Whether you aspire to live, work or study in another country or if you are already doing that, then the word “expat” is part of your everyday language. In the most general sense, an “expat” is anyone who is temporarily or permanently living in a country other than the one where they claim citizenship. If that is you, then you are in the right place.
Every time you become an expat, you go through the learning curve of planning, moving and acclimating to that new culture. At first the learning curve is steep, but once you get a hang of it, it becomes easier and easier.
That is what the Expatacular tips are all about. Making your first or next expat move easier. If you have any to suggest, leave them in the comments or send us a message.
Today’s tip: Calculate your cost of living
One of the largest adjustments when to moving to a new country is how much things cost relative to what you are used to. Prepare yourself before you go. Know how much money you will need to have an equivalent lifestyle of what you have today. This will help you to negotiate your salary better (if you are moving for a job), gauge a better price point for housing, and give you a sense of what general living expenses are like.
Cost of living calculators tend to be rather nebulous. Expatistan gives clarity to the ambiguous space of cost of living calculators. This free application does a cost comparison any two given cities based on Food, Housing, Clothes, Transportation, Health and Entertainment. It gives an overall picture of how much more or less you will be spending in cities around the world.
While cost of living calculators in general are a smart move, do not rely on them as your only source of information. Do some digging on local websites to get a better picture of how much money you will be spending.
Doing your research (Photo attribution to -Snugg-)
Being prepared before you move abroad for your internship, study or travel experience is a surefire way to have an experience that will enrich your career. Preparation involves obvious things like having the correct visa arrangements, knowing your accommodations, packing the right gear, etc. Under the radar, though, is having a cultural perspective about the country that you will be calling ‘home’ for the duration of your trip. This is just as important in preparation for your trip.
Over the next week, assess your country choices and narrow it down to your top 3 countries. Use this 3-day breakdown to help you to make the most informed choice. Educating yourself about the country is the best way to circumnavigate traveling to scope out your destination if that may not be an option.
Day 1 (Approximate time: 30 min) Choose your target countries
Think of why you want to live in that country and how it fits into your personal beliefs and likes. Consider the physical landscape, language, culture, business etiquette and any other factors that contribute to your overall experience. Sometimes we disregard the importance of these considerations and how they affect our adventures abroad. Check online resources like globalEDGE or Lonely Planet to help you research the specifics. Narrow your country choices down to 3 countries.
Day 2 (Approximate time: 30 min) Define the best cities based
Continue to narrow down your focus by choosing the cities best suited for the type of experience you are looking for. This is largely determined whether you are looking to work, study or travel and whether or not you need to be in a metropolitan area. There are pros and cons of living in a cities of different sizes. It all depends on the type of experience you are looking to have.
Day 3 (Approximate time: 1 hr) Calculate your cost-of-living
You need to know the amount of money needed to sustain yourself when moving abroad. Not only will this allow you to save accordingly, but also givse you the foresight of what to expect once you are there. The last thing you want to do is run out of money a month into your international experience. Your cost-of-living barometer incorporates the expenses you may incur while living abroad like housing, transportation, personal care, food and entertainment. Check on travel forums like Thorntree or websites local websites like Gumtree or Craigslist international to get a sense of what people your age are spending on food, housing and entertainment when traveling to those countries. If possible, calculate a per diem cost and multiply that by the days that you will spend in that country.
How do you do your country research? What other tips and resources can you suggest for someone looking to move abroad?
The driving factor for these three people and their experiences has been one thing – transforming that desire into action. The ‘want’ is only a tiny element of having an international experience. Turing that ‘want’ into a ‘reality’ is what will make the difference in having an international experience and not having one at all. During each of our interviews, we have made it a point to give you the tools to make your international dreams come true. The last question to all of our interviewees in this 10 part series is designed to give you 3-5 actionable steps to implement right away.
This week we sat down with Michael Pearson, a University of Texas International Business graduate, who studied abroad in South Korea from August 2005 – July 2006. He walks us through his whole study abroad experience and how he turned his idea into a reality. Read more…
After our interview with James Norris, the young professional working in Singapore, we realized that having the right resources to find an international job is key. A great place to start your search is to utilize the international programs office at your university. If you don’t have access to that, use this starter list that we compiled from several career service offices for finding an international work opportunity. Remember to tell everyone that you are looking for an international job. Post it on your Facebook, your LinkedIn profile (if you don’t have one yet you should build a profile now) and any other social sites that you are part of. Everyone that you tell brings you one step close to that job. Do you know of any other websites that we should include in our list? Feel free to leave it in the comments. Sometimes, the best resources are the ones passed along through word of mouth.
• GoAbroad.com – Provides an international education database and internship opportunities connected to study abroad programs, as well as volunteer placements.
• British Universities North America Club (BUNAC) – Find temporary work and/or travel programs in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.
• Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) – Provides the necessary documents and practical information on finding temporary work and housing in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand. Click on “Work Abroad”.
• Escape Artist – Find international job listings, links to embassies, and information about living abroad.
• Foreign Policy Association – Click “Job Board” to find jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities worldwide.
• ResortJobs.com – Find job listings at worldwide resorts, ski areas, camps, parks, cruise ships and hotels.
• The Riley Guide – Resources for International Job Opportunities – Find job listings for many countries and regions of the world.
• GoinGlobal.com – The GoinGlobal.com team is comprised of individuals representing many different nationalities who all have one experience in common—they have all lived and worked outside of their home countries. (Yes – you can use us too!)
Erin Bream - Fulbright Scholar in Colombia (July 2005 - July 2006)
Today we are kicking off our series exploring 10 different international experiences. We wanted to give you an insider perspective on how to achieve a work life balance while incorporating time abroad into your professional career.
We recently sat down with Erin Bream, a Washington state native, who took the initiative to live and travel abroad as a Fulbright Scholar after graduating from Claremont McKenna College in 2005. Shortly after graduation, Ms. Bream was accepted to the Fulbright Scholarship program where she lived and worked in Bogotá, Colombia researching small business and micro enterprise development. We explored her journey, from July 2005 – July 2006, to help you understand how being a Fulbright Scholar can take you internationally.
Going Global: What is a Fulbright Scholar?
Erin Bream: In the after math of World War II, Senator Jay William Fulbright proposed the best way to prevent a third World War was to foster cultural understanding among nations. That gave birth to the Fulbright Scholarship, a State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affair sponsored academic scholarship. The scholarship fosters cultural research and cooperation in over 155 countries, among the best and the brightest, for a period of 10 – 12 months. The application process is completely self-directed. The applicant chooses the destination country and writes a research proposal for further cultural investigation. My program was specifically for candidates that were graduating from university; however there are programs that do not require application through an educational institution.
GG: Why did you choose to do a Fulbright Scholarship?
EB: I had studied abroad in Cuba during college and had such a wonderful experience being immersed in a place that was completely different from my own. Cuba has a different language, political system, economic system and culture. When I came back from that experience, the only thing that I wanted to do was to go abroad again to another Spanish speaking country.
One of the fascinating things about Cuba was the economic change that I saw taking place. Because of some minor governmental changes, small businesses were springing up around the island. In the larger context of Cuba, this is very notable. Although I had initially chosen to go to Cuba because I was intrigued and troubled by their human rights records, when I got there the most interesting thing was the power of small business to transform people’s lives. I wanted to do a Fulbright in Cuba but there are no diplomatic relations at this time. So I looked for another Spanish speaking country that had a notable record of human rights violations that also had a history of business development. That is how I chose Colombia. Having come out of my undergrad, I wanted to continue on this global experience and explore this topic further.
GG: What was the tipping point that encouraged you to pursue a Fulbright scholarship in Colombia?
EB: It was the incredible potential opportunity that I didn’t think would be available at any other point in my life. There aren’t many times in a person’s life when you can effectively be subsidized by your own government to do anything you want to do. It was an opportunity to choose where I wanted to go to better learn a language I wanted to learn and study something that I was intensely interested in. No one was telling me what to do or how to do it. It was also fully subsidized. I also had several job offers at the time one of which I accepted one of the job offers. I was able to defer it a year; however, even if I had not been able to defer it I still would have taken the Fulbright Scholarship. I realized that jobs come and go, but scholarships like this are much out of the ordinary. It was too great of an opportunity to pass up.
GG: How did you find this opportunity?
EB: I found it through my university. I was interested in international scholarship opportunities and had heard about the Fulbright Scholarship. I took the initiative and attended an information session to learn more.
GG: How did you prepare for to be a Fulbright Scholar?
EB: Although I didn’t know it, I had been preparing for the application process throughout college career. My major was in International Relations and Economics; I had studied abroad; and kept abreast of international current affairs. It was a desire to go abroad, a strong academic record and international knowledge that prepared me for my experience. These were things that I could not have crammed for but had been building unintentionally throughout my entire college experience.
GG: What type of planning did it involve?
EB: I didn’t really know how to prepare because I had a vague idea of what I was getting into. I just did it. I didn’t know where I would live, what the food was like, what Colombian Spanish sounded like. I read a little bit about those things but I didn’t really have a full-fledged plan. I simply figured it out when I got there and everything turned out to be fine. Little preparation is ok because it usually turns out differently than you would have planned either way. That was the best take away.
GG: What were the costs associated with being a Fulbright Scholar and how much did it cost you?
EB: There was the cost of immunization, getting a visa, flights, transportation, housing, food & travel. As a Fulbright Scholar, you receive a monthly stipend from the State Department. In total it cost me approximately $500 a month to sustain myself not including extensive travel.
GG: What was your favorite part about living in Colombia?
EB: The people. It was meeting so many wonderful people and making wonderful friends that I otherwise would not have met. It sounds very cliché and it is. You travel to other places and realize that people are the same everywhere. It is a wonderful lesson not only to learn but also to internalize.
GG: What was your least favorite part about living in Colombia?
EB: My least favorite part was the challenges I faced sometimes integrating into the social groups and the culture. I wanted to go and live like a Colombian. This of course is broad, much like living like an American. There is no one kind of American or Colombian. I found that sometimes I was an outsider because I was different.
GG: What are 3 steps that you can recommend for someone who wants to pursue an international experience as a Fulbright Scholar?
EB:
Do your research and understand the opportunities out there. Look at the Fulbright Research Program, the Fulbright Teaching Program and the Rotary Scholarship for different international experience scholarships.
Apply. It sounds very basic but I know of quite a few people who have been intimidated by of the idea of applying, having the right qualifications, etc.
While you are applying for the scholarship, keep pursuing as many opportunities as possible. I continued to interviewing for job opportunities just in case I was not awarded the scholarship.
For more information about the Fulbright Scholarship programs, visit http://www.fulbrightonline.org/. To learn more about the various international exchange scholarship programs, visit the Council of International Exchange of Scholarshttp://www.cies.org/.
Small cultural nuances make all the difference when traveling to a new country. Something as subtle as knowing the protocol of shaking hands will distinguish you as a culturally sensitive foreigner. Use these tid bits for your next trip to India.
Shaking hands is not a universal greeting in India, especially between a man and a woman.
Let the Indian host to take the lead in offering a hand shake.
The most common greeting in India is to join your hands together as in prayer, nod your head and say “Namaste”. The word “Namaste” comes from Hindi Sanskrit meaning namas ‘bowing’ + te ‘to you.’ This means that “I honor the spirit in you” as a greeting.
Most Indian women do not shake hands with men since physical contact is traditionally not acceptable between the opposite sex. However, a Westernized Indian woman may feel free to shake hands with a foreign visitor.
College gives you the environment to accumulate the necessary tools and skills to be a successful working professional. An international internship simply adds to your toolbox. What is it though that makes an international internship so important? Obvious reasons like gaining work experience and building your resume, have been ingrained in our heads as appropriate justifications. Digging deeper however is a subtler and yet equally if not more fulfilling reward of interning abroad.
Having come back from my year long trip after college, I was sent this video by my boyfriend, as a reminder of why we decided to embark on our gap year. As I was brainstorming topics for this post, it dawned on me that interning and living abroad is not just about expanding your cultural and professional horizons. It is about discovering who you are in the process. The story, the images and the music of this video continue to inspire me every time I watch it. What I learned most in all my international experiences, be it when I was a high school student, a young professional or a gap year traveler, is that every country that I have lived or traveled to, are part of my journey of self discovery.
That is the essence of an international internship. Over the years I have spoken to many students and professionals who share international living and working experiences. The common theme is the awareness that they have developed about themselves. The advantage of living and working in another country is that it forces you to discover new things every day. Every day therefore becomes a journey. Buying milk is journey. Riding the bus to see your new friends is a journey. Asking for directions to where you live is a journey. By learning to think outside of your cultural and professional box, you are opening yourself to new beginnings. An international internship opens you to yourself.
*Disclaimer: Going Global does not directly endorse Louis Vuitton. This video is strictly for education purposes.
Going Global is the leading provider of country specific career and employment resources for individuals interested in working outside of their home country. More than 500 universities around the world currently subscribe to Going Global for use by their students, staff and alumni. We provide Country Career Guides, USA City Career Guides, corporate profiles for the world's leading employers and a job search database with over 500,000 worldwide job and internship listings. You can learn more about us at Goinglobal.com.
