In case of emergency you should feel free to contact the Learning Abroad Center at 612.626.9000 at any time. If it is after business hours, there is a recording giving you a number to call. The Learning Abroad Center has someone on call to deal with emergencies and most of our programs have in-country numbers (phone and fax) should there be a need to contact an on-site person.

It is the participant's responsibility to notify the on-site personnel as to when and where they can be reached anytime they leave the program site. It is recommended that you know your friend or family member's travel plans before departure so they can be contacted in case of emergency. If you know where they will be traveling, messages can often be left for them in care of General Delivery at the main post office in most countries.

Mail
Mail service can be slow, taking from ten days to a month for first class airmail. Surface mail will generally take two to three months and provides an inexpensive way to send additional clothing or other items to participants planning a longer stay. You should include an itemized list of the contents in the package and check with the US postal service or a private delivery service for any restrictions. We recommend, however, that you do not send items of great value through the regular mail service.

Express service is available, though generally more expensive, through services such as the US Postal Service, Federal Express, DHL, and United Parcel Service.

Since homesickness can be very strong in the first weeks of the program, we encourage you to write before departure so that the participant receives a letter from home shortly after arrival. A letter can make all the difference in the world to a lonely participant. We also encourage you to save the letters written to you over the course of the program. It can be a nice way for all of you to trace the changes and discoveries that occur during a study abroad experience.

Telephone
In general, it is much more expensive to call to the US from another country than to call from the US to a location overseas. Calling collect from another country to the US via a service such as USA Direct™ is most likely less expensive than dialing direct and paying local rates from another country.

Most students purchase phone cards in the host country to call family and friends in the US. Phone cards are convenient and offer competitive rates. Alternatively, participants may wish to pre-arrange a date and time to receive a call from the US to a specified number. Another option is for the participant to call collect to the US to confirm the overseas telephone number, hang up, and then have the person in the US call the participant. However, some host families may be reticent to allow long distance or local telephone calls to be made or received in the home, as there may be a charge for each use of the phone. Most countries do not itemize their bills the way we do in the US, which makes it impossible for the family to know the cost of each individual call. In some countries, international calls can also be made from the post office or a central telephone building.

Friends and family members should be aware that it is not always easy or convenient for a participant to call home immediately upon arrival in the host country. In some cases it may take several days for a participant to make an international call and occasionally telephone access may be impossible.