What They Didn’t Tell Me Before Studying Abroad

About a year ago I published a top 10 list: The Do’s and Don’ts of College According to Santa Barbara Alumni. The advice I received above and beyond anything else? If you have the chance to study abroad, do it.

As I close my fifth and final year in Scotland, the place I moved to earn my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I have been reflecting on what surprised me most as an American abroad. I have boiled these reflections down to the top five things that surprised me, and I’ll wager that one or two of these will surprise you too.

No. 1 – Daylight hours

College counselors will ask about your interests and your GPA, but no one asks about your tolerance to daylight. This won’t be relevant for all study abroad destinations. (Certainly the reason it never occurred to me is because here in Santa Barbara our daylight hours change relatively little between seasons.) But oh boy was I in for a surprise when I moved to Scotland! The winter days get shorter and shorter, bottoming out at a 5-to-6-hour window of dim sunlight per day. A lot of us international students fared pretty badly that first winter – and Jeff Bezos made a lot of money selling us vitamin D and daylight lamps. For a month or two we were no more than temperamental house plants. Although I found the transition jarring, those dark winter days eventually started to seem pretty cozy. What I wasn’t prepared for was the summer. Have you ever had 19 straight hours of daylight and no bedroom curtains? My poor circadian rhythm!

No. 2 – You have your mother’s eyes… Is she Italian?

The second surprising thing about studying abroad is that people are going to try to guess where you are from. Okay – this one may seem obvious, but bear with me because it’s not what you think. First, remember that where there’s one study abroad student (you), there are bound to be more. Students who aren’t native English speakers will not be able to identify your American accent as easily. Therefore, you will find that when people guess about where you come from, they are guessing based on your physical appearance with just a sprinkle of their own stereotypes about other countries. In the last year, people have asked me if I am Italian, Mexican, and Serbian. I’ve never even met someone from Serbia, but according to a Norwegian master’s student, I could blend in over there.

No. 3 – I thought all Americans ate at McDonald’s

Speaking of stereotypes, you may think you know how people from other countries see us. You may have even watched those YouTube videos that explain how to look less American when traveling abroad. But I promise you, the things you think are giving you away as an American are not all the same things that people are picking up on. You will quickly learn that the rest of the world has a host of American stereotypes you have never heard of. For instance, did you know that unless you’re going to the gym, carrying a water bottle with you is seen as very American? Did you know that mainland Europeans think of Americans as people who eat their meals alone? I didn’t. Food for thought. 

No. 4 – You’re being rude

Speaking of those pesky Americanisms, it is worth doing some research on the work culture of the country you’re moving to before arriving on campus. We all know that social norms such as grooming habits and personal space vary by country, but doing a crash course on a country’s work culture may be one of the best ways to grasp the invisible etiquette of a new place. It will familiarize you with big themes, everything from the involvement of unions in day-to-day life to subtler things such as the country’s view on gender roles. For instance, I spent my first two years in the U.K. sending and responding to emails whenever I was available to do so. Eventually I learned that it is a faux pas in most industries to email someone outside of work hours. Mea culpa! Or as we say in Scotland: Hell slap it intae ye!

No. 5 – Money matters

Finally, the last big thing that will surprise you about studying abroad is how differently students from other countries deal with money and how this will affect your relationships. In particular, you will find that you often feel older or younger than your foreign peers based on the age their country’s young people tend to become financially independent. For instance, students in Denmark receive education stipends that help them do things such as move out, pay rent, start their own phone plan, and buy groceries from the time they start university. When you have a group of students on study abroad, it is therefore likely that one 19-year-old is simply not as “adult” as the 19-year-old standing next to them. And that’s all okay. Variety is the spice of life, and you will find that this is just one of the many different, interesting things that will make your study abroad experience memorable.