Studying Abroad

Hello everyone, I'm an American student that will be studying in Madrid this semester. I leave in two weeks! I was just wondering if there is anyone else that reads this message board that is also an international student, or has studied abroad and has some tips/advice or stories? I'd looove to talk to other people that have done it also, I'm sooo nervous and excited!

I think a lot of us have studied abroad in Spain - I studied in Seville last spring and it was the best time of my life! What exactly do you want to know?

Have a great time in Spain - you'll love it. I leave on June 2 for a summer job in Catalunya. I can't wait!

Melinda

I once studied abroad, Her name was...oh, never mind.

I studied in Spain for 2 months during the summer of 1999. One month in Madrid, the other in Alicante. If I had to offer one piece of advice, it would be to see everything you can. Spend every spare minute doing something, meeting someone or seeing someplace new. Each one will be a great memory.

Also, keep a diary. I wasn't one for doing something like that, but I'm so glad I did. It brings back so many memories when I read it.

If you have more questions, feel free to email or post.

Hmmm lets see...
Did you all run into any problems as far as money is concerned... like is it better to use an ATM card or a credit card? I know that sometimes there are fees if you access your checking account using an ATM card from a foreign country.

The weather... I have a leather jacket and a wool knee length coat... they'll both keep me warm enough... I think it's probably in the 40s or 50s right around this time right? What do people usually wear?

Calling home... what are the best calling cards and where can you find them?

Thanx guys for the advice, you are easing my extremely nervous mind

Yea for study abroad!! I have definitely been bitten by the study abroad bug And let me warn you once it gets to you, its impossible to get rid of! I spent last summer studying in Bilbao, and am spending this entire semester here at La universidad de Granada. You will love it!!! It is the best thing you will ever do, and the second you get back to the usa you will find yourself startnig to try to figure out how and when you can get back and do it again!

As for money, use and atm card and a credit card. I have both, and use the atm to wihdrawl money and TRY (try really hard, trust me here!), to only use the credit card for emergency situations, or ones that cant be paid for in cash. As far as fees go, it depends on your bank in the usa, be sure to check before you go! My bank charges 1 dollar for every time I go and get money from the atm.

Clothes..one of my favorite topics!! If you can, just bring the bare basics with you, and you can buy stuff here. Shopping is great!! Lots of fun clothes, at decent prices- my favorite store- Zara!!!

Calling home...this is a tough one. I call using a eurocity calling card- 210 minutes for 6 euros, there are lots of cards to choose from but i feel like this has been the best deal. I also have a cell phone, where it is free to recieve incoming calls so it is also easy for my parents go call me from the usa. I talk to my family every sunday, so the phone card goes a long way.

More questions?? Id love to answer them!!
Kelly

Melinda, how did you go about landing a summer job in Cataluña????

I'm gonna have to go with the Eurocity card for calling home, too. It's the best I've seen, too.

As for clothes, it depends on where you're going. In Seville I only needed a light jacket in the winter, but I needed my heavy one in Galicia and a heavy coat AND scarf in Madrid. But by March it's pretty calm weather all over the country - hot already in the south. God I wish I was there! LOL

Kelly - When I came back I wanted to keep up with/improve my Spanish so I joined some online OT groups for the two singers I liked back when I was studying in Seville. I became really close with a woman in Lloret de Mar and we started talking on the phone. We've known each other almost a year now via the internet (sadly I couldn't get to Catalunya to meet her last time I was in Spain) and she's like the big sister I never had. Anyway, she invited me to stay with her and her family over the summer... I said I couldn't afford it. She said she'd find me a job... and she did! It's just for three months but it's something to get me started, gives me work experience in Spain and 3 months to look for something else in Barcelona. I'm so excited... I can't wait until June 2!

and my Spanish friends make fun of me for liking OT... I probably never would have worked up the nerve to go if it weren't for the constant support and urging of the friends I've made because of that show!

I agree on all those.
The Eurocity card works well to call back home. I got mine at one of the Locutorio phone places in the bus station.

As for clothes, I'd say pack as little as possible. That was the worst thing I did when I studied. I should have taken half of what I did.
Good luck.

You know I think I´m the only person who had a problem with not taking ENOUGH clothes. I followed my SA guide book´s reccomendations for clothing and I always found myself short by the end of the week and ended up buying almost twice as much clothes cause, let´s face it, after 5 months the same 5 or 6 outfits get boring unless you´re backpacking across Europe. I´d look and see how many clothes you wear on average over the time period of 2 weeks and pack that. Remember, people don´t generally use dryers in Spain so you´re going to have to give some time for clothes to hang dry.

Melinda

Thats a great story Melinda!! It will be amazing Im sure Clothes...really trust me here, you dont need to take your entire closet haha I packed WAY too much (really, did I think I needed every pair of shoes I owned?? ).

HOWEVER, as someone said, NO dryers. When I give my señora my clothes to wash, it takes at least 4-5 days to get them back, up to a week for jeans. Be prepared with the essentials!!!

Regarding credit cards: be aware that Discover/Novus cards are not accepted in Spain. Be sure to bring Visa and/or MasterCard.

As for cash, use your ATM card as much as possible. It'll usually get you a better dollars/euros exchange rate than the money changing businesses offer. But remember that you'll be charged a service fee each time you take out money, so be sure to withdraw a couple of days' worth at a time.

Buen viaje!

best way to get money out that I found while travelling and studying abroad saves you tons of fees. Since you are in teh states I am guessing that you have a basic checking account that also gives you access to a Visa or MC debit/check card. If you have one of those, you can take the card into the bank and ask for a cash advance (like you would on a credit card) but because the money is coming out of a check card there are no percentage fees imposed. So you ask for $100 USD in local currency and you get say $100 Euro's (to make the numbers simple) now when you get your bank statement it is possible that with the currency rates (favorable for big transactioners such as Visa, MC or banks) you have a withdrawl of $97 instead of $100 and you got $100 Euros for it.

Worked wonders for me I totalled out that I saved compared to some of my friends studying abroad with me over $150. That is a great weekend trip.

My only other tips to you in additon to what others have posted is to make sure to get yourself out and go even when you dont want to (and there will be times when you dont). Take as much advantage of having a local base and travel around Spain and Europe. Take tons of pictures instead of buying touristy things (they are the most valuable thing to me) and of course enjoy yourself!