So you’re thinking about studying abroad, but you can’t seem to come up with the right reasons — excuses — to give your parents in these uncertain times. You’ve read in the glossy Study Abroad advertisements or heard from an instructor at some point the standard lines — you know the ones — about “broadening your horizons,” “learning about a culture different from your own” or “practicing that language” you’ve spent a whole two semesters learning at university.
But let’s be honest, these are hackneyed and worn out. And besides, with only two semesters of a language under your belt, you quickly realize that the native speakers never enunciate as clearly or speak as slowly as your instructor did in class. And to add insult to injury, you can’t think that fast. So you stand there, staring like a deer caught in headlights and cursing your language instructor. But she or he is not to blame — any one of us will tell you it takes more than two semesters to master a language. Or let’s say the language of the country you plan to visit is not taught in school. What do you do then? Well, there are those language tapes. I’ve tried them, only to discover that I learn how to ask all the right questions — pronounced slowly and clearly — but I am given no clue about understanding the rapid-fire response that I get when I ask them.
Isn’t there something wrong with this scenario?
But, I digress. After all, I’m supposed to be telling you the “right” reasons for studying abroad. To put it simply, you do it for the adventure and for the unexpected happenings that burn themselves into your brain and never, ever go away.
Allow me to share some of my most memorable moments abroad. The first happened while I was in graduate school the very first time I went to Cyprus for an excavation. As the taxicab was pulling away from the airport, I saw a huge billboard proclaiming “DON’T FORGET THE TURKISH INVASION!” Then I calmly recalled the airport security I had seen milling about with semi-automatic weapons and I began to doubt my sanity.
But a single year later, I was a seasoned veteran. I was heading back to Cyprus with a detour to summer school in Athens, and landing in an airport in Athens three days after a TWA flight was hijacked to Beirut. At that point, my family began to question my sanity. But I was getting cocky — there weren’t enough terrorists to hijack every plane that landed in Athens. And besides – can you really be scared of a country that can’t make a decent flush toilet?
The following summer, after the United States had bombed Qaddafi in Libya, I was back in Cyprus when Americans were too scared to fly to any point east. I am still convinced that I saw Quaddafi sitting on the beach at Amathus.
I’ve come to the point in my travels abroad that if there isn’t something terrorist-like happening while I’m traveling, then there really is something wrong. My family is convinced that if I were caught in a hijacking situation — or something like it — I would slap the gun aimed at my face and tell its owner that there was absolutely no way they were taking me to Beirut or any other area of equal danger because I was not packed for Beirut or any other area of equal danger.
Despite how this sounds, it does not mean that I take unnecessary risks. It means that I put things in proper perspective. One thing all of this taught me, years before Sept. 11, was that our security was way too lax and that a terrorist cell could have a field day in this country.
You cannot imagine how heartbreaking it is to know that I was right. It is sobering to realize that there are people who live with the prospects of terrorist activity daily, have lived this way for generations and do not let it interfere with their day-to-day living.
We are still novices at this and can learn a great deal from first hand experience of the “pros,” not from listening to the nightly news that would have you cowering in the bottom of your closets.
So much for the adventure — let’s move on to the unexpected, like being in Sicily with an excellent view of lava glowing on the side of Mount Aetna. Or being on Santorini when the still active volcano causes a small earth tremor and emits steam over night. Or standing on the Pons Cestius in Rome overlooking the Tiber River in flood stage and realizing that the Roman Forum really could have flooded in antiquity. Or standing on the Athenian Acropolis on New Year’s eve in a snow storm.
Or — most important of all — meeting the absolutely wonderful people who want to practice their English on you. Who embrace you and make you feel like one of the family. People who swell with pride over the fact that you want to be there and learn about their country and their heritage, and who are astounded to see that all Americans are not like what they see on TV in reruns of “Dallas” or “Dynasty”.
If you are too young to know about those shows, go abroad and practice your language by watching them dubbed into the native language.
Oh, yes, while you are there, have an adventure or two.
The unexpected moments will take care of themselves.