Hi lovely crew, As some of you may know, I'm a college student, and with the privilege of going to a great University comes the opportunity to study abroad. I am planning on studying abroad next fall, 2015. I have to apply to my University and list my top 5 programs, and they will select one for me to apply to, by January 15th, so the pressure is on. I come to you to ask you to share your study abroad experiences, ask you for advice on certain countries/cities you may have traveled to, advice on a country/city NOT to travel to, and general advice for where I should study. As of now, these are the programs I am considering: University of Westminster, London, UK University of Nebrija, Madrid, Spain University of Maynooth, Maynooth, Ireland University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China School for International Training, Tunis, Tunisia National University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina I am open to study basically anywhere. Any help is much appreciated! I should probably mention, I'm not looking to go somewhere for particularly beautiful women or a crazy alcohol-filled nightlife. Those two things are on the bottom of the list. My passions lie in gender studies, religious studies, philosophy, and media/film studies. Part of me wants to have complete culture shock (possibly a 3rd world country); part of me wants to see another 1st world country's way of life. By the way, the only foreign language experience I have is that I have a pretty good level of fluency in Spanish.
Good for you! I was to study abroad in Hong Kong but the extra costs amounted to a figure that I could not afford without putting another huge loan on my head. Figured I'd remain single and make this good money and go abroad.. My tba date is around next year in the summer time. I'd like to hit up Japan. Culture is so interesting and the women.... My college buddies told me about their experiences. Most fun they had, the academics are a joke. It's all about enjoying that foreign culture and booze Be safe, have fun, and the women are plentiful
I never did study abroad, but I have lived internationally. I don't know that id recommend going to a 3rd world country to study if you've never lived there before. The culture shock might be too much of a distraction from your studied.
I can't see how can you not choose Madrid, compared to other places. It's also much more conveniently situated, for trips around Europe. I would also guess that, if there is a competition, out of top 5 Madrid would be the most likely to be available, no?
By culture I mean everything. I wanna see Tokyo, I wanna see the temples, everything. I'm not familiar with any Asian culture and it'd be interesting to be immersed in it.
I've always wanted to study abroad but can't afford it. Some of my friends have though. From them I've gathered that it's really hard to go wrong with Spain. Every single friend that study abroad there loved it.
If you want history, go with England. I was in a pub one time and asked how old the building was. The owner said, "this half is 350 years old and that half over there is 550 years old." This was nothing special to them. The castles are amazing (Windsor in particular). But I gotta agree with ZenMaster -- Madrid would be amazing. No matter what you choose, make the most of it, knock out your degree, and keep us updated. Best of luck!
So here's something to consider: Part of me wants culture shock. Today my friend told me it might be a bad idea to go to a country that is very far from my previous lived experience, because I might be stuck in a bad situation. It might be wiser to go to a country I'm more sure of. At the same time though, I think that I would get a much better taste of culture from studying abroad rather than just going and being a tourist. And that's the other side of the debate, that maybe it's better to go to the countries that aren't so far off from my experience (London, Madrid, Ireland, etc.) as a tourist, because it's easier to learn about a country as a tourist if it's not so different from my experience, whereas a completely different culture might be more helpful to live with a family or be more submerged in the culture. Thoughts?
