We’d go in huge groups and just hang there all night.

Another place was the Fontana de Oro. They had live music on Fridays and had all these screens that would play American music videos like Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson and had a bunch of types of beer from all over Europe. There are lots of places all around the city center. El Tigre was also another great place to check out.

Place students MUST visit?

Well, I thought he Prado museum was kind of boring, but you go to say you’ve been there since it is so well known. I personally think the better museum with more modern and colorful art more contemporary art and photography is Reina Sofia, which is kind of like MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) whereas the Prado might be compared more to like, the Met.

Retiro Park was also gorgeous. You can row in a boat around the manmade pond, there’s a rose garden and botanical gardens where you can sit and have a drink or exercise.

There’s also an outdoor sculpture museum underneath a bridge that I would have never gone to if it weren’t for my art class. You can walk through and look at all the art. Some pieces incorporate water, some are hanging, and they have little stories about how and why they were donated, and it’s free because it’s outside! It’s a place you might walk by and never notice.

Best place to get souvenirs or the best deals?

NOT in the touristy areas. My friend and I found a coffee place near a subway station that we’d take to get to school and it was INFINITELY cheaper because it was further from the city center. You just have to find stuff outside of there.

What is the best piece of advice you can give others going abroad?

Be independent. If you set your mind to the things you want to see or do, don’t let others hold you back. Everything I wanted to do, I did, but I know people who HAD to go with a friend and because of this, may have not gotten a chance to go where they wanted to go. Once you get the hang of Europe, you can do everything by yourself. I would research places and go and find them on my own. Everyone would be like, who are you going with? And I’d say, just me, because I want to go. It’s dumb to hold back because someone won’t go with you. You’re only here for a short time so try to do everything you can!

First Things First (well, kind of...)

Turns out, "most" college students have had some need for a passport in their lives, and I wasn't one of them! When I realized I was one of very few students who didn’t have a passport, I immediately started freaking out because everyone told me they take FOREVER to obtain. If there’s anyone else out there who didn’t travel when they were younger, rest assured, you’ll get your passport in time. Although today it’s best to just..have one, if you happen to find yourself in a position like I was, go check out http://travel.state.gov and you’ll find that routine processing times are only about 4-6 weeks but if you need it rushed to you, they can do it in as little as two weeks (with a little higher price tag).
Second things second. You need a visa to travel abroad and I had no idea what “getting a visa” entailed. Who knew it wasn’t an actual physical document you needed to carry with you? I certainly didn’t. Each country has their own requirements for a visa, and it’s as simple as applying online with a Certificate of Enrollment and getting an e-mail confirmation that your visa has (hopefully) been granted. Technology is great.

An "Insider's Guide"

Hey Everyone,
For anyone who knows me personally, I’m sorry for the preamble. In the Fall of 2009 I spent a semester studying abroad near Sydney, Australia and fell absolutely head-over-heels in love with it. Really. It seems like I'm always talking about it. But behind the scenes, there were times before, during, and after my trip that I found myself wondering, “Wow, I really wish I had known about this.” For this reason, for my last semester of college I am required to create a capping project. My choice? To create a blog of experiences from fellow students who have also completed their abroad experiences and want to share what sort of things they found out the hard way, in hopes of helping future travelers- a sort of, “insider’s guide” to going abroad, if you will. I’ll be interviewing classmates who have traveled all over the globe for their own abroad experiences and recording what I find out from them as a reference for prospective study abroad students looking for some insights from people who have already"been there, done that." Enjoy!