On Getting Lost

Author and insatiable traveler Rudyard Kipling once wrote that, “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” This statement would be entirely irrelevant if it didn't provide a clever segue into what I actually want to point out: The second condition of understanding a foreign country is to lose yourself in it.

So get lost. Seriously, get lost! No, I'm not suggesting that you navigate away from this blog; I'm suggesting that when you begin your study abroad experience, you get lost. I mean it. When you arrive in a new city, the single most important thing you can do is get completely, utterly, and thoroughly lost. Only by truly losing yourself can you find your way and understand a foreign country.

But if you've been blessed with an internal GPS like mine, getting lost is second nature: When I woke up from an impromptu nap on bus #56, somewhere in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires--and approximately eighteen stops past my apartment--I had no choice but to find my own way home. Relying on the one-two punch of aimless wandering and infallible intuition, I walked a whole two blocks...before swallowing my pride and asking for directions at the nearest gas station. OK, fine, so I couldn't find my way back on my own...and yeah, maybe I was so absolutely lost that I eventually had to settle for a taxi...and maybe what should have been a fifteen-minute journey took over an hour. But my point is this: I saw a new neighborhood that I wouldn't have otherwise experienced, I had to communicate in a foreign language to find my way home, and most importantly, I learned that being lost in the deserted streets of the B.A. suburbs in the wee hours of the morning is mildly terrifying. All things considered, it was a learning experience.

If, however, your navigational skills are more advanced than mine, you might need to try to get lost. Here's a quick and easy recipe for losing yourself and finding your way in a new city:

1. Step out onto the street with the following essential supplies in hand: a wad of cash and your address, written down. (If you're less extreme, you might take a city map and/or your cell phone)
2. Point in any direction. This direction may be front, back, left, right, or any permutation thereof.
3. Walk in that direction until either (a) the scenery becomes monotonous, (b) you spy something appealing down side street, or (c) your BlackBerry's 3G signal slows to the point where you can no longer Tweet minute-by-minute travel updates.
4. At this point, pick a new direction.
5. Walk in that direction. Duh.
6. Repeat steps two through five.
7. Stop a stranger and ask where to catch the nearest bus, subway or rickshaw.
8. Board nearest form of transportation and ride until you feel like stopping.
9. Wander back to your dorm or apartment--on foot or public transportation--slowly enough to take in your new surroundings and understand your new home.
10. Congratulations. You've overcome the first major obstacle of adjusting to a new city.

2009 IIE Open Doors Report Released

On November 16, IIE released their annual Open Doors Report. It gives a range of data on international education from the 2007/2008 academic school year. This years' report shows that the number of Americans studying abroad grew by 8.5% to 262,416 students studying overseas. It also states that over the past twenty years, study abroad has increased fourfold.

The top twenty-five destinations where students traditionally study saw an increase in participants. However, most notable increases were in less common destinations. Some of these countries included: China, Ireland, Austria and India (up 20%). Japan, Argentina, Costa Rica and South Africa (up 15%) saw a rise in Americans students. The increase in these less traditional destinations can be attributed to new program opportunities, strategic partnerships between US and international higher institutions, and expanded programs to accommodate a diversifying study abroad population. The most popular type of study abroad program is the "short term" program. 56% of those studying abroad went on short term programs. These typically range between two and eight weeks and take place during the summer and January terms.

New York University sent the most students abroad with 3,395 while Michigan State University came in second with 2,969. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Texas - Austin and University of California - Los Angelos also sent a large number of students abroad. Over 53 institutions throughout the United States sent more than 1,000 of their students abroad. While the large institutions send the most students abroad, 23 schools throughout the US sent more than 80% of their students abroad. Some of these schools are Earlham College, Hamline University, and Berea College.

For more information on the Open Doors Report and IIE, click here.

Guest Blog Spotlight: Top Ten Things NOT To Pack When You Go Abroad To Europe

Guest Blog by: Jenni Maier (blogger extraordinaire, studied abroad in Madrid)

Before you go abroad everyone and their mom (and annoyingly enough your mom) tells you what to pack. But no one takes the time to sit down with you and tell you what NOT to pack. You can only bring two suitcases over with you so make sure to save all your poundage for the things that really matter.

1. Sweats - While pants with elastic waists may totally fly at home on your college campus, they'll get you horrible stares when you wear them outside in Europe. And don't even think about spandex. Even the homeless men will heckle you in the streets. While going back to pants with tricky devices like zippers and buttons may be a challenge, it's well worth it to fit in.

2. Heels - Definitely bring a basic black pair but no more (unless you're a guy, then you'll want to bring your whole collection). Europe's totally ancient which means many of their streets are cobblestone instead of paved. That means every time you take another step, you risk your heel getting caught and broken off. So unless you're into the one-legged-limp-look settle for flats.

3. American-Anything - People in other countries don't exactly love America. Sure they watch our television and trash talk our celebrities like they're trying out to be euro-PerezHilton, but they have no tolerance for American values or pride. So if you were planning to use your American flag as a snuggie for the next four months, think again.

4. Electronics - Go ahead and trust all the converters but be prepared to plug in your straighter one day and watch it start sparking up like it's preparing it's own fireworks show. While it may cost more to buy straighteners, blow dryers, and camera chargers abroad, you'll end up saving money because you won't have buy all your stuff again when you return to America.
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5. American food - Everyone thinks they can't live without peanut butter for a few months but they're wrong. It's clinically proven that many people have survived without it. Take advantage of all the new and different foods in your new country rather than stocking your suitcase full of preservative-filled favorites.

7. Prescription Medicine - Bring over all the drugs you need for the first month or so, but after that start refilling your prescriptions in Europe. Everyone forgets that Europe isn't a third world country and has access to the same medicines we do. Not only do they have most of our medicines, but they're one billion times cheaper. My $80 allergy medicine in America cost 2 Euros abroad. If I had taken my own advice I could have brought over five more going-out shirts instead of wasting suitcase space on 16 extra nasal sprays.

*Note*- Check with a doctor before taking this advice

8. Drugs - There's nothing worse than being sent home as soon as you arrive in Europe. If you're lucky your parents will kill you as soon as arrive back in America, if you're unlucky you'll be sent back to school and be forced to explain to everyone why you're not abroad after all. Be smart. If you absolutely can't live without unprescribed drugs, stock up on Advil PM for the flight over.

9. Gym clothes - Sure gyms offer special discounts to American students studying abroad (10% off a million euros) but you'll be so busy exploring, traveling, and recovering from hangovers that you'll never end up going. Odds are by the time you get home you'll be able to say vodka in six different languages but won't remember how to turn a treadmill on.

10. American Money - Get everything exchanged into Euros before you go over. While there are currency converters all over the place, they can have long lines or even be closed. You'll be ravenous when you get off the plane and it's pretty hard to buy food with dollars. You would have better luck trying to use Monopoly money at an Arby's in America than you will trying to find someplace that accepts U.S dollars.