Elmhurst College Abroad

Elmhurst College Abroad

Hi all! I'm about to head into the Study Abroad Prep class, which I'm teaching with Dr. Lagerwey this semester, and am very excited to see that so many of you are out there blogging. What an excellent way to share your excitement about studying abroad (for those of you already out there...) and for those of you in the class this semester to build on the excitement you are not doubt experiencing as the time approaches to head overseas. I look forward to reading all of your posts and comments as the weeks progress.

By the way, I just returned from a week in Mexico on College business, where my more-than-adequate knowledge of the German language mixed quite interestingly with my high school level Spanish abilities...i.e., "Gracias por alles!" I pretty much stuck to English.... ;)

Alice Niziolek

Jessi - October

I’ve been SO busy lately! In this blog, there’s three things I want to address: having a relationship overseas, traveling, and classes.
First, I want to talk about having a relationship while studying abroad. It’s hard, I’m not going to lie. It’s my boyfriend’s birthday this Sunday, and I won’t be able to even call him since I’m going to be in Germany. We actually broke up a couple of weeks ago, but then I realized that I was just questioning things because I’m alone in another country. I’m not going to go into the boring details… just know that if you’re in a relationship and you’re going to study abroad, it’s going to be a little challenging. As long as you’re willing to deal with the challenges, you should be fine.
Second, I want to talk about traveling. I’ve been going to different places every weekend. So far, I climbed a small mountain in Ireland and at the top of the mountain were about 50 mountain goats. That was amazing. Except it was raining the whole time, but that’s no big deal since it ALWAYS rains in Ireland. I’ve went to Scotland, and walked around the Highlands, Loch Ness, and Loch Lomond. I went to Paris, and saw the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, ect. My hostel was right next to the Louvre. I think it was called BVJ Louvre. Hostels are sooo cheap. Don’t be scared of them. I haven’t had any problems with theft. And I’ve stayed in some pretty shady hostels. I went to all of those places by myself. Most people travel with other people, but I prefer going by myself. I’m going to Frankfurt, Germany this Saturday until Monday. The flight cost me $40 total. I’m leaving from Shannon Airport; I’ll have to take a bus there, which will cost about $20. Hostels usually cost around $20-30. If you’re planning on traveling a lot, I would suggest saving about $3,000-5,000. Especially in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland; everything costs twice as much. If you spend 1,000 pounds, that’s $2,000.
Classes in Ireland are so different than in America!!! I’m taking six classes: Human Sexuality, History and Current Issues in Psychology, Nazi Germany, Ritual and Royalty: the Archaeological Sites of Ireland, Medieval Ireland History, and Psychology, Science, and Pseudoscience. The teacher in Human Sexuality is from America, so his class is more like an American class. We have five papers and two tests. For the Nazi Germany class, we have a 3-hour test, along with 2 short papers. In Psychology, Science, and Pseudoscience, there’s a 2-hour test. That’s all. No homework, no quizzes, nothing. The test is 100% of our grade. For History and Current Issues in Psychology, we have a 5-page paper and a 2-hour test. For the Archaeology and Medieval Ireland History class, we have a 10-page paper due. Classes aren’t mandatory, since they never take attendance. Therefore, it’s all up to you to get good grades and go to class. To get an “A” or above in my school, it’s a 60% or above. A “B” is something around a 50%. I think that classes here are so much easier than in America, but that’s mainly because I prefer to write papers instead of taking tests. For the tests in Ireland, it’s essays. The teachers give a choice of about 5-10 essay topics, and you choose about 2-3, depending on the teacher.
My main suggestion is to work hard but play hard. Partying in other countries is fun, and traveling is awesome! Save up money before you go, or else get a credit card that’s 0% APR for 6-12 months. Hopefully this has helped!

Scott - October

Hey my name is Scott, and I am a German and Political Science double major. I am studying for the Fall semester in Salzburg, Austria. The program I am in has about 12 undergraduate students and 8 graduate students. I arrived in late September, and found my dormitory with relative ease. My dorm is located about 15 minutes from the University by foot. I have an Austrian roommate who comes from Linz. Linz is about 90 minutes from Salzburg. It is very common for Austrian students to go home on weekends, and that is what my roommate does. When I first arrived in Salzburg I had the first day to just explore and relax. After that we had a few days of Orientation, and then classes began. I'm taking 4 classes taught by native Austrians with the other program participants. I am also taking an intensive german course (Deutsch als Fremdsprache) with about 70 other students. We took placement tests to see which class was for us. The classes here are very different from ones back home naturally, but I am getting a lot out of them. Like you hear from other people who have studied abroad previously, there is usually only one or two tests per class. There is usually no attendance taken, and no homework is collected. That can be a blessing as well as a hindrance. Overall, though, the classes are very interesting and I like the style of teaching a lot.
Tomorrow is an Austrian holiday, so everything will be closed. The times that stores are open is just one of the things that is completely different than back in the States. Most stores are open until 5, and grocery stores usually close around 6 or 7. Nothing is open on Sundays, and store have reduced hours on Saturdays. I saw Kevin was talking about the grocery stores, and they are very different. The first time I went shopping, I forgot that I had to weigh my own fruit, so that was quite the embarrassment. Overall this first month has been amazing. There are obviously going to be ups and downs, but the ups outweigh the downs by far. I've met amazing people from all over the world: from Kosovo to Iceland to Iraq to Sri Lanka. All the students have been so nice to me, and it doesn't hurt to be living in an amazing city. We don't have classes on Friday, so I'm taking advantage of that and going to Munich this weekend. So far the language has been tough some days, and other days I've felt really positive. Most of the natives will speak dialect which is very difficult to understand. I'm trying to learn to at least understand it, but it is very different from High German. I am looking forward to any questions anybody has.

Kevin - September

Wir haben drei Wochen lang einen Intensiv-Deutsch-Kurs gemacht. Jeden Tag(Montag bis Freitag) haben wir dreieinhalb Studen Deutsch gelernt. Meistenshatte Ich mehr als dre Studen Haus-Ãobüng, weil ich noch nicht keinenDeutsch-Kurs gemacht habe. Ich habe nur vier Monat Deutsch schon gelernt.Unsere Klasse ist ins Kaffeehaus, zum Heurigen, und ins Rathaus gegangen.Einem Monat hat es mir sehr gefallen. Die letzte Woche waren Ferien. VieleStudenten sind nach Prag, Budapest und Kraghow gereist. Aber Ich möchte späterreisen, denn jetzt möchte ich nur die Wiener Kultur und die AtmosphäregenieÃYen. Weil ich für ein Jahr hier bin (neun Monate), habe ich viele Zeit zureisen.Weil die meisten leute viel schon gereist sind, können sie nicht so vieleÃ-sterreicher oder österreichische Studenten treffen. Viele Studenten wohnenauch in einer Wohnung. Weil Ich in einem Ã-sterreichisch Studentenheim wohne,habe ich zwei Ã-sterreichische Studenten, einen Francosen, und einItalienisches Mädchen getroffen. Die Universitt beginnt im Oktober. DannKommen mehr Studenten. Die Hälfbe der Leute, die Ich schon getroffen habe,gehen in eine Sprach Schule. Ein Mädchen, die im Büro arbeitet (und viellacht, sie sagte â?zLachen ist die bestezt medizinâ?o), sagt, dass im Oktoberviele Studenten mit einem Vogel in ihren Kopf (verrückt) kommen. Es wird sehrinteressant, die nächste Gruppe von Studenten zu sehen und treffen.Ich lebe sehr gern in Wien und habe meine lieblings geschäfte schon gefunden(es ist nicht zu teur order weit zu FuÃY zu gehen). Weil viele Resterauntsteuer sind, Koche ich meistens. In Jedem Stoch im Studentenheim gibt es eineKüche. Ich Spaziere viel und fahre sehr gern mit der U-bahn.Lezte Woche bin Ich mit einem studenten in die Oper gegangen. Es war sehrschön und wir haben drei Studen gestanden am Stehplatz (partere für nur dreiEuro funfzig, sehr billig!). Es war im erstin Stock und wir haben alles sehrgut gesehen und gehört (abber Ich habe gehört, dass es besser von Gallerie zuhören ist). Wir haben vorher zwei Studen in einer Schlange gewortet. NächsteWoche beginne ich meinen Unterricht. Ich mache einen Kurse über WienerGeschichte, Klassiche Symphonie, Einen Musik Workschop, Deutsch Intermediate Iund Fortgeschrittene Musik theorie. Hoffetlich habe ich genüg Zeit Klavier zuüben.Die Deutsch Studenten an der Elmhurst Universitäst können das übersetzen.