Thank you for volunteering to serve as a past participant at a Learning Abroad Center orientation! Your insight, tips, and advice are very valuable to students about to go on a study abroad program. As you prepare for the orientation, the following information may be a helpful guide.

Try to be positive and remember not to phrase your observations as judgments. Discuss what is "different" rather than what is better or worse.

You may wish to bring pictures with you to orientation (optional).

Aspects of your Experience to Discuss

Academics

• what classes were like
• differences between teaching and assessment styles
• how it fit into your University of Minnesota degree requirements

On-site orientation

• schedule
• what to expect
• how it helped you to adjust

Host culture

• what was it like compared to US culture? (Please frame this in terms of how it was different as opposed to what you disliked.)
• how did your host culture view US culture?
• what research did you do prior to departure to help you prepare for your experience?
• what were your impressions of your host culture the first two weeks and what are they now?

Communication

• when/how to communicate with family at home
• email/internet access
• cultural differences in communication

Housing

• what was your housing while you were on the program?

Packing

• provide tips on what to bring and what not to bring

Eating and drinking

• typical food, meal times
• habits/tendencies of host culture (refrain from emphasizing pub/bar life)

Money

• how much money did you bring
• forms of money — cash, credit, traveler’s checks
• exchange rate
• money saving tips

Travel

• program-related excursions
• travel tips
• plane tickets, train tickets, etc. (please
  avoid advising students to travel all of the time because we encourage students to really
  get to know the city in which they are studying)

Health and Safety

• For students who studied in Australia or New Zealand: the Learning Abroad Center strongly discourages students to rent cars because of the safety risks involved.

Culture shock

• what took getting used to while you were in your host country?
• what has it been like to return to the US?
• what has it been like to return to the University of Minnesota?

Other insights

• things you wish you would have known before you left
• what you wish you would have done when you were there
• what you learned from this experience

Last modified on November 21, 2008