10 Tips for Students Studying Abroad This Summer

There are a lot of great reasons why you may wish to consider spending a summer studying abroad. However, if you decide to spend a semester overseas, you need to be prepared to do so. With this in mind, here are some tips to help you.

Read About Your Destination Ahead Of Time

Take some time, ahead of time, to read about your destination so that you can familiarize yourself with the country's state of affairs. You will also want to know about the major monuments, transportation and local sites too.

Travel While You Are There

While you are there, make sure that you take some time to check out the different towns that are near you and the festivals that they have. If you spend some time looking for low cost travel and lodging, you will find that this is well within your budget.

Take Advantage Of Student Discounts

While you are spending your semester overseas, don't forget to take advantage of any student discounts that are available to you since you have an ISIC (International Student Card). This can save you money on things like museums, tourist attractions, hotels, transportation, shopping and even movies.

Figure Out How To Communicate

Before you land in the country that you will be studying in, make sure that you know how you will be communicating with your friends and family who are still back in the United States. You may want to look into a VOIP option, as they are quite inexpensive today.

Take American Comfort Food With You

If you take comfort in American food, you will want to pack some to take with you. While most countries will have their own version of these American foods, but they probably don't taste anything like you are use to. Some things that you may wish to take with you are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, brown sugar, real BBQ sauce and ketchup.

Watch Your Money

About a month into your semester overseas you will begin to take notice of the foreign transaction fees that your credit card company is charging you. These can add up quickly so you may wish to see if your bank has any special arrangements with a foreign bank. If not, you may want to take out a larger sum of money and use that as needed.

Get Involved With Sports

While you may think that you would have to spend a lot of time practicing and competing, this isn't the case at all. Most colleges actually have sports clubs and teams with casual practice and competition schedules. So, this can be a great way to get to know other students.

Act Like A Local

Since you will always be an American, take advantage of your semester overseas to try to fit in with the locals. This not only includes the way that you dress and talk but the appropriate amount of a tip to give.

Take Lots Of Pictures

You will be making memories that will last a lifetime, so make sure that you take plenty of pictures so that you can reminisce over them later on. Consider using a photo sharing website for this so that you won't take up a lot of space on your computer and possibly can even receive a hard copy of your photos.