..Or at least that’s what it feels like. Coming from Buffalo where I can’t remember a Christmas without snow, it’s been beyond weird for me to see decorations and trees go up while melting in near 100 degree weather. Its strange thinking of not being home for the holidays this year, instead I’ll be traveling through Brazil, Lima, Bolivia, and the north of Argentina. We had a cookie making party the other day to try and bring some holiday cheer to BsAs, but sadly it didn’t include any frosted cutouts or peanut butter varieties. The recipe was German, and I had to cover my eyes a little when they were putting the butter in. It was somewhat unnerving.

I’m not sure yet when we’re leaving for our gran trip around S America, but if we’re here for Christmas, it’ll be interesting to see how things are. I’ve heard it’s nothing like in the States, after midnight it’s tradition to leave your family, go out to clubs and party with friends.

My body combat class is still going well, but I think Thursday I’m taking it to the next level with capoeira classes! I have a friend that’s been to a place he loved, so we’re going together to try it out. There’s a lot of interesting history associated with it, he was telling me that the music played was originally intended to disguise the fact that it’s not a dance, but rather a trained fighting style. I also found out it’s similar to karate or any other martial arts in that there are levels with corresponding belts you work towards, so who knows, maybe I’ll be past beginner stage by the time I leave!

As the first semester has ended, I’ve had the time get started with the internship hunt. Today I’m going to follow up in person to L’Oreal, where I applied for a communications internship. UCA, my university here, is also helping pass around my resume so I’m hoping in the next weeks to get something. Last night was spent getting everything together and emailing contacts for a summer internship within Conde Nast. It’s crazy how you have to get started on them so early. They’re so competitive! I’m a little nervous that the long-distance thing might hurt my chances, but hopefully I can pull off an impressive phone interview.

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.