by Penny Schouten

Studying abroad is not easy and like marriage, should not be entered into lightly.

I was speaking to a parent the other day whose student had previously gone on one of our semester programs and was now attending one of our short-term programs. She was upset because the process to go on the short-term program was totally different from the semester program.

“Why can’t you make it easier?” she asked in a desperate, flabbergasted, frustrated sort of way.

I laughed (I know, not the best response, but I couldn’t help myself). The truth is we have done all that we can do already to make the process easier. Studying abroad is not simple. Once you complete the application process, it only gets tougher.

Think about it–taking two different countries with differing cultures, academic systems, governments, timetables, time zones, pedagogy, etc and getting them to work together without being able to change either.

Talk about bureaucracy! The student’s home campus has forms that must be completed, the host university has forms that must be completed, the US government has a form or two and the host government has a form or 400. Then add in the travel agent, health insurance (sometimes twice over by countries that require you to have their insurance as well), etc and you’ve got a mountain of required paperwork.

It is all necessary and it is all required. All this work is definitely worth it in order to study abroad.

Problems tend to occur when students don’t hand in their forms or complete parts of the process in a timely manner. It is a common misconception among Americans that deadlines are optional or negotiable. That might be true for the US entities that people deal with in general, but that is not true for study abroad. Some deadlines, once missed, can prevent a student from going abroad.

I guess the easiest way to explain it is using the house of cards metaphor.

Base Card 1 – Completed application
Base Card 2- Student is accepted, completes forms from acceptance packet
Base Card 3- Completed acceptance packet forms are received by sending campus, documents created for student by both the sending campus and the receiving host campus.
Base Card 4 – Application for housing –separate process that is connected to documents in Cards 2/3.
Base Card 5 – Flight arrangements
Base Card 6 – Visa process–every country’s requirements and process are different. This is always a stressful step because students are at the mercy of the consular officials. Documentation comes from Cards 1-5. Instructions on how to obtain a visa should be followed implicitly.
Card 7 – Orientation & departure
Card 8 – Student is in-country, attending program.
Top Card 9 – Student completes program, returns to US.
Top Card 10 – Credit transfers back to home campus.

Obviously, if the base cards aren’t in place, then they can’t support the other cards.

I don’t want to discourage students from going abroad because the process is challenging. Millions of students have gone abroad and they probably don’t remember the applciation process. What they do remember are the great experiences they had, the people they met, and the things they learned about themselves. If there were challenges before they left, whatever they were, they were worth it.

Visit to Pontifica Universidade Catolica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PUC-Rio)

I arrived in Rio on Sunday afternoon and was quickly wisked off to lunch by Rosa Marina and her husband, Paulo. We ate at a fantastic seafood restaurant on Copacabana Beach. Back to the hotel and then off to Maracanâ to meet NP friend and PUC-Rio colleague, Daniel Castro for a football match between Flamengo and Fluminense, two of Rio’s biggest teams and arch rivals. Daniel is a Flamengo fan, which makes me a Flamengo fan.

The crowd was enormous, happy, hot and boisterous. As we entered the stadium, the crowd literally carried me in. The entry points are so narrow and so many people try to pass through at one time that it becomes a gravitational force that pushes you up to the turnstyles. Maracanâ is one of the largest football stadiums in the world. This match had around 81,000 people attending. What an experience. You could feel the energy pulsating through the stadium walls.

Unfortunately, Flamengos lost, but the game was great. It was so much fun to hang out with Daniel, his family and friends (although some of them deserted us to go sit deep in Flamengo fan territory, apparently we were seated too close to the enemy!). It ended all too quickly and we were swept back out of the stadium with the crowd.

Day 2

After a quick taxi ride through the streets and mountain tunnels we arrived at PUC-Rio. Although the buildings are large, concrete structures, the rain forest wraps around the campus to soften their angles. In the US we are used to sprawling college campuses with a quad. This campus was not so much wide as deep and also on varying levels. Rather than feeling lost, as I might on a sprawling campus, I felt enveloped by the foliage and quite comfortable exploring.

Many of the buildings had ‘walk through’ areas on the ground floor which were open on the sides to incorporate the natural setting around them. These areas had shops, cafés, ATM machines as well as areas to sit and socialize or study.

The college was built on an old cocoa plantation whose main house looks down on the buildings around it. It is now an art gallery and reception hall for the campus community. I also had an opportunity to tour classrooms and computer labs, which look exactly as you’d expect them to look, so I didn’t take any photos.

A big concern for any of our students is housing. Housing in PUC-Rio is homestay and the homes are thoroughly vetted by the housing staff on campus. On top of that, each home has been checked by US military personnel to make sure that they are in safe neighborhoods. I visited two homes, one owned by a PUC-Rio faculty member and another by a family.

In Brazil, it is common for college students and college graduates to live at home while attending college or working. It is also common for family situations to be as non-traditional as they may be in the US.

When I met with our students who were studying at PUC-Rio, they all said they were satisfied with their classes. But I had heard from a few students who were concerned about housing. Basically they didn’t want to live with a family and wanted to get their own apartment. They didn’t have any specific complaints about the families. They were nice, they helped them with adjusting to living in Rio, they could come and go as they pleased, in some cases there were PUC-Rio students living with them, but they wanted to live with other US students their own age in an apartment.

I reminded them that the program homestays are chosen after they are thoroughly checked by the PUC-Rio staff. They are in nice neighborhoods, close to campus or public transport. Some are homes, some are apartments. 

Homestay #1

Homestay #2

I tried to explain the reasons they couldn’t leave housing–it’s for their safety and security, the legalities of renting an apartment in another country are different in the US, and contracts are not in English, the dangers of the favellas (slums), etc. And even though they said they understood all of that, and their current accommodations were clean (most have cleaning services), friendly and in a good location, they still wanted to go out on their own. In the end we had to agree to disagree. I could only offer them the opportunity to change homestay locations using those provided by PUC-Rio.  The students understood the reasons completely, but sometimes they just want what they want even when it isn’t a wise choice.

At the end of this long day of meetings, I went out with my friends in the office.  I am not known to be a night owl, but in Rio, it is required!  We went to the Rio Scenarium, one of the best Samba clubs in the world (According to The Guardian newspaper).  It was 4 stories tall and during the day it was an antique store, so at night the antiques became part of the club.  We were all exhausted, so we ate dinner, samba’d once and called it a night–very un-Brazillian! (From L to R: me, Kerollyne, Linda Cristina, Carla).

On my final day I did a tiny bit of sightseeing and went up to Corcovado mountain in the Tijuka Forest National Park to see the statue of Christ, the Redeemer. I booked a door-to-door tour from the hotel.  This is the most accessible site I’ve been to–you can either climb the stairs to the top and enjoy 360 degree views from various levels or take an escalator or elevator to the base of the statue.  The terrain is quite rugged & steep, but it is accessible to all.  And the views are incredible.

It was on this side trip that I met a British Formula 1 racing crew that were doing test runs in Rio. Like me, they had just come from Buenos Aires where they were doing the same thing. And they, like me, had to squeeze a bit of sightseeing in between work. I confess I know very little about Formula 1, but we bonded over our nomadic lifestyle. Our common lament is that we travel to wonderful places, but get to see very little of the location or culture. I’m not complaining, but please know that these trips are like marathons spent in airports (yuck!), hotels (depressing), meetings (work). What makes them wonderful are our hosts, the people we meet and those brief moments of magical realization–Hey, I’m a farm girl from upstate NY and I’m in ___________(fill-in the blank with current city location)!

 by Penny Schouten

We have been very lucky with obtaining passports–although many of them have arrived at the last minute.  So far, all of our students and faculty have gotten their passports before departure.  We still have about 10 students going on fall programs who haven’t gotten theirs yet, but they have a bit more time before we need to panic.

The following methods have worked for us in obtaining overdue passports:

1.  Call your congress-person 2 weeks before your scheduled departure.  Most now have a staff member assigned to getting delayed passports.  Be prepared to show your travel itinerary to prove your imminent departure date.

2.  Be prepared to drive to the issuing passport office to pick up your passport.  We had a faculty member who had been waiting months for his renewed passport.  He went to NYC, but was told if he could go to Philadelphia that day with copies of his completed forms, he could get the passport that day.  He drove to Philly and after about 2 hours there, had his passport.

3.  Call your local TV News problem-solver.  One student contacted ‘Ask Bobby’ after their local congress-person dropped the ball.  Bobby got them the passport with 2 days to spare.

Thank you everyone for posting your comments and experiences!  If you’ve successfully gotten your passport, please share your advice!

Please note: the students and faculty I refer to above didn’t use an expediter.  I have heard tales of people paying upwards of $300 extra to an expediter and getting the same result (and panic) we did without one.

 by Penny Schouten

If you do not have a passport and are traveling abroad this summer, please apply for one immediately!

The U.S. State Department’s Passport services unit is experiencing a major backlog in processing applications. Rather than taking the usual four to six weeks, routine applications or renewals are now taking 10 weeks. Even the more expensive expedited service takes about three to four weeks.

Additionally, because the service uses a centralized system, travelers cannot get their documents faster by submitting applications directly to a regional processing facility. Historically, January to March is Passport Services peak period for processing applications.

Although the agency hired extra help, the anticipated surge due to Phase I of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was far larger than expected. As of Jan. 23, 2007, every U.S. citizen must have a valid passport to fly between the United States and Mexico, Canada and other Western Hemisphere countries.The National Passport Information Center lets applicants check on the status of their applications online. The Web site also provides telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to contact customer service representatives.     

 by Penny Schouten

Last Thursday we had a re-entry workshop for students who studied abroad last semester.  There was a counselor to help with ‘reverse culture shock’ and a career counselor to help students turn their study abroad experience into a selling point on their résumé.  It was also a good chance to hear some of the students’ adventures.

What struck me is how difficult returning can be, even for students who were on our 2-week intersession program.  

I remember when I came back from studying in England that first time.  My family politely listened to my tales of adventure, but eventually they began to roll their eyes everytime I started a sentence with, “When I was in London…” Some people even said I was now back to reality, as if the past 6 months abroad were fantasy or imaginary and didn’t matter.

I had changed–I was more independent, more open-minded, slightly more patient, except with my family and friends.  I knew more about the world and the US’ role in it.  The people back home had changed too, they hadn’t stopped learning or developing while I was away.  So we all had some adjusting to do.

At some point I decided life was better ‘over there.’ That it was more fun, easier, more interesting and that I should be there.  Now, of course that isn’t true, but that’s what I thought at the time.  And I heard some of the students at the re-entry workshop say that as well.

Naturally studying in London was more fun–there were places to go, people to see, dancing to be done.  And being a student, I could do that, as could all of my exciting new friends.

What I didn’t think of at the time, was that in a way, reality was on hold for me.  I didn’t have to worry about tuition bills or other responsibilities.  I did have to budget my money, but I didn’t have to pay electric bills or car loans or anything like that.  My mail went to my US address, so I didn’t have any reminders of my old life or it’s worries.

I did go back to London, many times–to live, to study and eventually to work (legally).  And even after 6 months my friends had changed, moved on and had new responsibilities.  The carefree life of a student had morphed into the realities of adulthood.  My friends needed to start their careers, move out of London and some got married.   I couldn’t recreate the past, that moment was now over.

For a while I thought I’d never enjoy life quite so much again, but of course I did and I learned to cherish those times.  And when I get together with my friends from abroad I marvel at the changes in their lives and all that they’ve accomplished.

So, for those of you who have returned home, although your first thought is to return to your adopted country to recreate the good life–give yourself and your loved ones time to adjust before you make any decisions. You might find a new appreciation for your home country.

 by Penny Schouten

It’s never fun to be sick.  It’s even less fun when you are traveling.

I accompanied our London Intersession program earlier this month to make sure that things were running smoothly, to meet with our partners in London and then fly to Scotland to meet with our partners at the University of Dundee.

I accomplished a lot in the first four days–I helped get the students settled into their accommodations and set the faculty up with cell phones; met with Toby, my friend/colleague from Middlesex, who was just getting over a cold (BTW, I blame him for my illness!); met with my friends/colleagues from Kingston University; and finally, toured the campuses of Middlesex and met with faculty there.

And then it hit me.  It started with a sore throat and quickly developed into a snotty, choking, life-draining mess.  I was scheduled to leave my accommodations and go to Scotland two days later and although I tried to force myself to do it, the reality was I was way to sick to travel.  I moved in with one of our faculty members and slept for 2 days.  My schedule for the rest of the trip was:  drink tea, watch daytime telly, drink tea, read newspapers, sleep, drink tea, watch night-time telly, sleep.

So, I can tell you what’s good on UK TV:  Jeremy Kile is the Ricky Lake of English confrontational reality television.  His guests are usually young couples disputing the DNA of their children or proving their spouse cheated on them by forcing them to take a lie detector test.  Gripping stuff! 

Then there’s a whole host of celebrity reality shows–Soapstars Superstars where UK soap opera stars enter a singing competition a la American Idol; Just the Two of Us, also a singing competition that pairs a celebrity singer with an untrained soap opera star; and Celebrity Big Brother, where mainly minor and washed up celebs live in the Big Brother house under the watchful eye of the nation.

Celebrity Big Brother ( http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/index.jsp ) caused protests around the world because one contestant, Jade, was racially bullying another contestant who was Indian.  It raised all sorts of issues about class and racism, sponsors pulled their adverts, protesters clashed–the power of media is frightening.  Jade,who is only famous because she appeared on a regular UK Big Brother, has been evicted from the house and is now in fear for her life. 

Fame is not for everyone, you only have to look at Lyndsay Lohan, Danny Bonaduce, or Richard Hatch (1st Survivor winner in case you’ve forgotten him already).  And while I could now go into a diatribe about how anyone can be a celebrity nowadays (Did you see Time magazine, Dec. 25,2006 issue?) or discuss class/educational level as it relates to Jade’s behaviour, but I won’t.  This is supposed to be about traveling while ill.

So, I was sick, but I was sick in London!

So, I’m now back at work with no plans to travel anytime soon, even though my horoscope says I should.  I’m still recovering and I’m looking forward to not living out of my suitcase for a while.

 by Penny Schouten

I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels throughout my travels.  As a female traveling alone, I heeded the warnings of

1.  Don’t get a room on the first floor or near a stairwell, 
2.  Always keep your door locked and the chain on,
3.  Don’t answer the door unless you’ve called for room service, and 
4.  Note where the emergency exits are located. 

I follow these guidelines faithfully and luckily never had a problem until recently…

I’ve been in hotels where they’ve had fire drills, but they were during the day and we were told they would be happening and didn’t have to evacuate.  In November I was in Rochester, NY at a conference.  At 3AM the alarms went off.  Half asleep, I jumped up and went to the door to see if staff were in the hall.  No staff, but a few other bleary conference goers stared back at me from their door.  We decided to evacuate.

Slightly panicked, my roommate and I clamoured for the essentials–our room key, shoes and a coat.  I couldn’t find my key, but my roommate did.  I grabbed my coat and I thought she did too.  We went out into the hallway where someone called to us that the stairwell was there.

A sign on the door said that once we went into the stairwell, the door would lock behind us.  That’s scary.  What if we needed to get out?

Our room was on the fourth floor and our stairwell ended on the 2nd floor where all the exhibits were–still not one hotel staff member in sight.  Luckily we knew to go to the right.  We walked all the way around to the main stairway which lead down to reception.  It was eerily quiet, except for the alarm–really weird.  We thought we faintly smelled smoke.  We met 4 other guests at the top of the staircase.  They had not seen any staff either.

Down at reception there wasn’t one staff member to direct us.  We headed out the door into the freezing night air.  There was probably 15 guests already outside, some wearing coats, some in just pyjammas, some fully dressed.  For the next 15 minutes people trickled out of the building.  Still no hotel staff came to speak to us.  Then the fire trucks came.

Julie, my roommate, had only grabbed her robe and was cold.  We all began hopping around to stay warm.  The alarm stopped a half hour later and we re-entered the building.  Many people had left their room without their keys and had to wait in a long line to get a new one. 

In the morning, some people found letters from management under their doors about the fire.  In some cases, this was the first they’d heard about it because they’d slept through it and no one banged on their door to get them out.  It turned out there had been a bad fire in the kitchen, but it was contained in that area.

So, here’s what I learned: 
1.  Make note of the fire exits on your floor, maybe even do a test run on your way out one morning.

2.  Put your room key, coat, shoes, & mobile phone in one spot before you go to bed.  Then you don’t have to think about finding them in an emergency.

3.  Also keep a small flashlight with you–we were lucky, the lights were all on and there wasn’t any smoke.  But if the power was out–we would’ve been panicked and disoriented.  A flashlight would’ve helped find the stairwell and get down the stairs.

4.  If you can’t leave your room–line the bottom of the door with wet towels to block smoke from coming in.  Call 911 and tell them your room number.  Place a towel over your nose/mouth and keep low to the floor.  Hang a white towel in your window.

Hopefully, you’ll never need to use this advice.

Safe travels!

by Penny Schouten

Of the many things my father gave me, there are two great gifts that have shaped my life…