Local Living in Germany

Living in Germany will be big adjustment from my current life in the US. While this won't be my first time in a completely new place, it will be the first time being there for so long. That means I'm going to have to learn to live the way the Germans do. Germany is similar in many ways to the US, but there are still differences. It is so important to me to live like a local, so that I can completely immerse myself in the culture and lifestyle. 

At TU Dortmund, they have a language course that I will be taking at the beginning of the semester. Since I will not be in as many regular classes, and I will be student teaching, I hope that the month I am in the language course will allow me to make friends. In addition to the language course, the university also has sports similar to intramurals. I plan to participate in those in an effort to stay healthy and meet more people. 

Since my experience will not be the traditional study abroad experience, my day to day life will consist of going to school and taking a few classes at night. I am excited at the chance to learn about the school systems and how these students learn and behave in class. In order to be more immersed, I plan to continue to practice German so that the language barrier will not be as bad. 

I hope that while abroad I will learn more about culture that will help me to live like a local.

Local Living - Bangkok

For me, what I want most in to be as involved in my community as mush as I can, and that's what living a local life means. I know that my university will offer many opportunities to get involved, volunteer wise and also just with fun activities. I've also talked a bit with some non-profit organizations in the city already about volunteering for them once I arrive.

Being introverted, I'm a bit daunted by the idea of having to make new friends once I arrive at my host school, but then I remember I had a similar feeling before I arrived to Maryville and everything  worked out fine for me. I am not exactly sure how I will make local friends since the program I am doing is specifically for International students, but hopefully the school will have a program similar to our peer mentor program. If not, I'm sure friendships will develop naturally, too.

Day to day I imagine myself spending a lot of time exploring the city, trying new foods, and trying to be open to as many new experiences as I can. Another MC student who went to Thammasat under the same program as me said that the program of study allows for a lot of free time, which I plan to spend volunteering/networking in the international non-profit world, visiting various religious sites and communities, and travelling within and outside of Thailand,

Blog #4: Living Like a Local in the UK

One of the reasons I listed University of Chester as a school on my ISEP application was because of the diverse student life and the many opportunities that came with it.  I am very excited to get involved with the campus and community and hope to make lasting bonds while I'm there. I aim to meet people by joining some of the clubs and/or participating in campus events.

Living like a local is something that is very important to me when I go abroad because I love seeing different cultures and how they live everyday life. While living at my host institution, I plan to see the surrounding city of Chester and get to know it well enough so that I'd feel at home when I come back to visit.  This would include getting to know local bars, attractions, shops, and even just streets and navigation.  I hope that the new friends I make would show me all their favorite places in town, which would help immerse me in the city.  I imagine my day to day life will be relatively similar to how it is here, just in a different setting -- but I could be sorely mistaking about that!  There will be a an adjustment from living in a small school in a small town to living in a city, but I am excited about that!  The city of Chester is a medieval walled city in England, so I think the history and culture will be fascinating to me.
I think living like a local will help me understand the country better, and probably get a better appreciation for it.  I will make an effort not to be consumed by what is going on home, but rather to focus on where I am.  I tend to get distracted fairly easily, so this may be something that I need to work on.  Overall I am excited to experience a new place and will hopefully be able to call it a home away from home!

Living Local in France

          I know that living in France will be different from how I live my life here in the United States in many ways. I will be living in a new city and in a new country all while learning a new language. I know that I am a fairly shy and quiet person, so I know that I will have to get out of my comfort zone to make friends and get involved with the community. It is easiest for me to make friends when I join groups, clubs or sports teams, so I am planning on trying to join a club or two at the university to meet more local students. I play soccer here at Maryville, so it would be an interesting experience if I could play for some team in France! Playing soccer is how I have made a lot of friends here in the United States. Doing volunteer work would also be a good opportunity to be involved and meet new people, so if I can find something like that to do in France that would be amazing. 

            I want to make the most of my experience studying in France, and I know that the best way to accomplish this is to live like a local. I can learn this best by observing locals and integrating myself into the French society. For example, when I eat with friends or other locals, I want to try local foods that I wouldn’t normally find here in the U.S. 

            One of my main goals is to learn French and become as fluent as I can within the five short months that I am there, so I will try to speak as little English as I can. I know that the locals will appreciate that I am trying my hardest to speak and learn French; therefore I am not worried about messing up grammar or forgetting vocabulary. Getting involved and living like a local in France is important and I hope to gain many insights on how to communicate with different people and learn about the southern French culture.

-Janelle Calhoun

Local Living in China

I know from past experiences that a new culture is always more enjoyable when you take the time to immerse yourself in the culture and make yourself at home. The quicker that I can shift my thinking away from feeling like a temporary resident and rather towards enjoying being "all in" wherever I go, the more I love a new culture. I have found that, in many cases, it is much more fun to live like a local than like a tourist. In China I hope to find myself comfortable with the culture and enjoying being a part of normal life in Nanchang.

One way that I hope to involve myself in the culture and meet local students is to participate in the student centered language sessions held at the University. These sessions are mutually beneficial, because both local and international students attend and help each other with the languages that they are learning. So, local students come to help international students practice Mandarin, and native English speakers come to help locals, many buisness majors, practice their English. I look forward to this because it is a relaxed, yet structured setting to meet people in, as well as a way to improve my Mandarin.

I am especially interested in strengthening my Mandarin speaking skills because I think that it will be the biggest tool that I can use to get involved with the community outside of the school. As I understand it, many people in the local city do not speak English. I will need to use as much Mandarin as I can to successfully function in the city. However, this will be another great way to practice the language. I expect that simply going grocery shopping, getting a taxi and exploring downtown will help me to feel involved in the community and comfortable with my surroundings. I hope that by getting out beyond the University I will find out about local events that I can attend as well.

In the end, I think that forming relationships with locals will be the overall best way to learn more about the city, get involved with the community and understand what it really means to live like a local in China. My goal is to form, not necessarily numerous, but intentional friendships with local students and individuals that I meet.

Living Like a Local in Greece

In studying abroad in Greece, one of my most important goals is to involve myself in the culture and community. I will not be living on campus, so I am going to have to be more intentional about making connections in the school. There may be clubs and organization that I could be involved with, as well as just connecting with students who know the city and the culture. I am hoping that my day to day life will consist of exploring the city, the community, and perhaps even taking specific classes that will help me to become more familiar with the locals. There is so much to see and do in Athens, and I’m sure there will be no lack of opportunity for cultural experiences. I researched some of the events on campus, and the school seems to have a lot going on to involve students outside of classes, from diversity awareness to holiday celebrations, I think there will be a lot of ways to interact with other students while I am there.

I already know that Greeks have a very laid-back, go-with-the-flow type of culture, so I will have to be intentional about trying to fit into that culture by keeping an open mind, and an open schedule. I want to free myself up to being available for any opportunities that come up, and being willing to try new things, even at the last minute. My schedule here is usually fairly rigid and set, so it will be very new to me to live without as much structure. I think it will be especially hard because I like to have specific time dedicated to school, friends, etc. and I will have to be more flexible about when and how I do things. But I think it will all be worth it for the amazing experiences that I know I will have. Letting go of my familiar schedule and adapting to “Greek time” will most likely be one of the most effective ways to quickly integrate into the culture and “live like a local.”

Life in Plymouth

One of my friends told me once that the reason that we were able to meet was the fact that the day we met, I walked up to her, concern on my face, and asked, "You look lost, do you need some help?" Picture me with my hands half out in question and that makes up how one of my best friends on campus. While I know that there are few people like me who will walk up to someone simply to make sure everything is alright, this moment of my life shows my insatiable curiosity and care for people around me.

Simply walking up to someone to say "Hi" or ask how they are is something that I do fairly well at and it has made me some great friends, as seen above. I don't know if this method will work while I'm abroad, but it is something that I have done since I started college and I don't imagine I'm going to stop doing so while I'm in Plymouth.

Beyond that, whenever I decided that I was going to Maryville, one of the first things I did once I made my decision was go to the website and look at what clubs are available. I made a list of the ones that looked the most interesting and from there went to the initial meetings to see if they were what I was actually expecting. This is something that I have already started doing since being placed at Plymouth and I have high hopes that I will find people with similar or new interests that I would love to try while abroad. For example, for anyone who knows me they know that I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. While looking through Plymouth's Student Union website, I learned that there was a Harry Potter society that did various events throughout the year. I am excited to say that this is something that I will definitely be checking out while abroad.

Something that I know I will need to be better at will be to simply be where the people are (*insert Little Mermaid reference here*). Instead of studying in my room like I do now, I can try to study in the library and hopefully be engaged with those around me as we stress ourselves into a frenzy. Exploring the city around me during a weekend or afternoon is something that I know will help me to find local landmarks to things I would need to find later like a grocery store.

As far as my day-to-day life, I imagine it will be similar to how it is in the States with a few key differences. Something that I've noticed is that some of the classes end earlier in the day than when I'm used to them ending and there is the possibility for completely free days. Whether these line up with weekends or not is something to be determined, but that, along with the ability to travel to European countries on a shoestring budget is something that I will need to account for. In addition, I will need to learn how to cook something since it appears that Plymouth does not have an "official" dining hall like Maryville does. I am hoping that I won't be living off ramen and take out for months on end, but every once in a while can't hurt me.