How To Manage Your Time, Your Money and Yourself! (While Abroad)

How To Manage Your Time, Your Money and Yourself! (While Abroad)

Managing Your Time

In order to manage your time, you need to prioritize.

In order to prioritize, you need to decide what your purpose for studying abroad is.

I'll give you a hint: It's called studying abroad for a reason...

While there will doubtless be many fun, exciting, and enlightening opportunities during your time abroad, you should not lose focus on the fact that you are there to study. Getting the most out of studying almost always involves showing up for class prepared. Setting aside time to complete readings, homework, studying for tests, and all those exercises that you need to do at home should not be forgotten when you go abroad.

The academic experience at a school outside the United States will probably be very different from the one you receive at home. You will be challenged to adapt to a different teaching style, different requirements, possibly a different language, and many other surprises. All of these adaptations typically require hard work, and often students report they still were unable to achieve the sort of grades they are accustomed to at home. This may well be part of the learning experience, but studying is still vital.

Traveling

Planning your travel can also be an important aspect of your time management abroad. You are in a new place with countless fascinating places to go. However, running somewhere every single weekend and collecting souvenirs will probably not ultimately accomplish your goals of experiencing your host country.

You may find it far more fulfilling to pick several meaningful places to visit and schedule them so that you have time both to travel and enjoy the place where your studies are based. You will feel more at home at your university if you spend some weekends there and can enjoy the local town/city/etc. Not running somewhere every weekend also makes balancing your studies far easier. This may already be accomplished for you if your study abroad program has scheduled excursions.

Avoiding Procrastination

While no doubt teachers and parents have been telling you not to procrastinate for years, this can be particularly important while studying abroad. You are likely to find that since the educational system functions differently than the one back home, projects, assignments, papers, or tests may all be more difficult or have different requirements than you are accustomed to. Teachers will generally be happy to help you understand how to complete your assignments, but if you start the paper the night before, you can't call them at 1 a.m. for help.

Managing Your Money

Another good idea that becomes absolutely necessary abroad is managing your money.

Depending on the country, the exchange rate might give you far more or far less buying power. However, the point is that you're going to need your funds not only to live and eat and provide basic necessities, but also to go on all the wonderful excursions and explore the museums, shows, etc. that are available in your host country.

A little budgeting and some planning can go a long way toward seeing everything you want to see without having to call home for money. You certainly want to avoid spending the entire last month of your trip eating beans for every meal because that's all you can afford.

Exchange Rates

You'll probably want to figure out the basic exchange rate before leaving for your host country. While abroad you'll need to be using the local currency and exchanging money can be tricky as you don't want to end up with too much foreign currency at the end of your trip.

Also keep in mind that exchange rates not only vary over time, they also vary depending on where you exchange your money! Banks or exchange bureaus generally provide fairly standardized and decent rates. In some countries, hotels may actually provide better rates. In general, exchanging money with someone on the street (often known as the "black market") is illegal and should be avoided.

ATMs

Increasingly the network of ATMs throughout the world is growing so you might be able to access your bank account while abroad depending on your bank and ATM card. Talk to your adviser or do some research on the country to which you are going as well as talking to your bank.

Credit Cards

Often some of the best exchange rates can actually be found by using your credit card. Contact your credit card company to find out the policy on exchange rates as well as the privileges you will have as a cardholder abroad.

Traveler's Checks

Traveler's checks remain one of the safest ways to take money abroad. They can be replaced if they are lost or stolen. Traveler's checks can be acquired in a variety of different currencies although American dollars are probably the most widely accepted.

Managing Yourself

Remember when you were young and your mom would leave you at a friend's house with the warning, "Now behave..." When she dropped you off at college, she probably didn't have to say that because by now, we've all learned how to behave.

Good behavior has become slightly more complex over the years, although sharing your toys and not hitting are still good guidelines. However, a disturbing trend has been developing in study abroad in past years, where students go abroad and assume that "Now behave..." has for some reason ceased to apply to them. Sadly, they are wrong.

Study Abroad... An Unparalleled Opportunity

If you've begun to contemplate studying abroad, no doubt you've started talking to people who have spent time as students abroad. They will tell you what an eye-opening, amazing experience they had. They will tell you about the unparalleled opportunities that studying abroad provides to widen your perspective and expand your horizons.

They may not tell you that your time abroad is also an unparalleled opportunity to make an impression on the rest of the world. When I refer to making an impression, however, I do not assume that the impression will be positive. Each year a saddening number of students go abroad only to enforce the world's stereotype of the "ugly Americans". Not exactly the type of opportunity we'd all like to take advantage of!

Am I Saying You Can't Have Fun?

If your definition of fun consists of going to a foreign country so you can see how many exotic places you can get drunk and be loud and obnoxious (hopefully without getting thrown in prison)... then YES! No "fun" for you!

If you're looking for a vacation, go on one. Don't study abroad.

If you're looking to drink, go to a bar. Don't study abroad.

Now it may seem counterproductive for someone who's promoting studying abroad to tell people not to go. But if you think the experience of studying abroad is some big excuse for a happening party, then no one needs or wants your company.

Am I Saying It's Not All About You?

Once again... Yes! As Americans, we're accustomed to advertising and a culture that says it's all about us. We're told as long as we're happy and having fun, the end justifies the means. This is not true, but many of us have never stopped to analyze our ingrained assumptions.

Studying abroad may well knock you around until you realize that it's not all about you. Most of the rest of the world already has a much better grasp of that concept than Americans. You'll save yourself endless frustration if you realize this truth before stepping on a plane.

Studying abroad isn't easy. You are going to be challenged by cultural assumptions that are unfamiliar and sometimes offensive. You are going to find yourself in the position of 'outside' - a position that you may never have experienced before. You are going to be tempted to react defensively and to seek the familiar.

All of this is normal. The challenge is to educate yourself both before and during your time abroad to combat these situations positively.

Cultural Education

You have several options available to help you learn about the culture of a country before going abroad.

Reading

Reading should probably be one of your biggest resources. Get some information that is devoted specifically to the culture of the country you will be studying in. Many books and articles have probably been written on the topic. Go to the library or ask your study abroad adviser. A number of good resources exist such as you might find at http://www.culturegrams.com. Culture grams provide concise summaries of some of the major cultural highlights of various countries. Search out resources like this on your country so that you will have a solid foundation when you arrive. Learning about the history of a nation can help to give you insights into how the people there have developed and the roots of their worldviews and cultural context.

In addition to reading designed specifically to learn about the culture, also try to read at least one book written by someone native to the country you will visit, preferably something like a novel that is also set in that country. This will give you the opportunity to learn first-hand from a native perspective what is important. You will be able to explore the ideas that shape the local and national consciousness.

Networking

Another valuable approach to learning is to talk to people who have actually lived in the country you will be going to. Other students who have studied abroad in your host country can be particularly rich resources because they can prepare you to not only understand the culture, but also to understand the challenges you may face as a foreign student. Because they have gone abroad as students, probably with a background and perspective that is similar to yours, they will be uniquely qualified to help you learn what you need to know.

Also consider talking to anyone else you know who has spent time abroad or people from your host country that are now living in your country. Talking to a native who has spent time abroad will often help you to see some of the potential cultural pitfalls from the other side. A native will be able to tell you what about your local culture or traditions shocked her as a visitor. This will reveal what you might expect to shock you when you arrive in that person's home country.

Other Media

Today, we also have increasingly great access to vast quantities of information through the Internet. If you speak the language of the country you will be visiting, you may be able to access a variety of sources that will give you great insight into the culture and perspective of people there. Many foreign movies are now available, with and without subtitles, that may not only teach you about the culture, but give you a common point of reference and conversation once you arrive. The internet can also give you access to a number of sites created by natives of your host country. You can visit the country's embassy as well as less formal sites. Also consider news outlets, discussion boards, or forums to gain perspective on contemporary issues.

Cultural Sensitivity

Having spent the time to explore all your resources for cultural education, you don't want to waste this information when you reach your host country. Having cultural sensitivity involves more than just knowledge, although that is a key first step.

Cultural sensitivity involves recognizing that the people you are living among in your host country may have very different views of the world or ways of doing things than you are accustomed to. This does not, however, make them wrong or even strange. While this seems like a very basic idea, it ironically becomes much more complicated in practice than it does when being discussed in an article. Be aware that you will probably be uncomfortable, at least at points during your time abroad. Be aware that the way to deal with this is to recognize what is happening and strive for understanding rather than defensive withdrawal.

Be open to conversation and be difficult to offend!

A Few Other Behaviors Worth Mentioning

Alcohol

Alcohol is possibly the biggest cause of trouble for study abroad students.

Many students are delighted to find that the drinking age in their host country is lower than that in their home country and therefore decide the logical way to take advantage of this situation is excessive drinking.

This has a potential for several problems (in no particular order):

• Public drunkenness may be considered a punishable offense in your host country
• Excessive drinking is not likely to help your grades
• Excessive drinking is not likely to help you build relationships with the locals
• Drinking frequently leads to trouble making, which may lead to you being sent home
• Drinking is also expensive and may prohibit you from using your funds to go somewhere awesome.

While I would not try to tell people to avoid alcohol all together, moderation will go a long way toward helping you make the most of your study abroad experience. Don't let something as stupid as drinking interfere with that.

Illegal Drugs

Clearly if we take the potential problems with alcohol, we can multiply them for illegal drug use. The penalties in foreign countries may be much stiffer than you would expect for drug possession and use, and a foreign jail should certainly not be on your list of places to visit while abroad. The solution is simple: avoid the drugs.