10 Reasons to Study Abroad

I spent one semester in Sweden and I loved it. It has been something I wanted to do and now I think everyone should try it. Here's why...
ČEŠTINA NÍŽE...

1. You'll learn to be independent 

I've been "mommy's girl" until I landed in Gothenburg last January. I wasn't able to do anything without her help and suddenly I had to go through bureaucracy and everything connected to moving to another country all by myself. But that wasn't all. I had to take care of myself. You might think it's obvious but I wasn't used to it. I had to plan my time, do laundry, cook and so on. That was a sudden change. So you just have to do all of this because none else will! And that's good...

2. Learn the language

If you've never really used English in everyday life studying abroad will be a huge change for you. You might think your English is good because you have good grades but you might find out it's not true. Suddenly you'll have to speak English to your doctor or learn how to use special machines by reading English instructions. That's when you really learn. And of course you'll learn the informal English which is something you can't practice anywhere else. 

And of course it's not just English :)

Living Abroad: Katerina - Czech Girl in the UK and the Netherlands

I can see that you like my interviews with people who lived or live abroad so I'm here with another one, interesting one! And I might be even happier because this time it's an interview with Czech girl who's already lived abroad twice and loved it :)

ČEŠTINA NÍŽE...

Hi Katerina! You're currently living in the Netherlends but before we get to that I'd like to ask you about the UK because you spent half a year there. Where exactly were you and why did you move there?

People often want something new and I was looking for new experiences and I wanted to find my boundaries. I spent one semester as an exchange student at the university in Bristol. Bristol is an amazing student city in southwest England. The UK is a great place for life I just need to forget the well known windy British weather that I couldn't get used to. I traveled a lot while I lived in the UK. I love their architecture, brick houses, old British pubs as well as wild countryside that looks like from Emily Brontë's or Daphne du Maurier's novels.

Living Abroad: Christmas Abroad

Many people spend Christmas at home, usually with their families. Honestly, I can't imagine going abroad, with or without my family, to celebrate Christmas. I need our big and cozy house to feel the festive spirit. But that might change one day... So I was interested how it feels to spend Christmas abroad and found girls who were willing to answer my questions...

ČEŠTINA NÍŽE...

I've already done two interviews with people who live abroad (Cristina travels the world with her husband and Katie - from the US to Europe). Now I wanted to talk to people who are going to spend Christmas abroad. I found 4 girls who wanted to participate in this interview and I want to thank them for that! I won't write more and will let them introduce themselves now...

Jessica Solomatenko

I’ve been living and working in South Korea for 11 years, married for 8 and “mommy” for 4. When our son was really young we started traveling more so that we could visit our family members who are spread all over before we had to pay for more expensive flights for our son.

Living Abroad: Cristina Travels the World with Her Husband

I'm here with another interview and I'm sure you're gonna like this one as much as you liked the previous one. This time Cristina is going to show you how to travel the world with your loved one, how to live life abroad!
ČEŠTINA NÍŽE...

Hi Cristina! I know you've spent quite some time living abroad. You come from Romania and the first place you moved to was France. I know that one of the reasons why you moved there was love. What were the other ones? Would you say that it helped you that you already knew someone who lived there?

I knew just my beloved future husband :-) and another reason was that I thought I would have a better future if studying abroad.

How did you feel before moving abroad for the first time? What was the hardest? Could you speak French?

I have dreamt for a longtime going abroad, especially that my country was during the communist era...until 1989. I was speaking French but not very well. The hardest thing was to understand the French education system and to adapt myself to it ;-). Also it was quite hard that nobody helped us...

When You Miss Your Second Home

I knew that I'm going to miss that place but I had no idea that I would miss it so much. I also expected to miss my international friends but I didn't expect that I'd find myself missing the city...

ČEŠTINA NÍŽE...

When I was leaving Gothenburg I told to many people that I'd like to stay. They usually replied that they'd like to stay as well but only if they could stay there with all the other students they've met while studying there...

Living Abroad: Katie - from the US to Europe

Last time when I told you about this project I came up with, many of you were excited to read more about people living abroad. And after I got the first answers from Katie I promise you that you'll love these interviews because all these people have many interesting things to tell you! 

Čeština níže...

Hi! I thought it would be perfect to start my series of interviews with you since you now live abroad but you live in Prague (which is home for me :)). But it wasn't just Prague, am I right? Could you please introduce yourself to my readers and also tell us where have you lived so far?

It’s true!  I first lived abroad for a semester in Aix-en-Provence, France in 2011.  Afterwards, I went back to the US to finish my degree, and then I moved for one year to Cardiff, Wales.  My bachelor’s degree is in Theatre with a focus in Production and Design, but after I studied abroad the first time, I realized that I was much more interested in cultural studies and international education, so I made a dedicated career change.  I did my master’s degree in European Studies with a focus in Culture and Ideology, and eventually accepted a job offer to work at a highly-respected Czech university in Prague.  Full time, I work as a program administration for international students while they’re studying abroad in Prague.  In my spare time, I travel as much as I can, and run my travel blog- Study Hard Travel Smart.  My blog was initially meant for friends and family to keep up with my travels, but it eventually turned into a much wider community which I absolutely love!  The blog now focuses on culturally immersive travel and study abroad, but also has my musings about expat living, living in Prague, culture, travel, etc.

What was the first reason for moving abroad? Was it something you wanted to do for a long time?

My undergraduate university required all students to have a “cross cultural experience” of at least 14 days.  I wanted to make my experience as long as possible, so I went for an entire semester.  I had always wanted to travel back to Aix-en-Provence after visiting for just a day several years earlier, so the program was perfect for me.  After I got my first taste of living abroad in Aix, I knew that it was something I wanted to do much more of!

Living Abroad

Have you ever spent a few months or years living abroad? I'm pretty sure that if your answer is yes you'd understand my opinion that this experience is really different from what we all know from vacations and holidays. I'd even call it a life changing experience...

Čeština níže...

Author: Vincent de Laat

I only spent 5 months in Sweden as an Erasmus student but it had already helped me to see my life and world differently. As I said at the beginning, I think that living abroad can change your life (as it has mine) and the way you see things. 

But I have talked to many of my friends after I came home from 5 months in Sweden and I realised that there are many people who would like to go but not everyone is brave enough to do that! I think that I'm the perfect example of a shy person who jumped into it and had the best time of his life. But it might not be enough... so I thought that I'd come up with series of interviews with people who are or were living abroad. Why?