Study Abroad questions

[Mrs. Bradbury]

My daughter will be spending 6 weeks in Seville, Spain this summer in a study abroad program. We are so excited for her - no one in my family has ever traveled abroad, and in fact she will be the first person in my family to graduate college, this December.

I am full of questions regarding cell phone service, currency (debit card? credit card? cash?), safety, not seeming like a tacky American, ways to immerse herself in the culture, the way of life over there. I would appreciate any advice, experiences, hints, etc.

Thank you!

 

[scrapquitler]

My daughter will be spending 6 weeks in Seville, Spain this summer in a study abroad program. We are so excited for her - no one in my family has ever traveled abroad, and in fact she will be the first person in my family to graduate college, this December.

I am full of questions regarding cell phone service, currency (debit card? credit card? cash?), safety, not seeming like a tacky American, ways to immerse herself in the culture, the way of life over there. I would appreciate any advice, experiences, hints, etc.

Thank you!

I spent a semester in Sevilla when I was in college (thru the program Center For Cross Cultural Studies.....they are still around), so any specific knowledge about the questions you have that I could give you would be woefully outdated! For example, we went with travelers checks!

I'm sure she will have a great time! A few things I can tell you: the city is gorgeous. Sevillanos love the nightlife. She will get used to going out late in the evening and staying out all night long. They eat a small breakfast, a late lunch (2:00!) which is the main meal. Everything closes for several hours in the afternoon for siesta! Then in the evening they eat a small dinner very late (10:00!) before they go out. Don't expect to ever get ice in a drink when you are out. One thing she should keep in mind while she is planning what to take: The Sevillanos dress up a LOT more than we do. The only people she is likely to see in shorts are those tacky American tourists. Likewises with the pajama pants and yoga pants. Those are for at home!

Based on things I've seen written on the FB page of the program I was in Sevilla with, I think that they MAY get a local cellphone from the program. Not sure if that is option or part of the package. Maybe all programs don't do that, but you should ask them.

 

[jeffbear]

My daughter did an entire semester in Italy while at Furman University ... here's a couple f things we learned:

1. If they don't get a phone as a part of the service, make sure your daughter is prepared to get a local pre-paid phone. That's going to be MASSIVELY cheaper than any other option and you can get pay as you go smart phones as well. International service on ANY US based provider will cost a boat load more than this route, especially if there's data involved.

2. You end up coming out pretty good with making most purchases on a Visa card in Europe so long as you let the issuing bank know ahead of time of the trip so they don't hassle the purchases. There will be some conversion charge on purchases, but not so much that dealing with exchanges and trying to use cash makes much sense. Make sure she has a functioning cash card for cash withdrawals as well. Likewise let the bank know of travel dates, especially since she'll be there for awhile. Caution her not to carry much cash ... no more than she'd carry around at home.

3. Tacky Americans ... just encourage her to be open minded, to ask questions often and respectfully and to be truly open to new food and cultural experiences. US college students in Europe tend to blend in with all the other students beating around the continent, and so long as everybody is actually engaged in the experience instead of worrying that they can't find Starbucks ... it tends to work out fine.

We had the great joy of being able to spend about a week with my Daughter's group in Italy during her study away program. We had a great time with a great group of kids in a great city ... Rome. I was really struck with how engaged those kids were in going out and discovering things on their own. When given an afternoon off, they immediately started dispersing in small groups to points all over the city to take in things that appealed to them. I think that's important too ... to take some time to see stuff that interests you specifically.

Tell her to enjoy ... and as for safety, just be as safety alert as she'd be in New York or Chicago. Or where ever the reference hits home.

 

[tvguy]

DD is in England for the school year.

She has both a credit card and a debit card, she had a few issues with the debit card until she figured out have it run as a credit card solved those issues. I got flamed when I mentioned this on these boards elsewhere, but neither of her cards has a chip because the study abroad organizers said to make sure your credit cards do NOT have a chip. At least in smaller communities., the merchants can only swipe a magnet stripe, they don't have the chip machines (yet). I guess in the bigger cities, chipped cards are much more widely accepts. One of her class mates has a chipped card, and the only place she can use it is at the bank. Some believe they only use chipped cards.
But the short answer is, a magnetic card can be used anywhere, a chipped can not.

DD bought a smartphone (pay as you go). She started out with a regular phone, but discovered that data is free, and cell phones are cheap (at leas tin England). She paid $25 for the phone, and the $25 card she bought still has time on it after 5 months of use. As the guy at the cell phone store put it "the British would walk away if we charged for data".

 

[uromac]

Hi! My daughter has been in London for a month now and is there with Syracuse University for their semester abroad program and we are going in a couple of weeks to visit her. Many people have already given you some great pointers. Right now I can highly recommend:

Viber !! This is an app you can download on your phone and computer to talk and message each other with wifi !! We use it all the time!!

Her school had them get an ISIC (international student ID card) which gives them discounts on a variety of things as well as can also act as a mastercard debit card which we pre-loaded before she left to go abroad.

http://www.statravel.com/student-di...Google Cards&gclid=CIis5eeZ7bwCFYEDOgodmCgArw

Also kids love to explore other countries on the weekend - get prepared because it gets expensive - $$$$$

It will be a great experience for her, she had to find her own apartment with her friends and it is a big growing up experience for her, paying her rent and bills, using public transportation, and cooking on their own. My daughter is not really into big cities, but today she posted - I like London! Looking forward to seeing the changes in her when we see her!!

I'm sure more people will give you some great ideas - I'll think of other things and post them later!!

 

[clh2]

Our DD went abroad for about 2.5 weeks, between Paris and London. We were really concerned about a phone-but ultimately ended up getting DD an IPad mini instead.

Both of the hotels she was staying at had internet, so we just used FaceTime.

This did not give us instant access to our DD, but that was OK, she touched base with us about once a day.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

DD is in England for the school year.

She has both a credit card and a debit card, she had a few issues with the debit card until she figured out have it run as a credit card solved those issues. I got flamed when I mentioned this on these boards elsewhere, but neither of her cards has a chip because the study abroad organizers said to make sure your credit cards do NOT have a chip. At least in smaller communities., the merchants can only swipe a magnet stripe, they don't have the chip machines (yet). I guess in the bigger cities, chipped cards are much more widely accepts. One of her class mates has a chipped card, and the only place she can use it is at the bank. Some believe they only use chipped cards.
But the short answer is, a magnetic card can be used anywhere, a chipped can not.

I completely disagree with this advice. I have traveled in Europe extensively and a chip and pin card is much easier to use than one with a magnetic strip. I found merchants who refused to accept a magnetic strip card (strangely enough, happened most often in London). A chip and pin card is not only much safer, it is usually a necessity when you want to buy subway or train tickets from machines, for gas pumps, etc. It is not true that you can use a magnetic card anywhere.

It's also not true that a chip and pin card cannot be used in an "old" magnetic terminal. It can; the machine just uses the magnetic strip on the card. I have a USAA issued chip and pin MasterCard and have no problem using it in the US. Your child's study abroad organizers are poorly informed.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I spent about a year in Italy and about 6 months in Germany. Never had a chipped card. My husband lived in Europe for 10 years without a chipped card with no issues. ATM's are easy to use and if you use a credit card I would try to find one without international exchange rate fees. She will have a blast.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I spent about a year in Italy and about 6 months in Germany. Never had a chipped card. My husband lived in Europe for 10 years without a chipped card with no issues. ATM's are easy to use and if you use a credit card I would try to find one without international exchange rate fees. She will have a blast.

In the past this was true, not so now. Chip and pin cards are the standard in Europe.

I do agree that you need a cc which doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.

 

[Sagginit]

oh well i was in france about a decade ago bu will give you my somewhat outdated advice (actually I have been to the UK in the last two years).

as for the CC debate capital one still offers a no annual fee CC with no international fee, so check it out. for her i would suggest a debit card for banks, and at least one CC. Amex cards are not great, my boyfriend has one and when we went to ottawa last year a bunch of places wouldn't take it. as for the chip even 10 years ago some stores had a hard time or didn't want to accept my card without a chip, so again maybe look into that. a debit card with strip and CC with chip may be the way to go.

i used cash a lot when i was in france, i ate lunch out everyday and it was easier to use cash in small cafes and bistros.

i was there a while ago so i used a calling card to call home from the house phone. i didn't think to get a cell at that time and there was really no such think as easy wireless internet either.

as for dressing research it. i was told people dressed up more, but was in a univeristy town with tons of students. i ended up living in the two pairs of jeans i packed, trainers, and flip flops. i had dorky american trainers (white, clunky) and wanted to buy sleek pumas, but they didnt carry my size at the one place i found them. i also wore my black ballet flats a lot, the cobblestones there made it hard to wear heels out.

one thing i did that was a lifesaver was i got a foldable duffle bag at walmart. i needed one for weekend trips and then when i came home i had lots to bring back and had that to us. i have been in binds on just vacations where i need another bag to bring things home, and you can pay a premium for luggage or duffle bags in some places.

also look into health insurance. i was required to have it but had limited with my own US company so i got this international student card that came with ER insurance. my school accepted that for the trip to meet the guidelines.

 

[bswift]

Make sure she understands that 6 weeks will go by very quickly! After about 2 weeks she'll probably start feeling homesick, but by the end of it she won't want to leave.

A PP mentioned having another bag for weekend trips, definitely make sure she has one! I'm Australian and studied for one semester at NCSU, I brought 2 checked suitcases over with me (one big and one carry on sized). For Thanksgiving we all had to leave the dorm (and they had not warned us about this before arrival) so everyone else had to travel with their big suitcases. Luckily I had my smaller one which I also used for my other weekend trips. On my last trip to the US I picked up a decent sized duffle bag for around $13 at Ross, I would go with something like that. It won't take up too much room in her suitcase and then she also has an extra bag at the end for souvenirs/clothes if she buys too much!

Not sure if they are available in the US but for my exchange and all OS trips I use what is called a "travel money card". You load money onto it from your own currency and then it converts to whatever currency you choose. The money is then locked into that currency and you don't have to worry about the exchange rate changing for the worse during your trip. It was a prepaid card but ran as credit. Mine has a chip and I do recall having a problem with it in one store in London.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Wow, this is great information. I really appreciate it! If you think of anything else, please feel free to add!

Thanks so much!