Of those of you who have studied abroad who among you had a bad experience?

Question

That is, did the language cause the most difficulties or the cultural differences or the homesickness you felt or was it all three variables?

Please name the country where you had problems.

Thanks for your attention to this question.

Answer 1

I had bad experience VERY BAD EXPERIENCE

COUNTRY:LEBANON

and it was all three variables.

Answer 2

I did an exchange in Ireland, and while I had an absolute blast, an American girl who was also there on exchange, who I became friends with, had a terrible time. For her, it was homesickness. She'd just could not get past the homesickness, and she actually ended up cutting the exchange short and going home early. It was that bad for her.

But I had a blast.

Answer 3

Homesickness is probably one of the biggest problems in an exchange, especially if you have left a boyfriend or girlfriend behind. I've seen more students return home for that than any other reason -- and culturally it's across the board.

A big part of homesickness comes from spending too much time on the phone/computer connected with home! I know that sounds odd, but it's true. The more you are communicating with your home, the more your "heart" is there even if your body is in another country.

As an exchange student, you must commit to the experience. Even before you leave, you need to tell your family and friends you will NOT be in contact a lot while you are gone, as you will be putting your time and energy into learning a new language, making new friends and making the best out of your exchange experience.

I always encourage my students (I've hosted 13) to put up a blog with pictures so their friends can see what they are doing rather than chatting with them on line. They are much better off that way!

The other issue of too much communication back home is language. Depending upon your immersion language level, you can loose up to 3 DAYS for every hour you interact in your native language (phone AND chatting on line both apply here!).

Hope that helps!