Think life with cold weather, messy roommates and endless homework is hard? Think again. A grad student abroad meets impoverished women in Tanzania who break rocks for hours a day. Here's why they count themselves lucky -- and you should too.
Remember that last thing I said, about how you can control the extent of culture shock when traveling abroad? Scratch that. I have never felt so helpless in my life.
Every seven years or so, Maasai warriors from different lands gather at training camps called emanyatta. After receiving an invite to a warrior jamboree last week, I trekked up to anemanyatta atop a range of hills along the border of Tanzania and Kenya.
If Europe’s culinary and linguistic differences are enough wattage for a good culture shock, the transition I’ve made between my summer in India and my fall semester in Geneva would be enough to get New Delhi back on the grid.
Maybe you’re not stressed out about fitting 12 pairs of shoes in a duffle bag or deciding which post card to send your Grandma, but chances are you are dealing with at least some pre-departure anxiety. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom I'm cilnging to in my last days.
There’s really nothing that will prepare you for all you will feel—and have to deal with—while settling into your foreign home. I present those going abroad next fall with five things to keep in mind as you pack your life in two bags and cross the pond.
I arrived in Paris with a knowledge of the French language limited to the children’s lullaby “Frère Jacques” and the opening sequence of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. While my inability to master the language prevented me from truly experiencing the culture, I was not deprived of some of the best things Paris has to offer.
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