Having just arrived at your new study abroad home base, you’re bound to feel a wide range of emotions. Excitement, jet-lag, homesickness, no matter how you feel during your first few weeks abroad, just know that it’s completely normal. While people might glamorize their study abroad trips or tell you about their positive experiences, everyone will face some stress or struggle throughout their trip. And what’s not talked about enough is the first few weeks when you might struggle to find your place. So while social media may tend to only post the highlights of studying abroad, I want to educate you on what you will actually face during the first few weeks.
You might feel a bit lonely, but it will pass.
Some people going abroad don’t know a single soul, while some might go with a group of friends from back home. Regardless, you might feel a little bit lonely or homesick at first. Moving away from your family, friends, and general support system is daunting. It can be really scary to be in a foreign country without the people you’ve spent your entire life with.
Eventually, through class, excursions, and meeting your roommates, you will begin to create a new support system. Your homesickness will eventually quiet as you get adjusted to your new life. So if you’re feeling a little bit lonely, take a deep breath and be patient; you’ll find it always works out.
Culture shocks are indeed shocking.
Even if you’ve traveled a lot, each country and city has its own unique culture. Through spending time here as a student, and not just a tourist, you’ll find so many more little culture shocks than you expected. For example, even though I’ve spent time in Paris before, it took me forever to adjust to French showers and remember that restaurants are closed from 3 pm to 6 pm. So even though you might be well-traveled, do not be alarmed if there’s something new that shocks you!
Cafe/coffee culture is such an integral part of Parisian culture. This was honestly a cultural difference to me because in the United States, people don’t often slow down or have peaceful moments to themselves, but that’s a huge part of the culture here.
Your brain can’t process the foreign language.
If you’ve just moved to a new country where everyone communicates in a language you don’t know, it’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed. You may stumble or struggle to communicate with other locals. You might feel that you stick out like a tourist, but just be patient and open-minded to integrating yourself as best you can.
Eventually, either through your coursework or naturally hearing the language a lot, you’ll begin to pick up on useful phrases and words to get through your day. But I also encourage you to go above and beyond to try and learn the language. Watching TV in the language with English subtitles, listening to a slow-speaking podcast, or even doing some Duolingo are all great ways to get the most out of your language immersion abroad. And I’ve found that if you try to speak the language, locals are very open to helping you along and speaking more slowly; don’t be afraid to talk to them!
Too much to do and not enough time.
A good problem you might encounter is that it feels like there is simply too much to explore and not enough time to do so. Regardless of whether you’re abroad for one month, four months, or a whole year, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of things on your bucket list.
My best piece of advice to squeeze everything in is to not wait for the weekends! Make time in your morning before class to go to a new coffee shop, grab dinner with your friends on a Tuesday, pop into a museum on your way home from class.
Here I am at the Eiffel Tower on a Wednesday night after classes. Making your weekdays still fun is a great way to explore your home base!
You’re going to be challenged.
Most importantly, realize that no matter what, your transition to living in a new country will come with some bumps along the way. Remember that these challenging moments are the ones you will ultimately grow from. We don’t grow inside our comfort zones, or what’s familiar to us; we grow when we become uncomfortable, when we experience new places, meet new people, and adapt to a new lifestyle. You will grow so much from this experience and learn so much about yourself from the challenge.
You may relate to all of these experiences, just one, or none at all. But this is the amazing part about studying abroad – no two experiences are exactly the same. We each walk away with a unique journey that belongs to only us