Tag: Travel

Safety and Security Abroad

Published on by E L BLeave a comment

As many of us enjoy summer travels or excitedly prepare for Study Abroad this fall, I’d like to take a moment to consider our safety. In light of recent tragic events, we’re reminded that while it’s seemingly impossible to control everything around us, it also reinforces the need to take precautions to ensure our safety and security.

On the Move

You will most likely be walking or taking a lot of public transportation while you are abroad. Even though you won’t be behind the wheel, you still need to know where you are going, and how to get there, before you set out. You might be concerned about standing out as a tourist by carrying around a map of the city or the public transportation routes. However, I doubt you’ll mind too much when you get on the wrong train and end up 40 minutes south of your flat in a part of town you’ve never seen before (I’ve done something like this too many times to count). It’s pretty easy to get directions off a smart phone, but keep in mind that your phone provider will charge you exponentially to use data while abroad, so have an alternate option available to you.

Also, use the buddy system, especially at night and early in the morning, or when you will be travelling through area’s where you know you will be a target. If you can’t help it and will be travelling alone, let someone know where you are going, preferably two people – one from the place you are leaving and one who you will meet at your destination.

If you do get lost, ask someone who looks official – a station guard, a clerk at a nearby store, a policeman, etc. – to point you in the right direction. Do not be afraid – or embarrassed – to ask for help multiple times until you get to where you need to be.

In your City

While everyone looks forward to feeling at home in the city where they have gone to study abroad, you don’t want to experience the rude awakening that you are still very much a foreigner in a strange place. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has a pretty good list of tips to stay safe on the street:

  • Don’t use short cuts, narrow alleys or poorly lit streets.
  • Try not to travel alone at night.
  • Avoid public demonstrations and other civil disturbances.
  • Keep a low profile and avoid loud conversations or arguments.
  • Do not discuss travel plans or other personal matters with strangers.
  • Avoid scam artists by being wary of strangers who approach you and offer to be your guide or sell you something at bargain prices.
  • Beware of pickpockets. They often have an accomplice who will:
    • jostle you,
    • ask you for directions or the time,
    • point to something spilled on your clothing,
    • or distract you by creating a disturbance.
  • Beware of groups of vagrant children who could create a distraction to pick your pocket.
  • Wear the shoulder strap of your bag across your chest and walk with the bag away from the curb to avoid drive-by purse-snatchers.
  • Try to seem purposeful when you move about. Even if you are lost, act as if you know where you are going. Try to ask for directions only from individuals in authority.
  • Know how to use a pay telephone and have the proper change or token on hand.
  • Learn a few phrases in the local language or have them handy in written form so that you can signal your need for police or medical help.
  • Make a note of emergency telephone numbers you may need: police, fire, your hotel, and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
  • If you are confronted, don’t fight back — give up your valuables.

Party Responsibly 

It’s tempting to drop your inhibitions when you go abroad. Have fun, go out to pubs with friends, and dance at all the discotecas if you want, just make sure to watch yourself.

The establishments you might be tempted to visit in your host city are those catered towards tourists . These, unfortunately, are not always the safest of establishments and can attract some pretty seedy clientele looking to take advantage of inebriated youth from out of town. And I’m not just talking about the girls – guys are just as vulnerable as girls in this situation.

First and foremost, watch your drinks (if you choose to drink). You know the drill: always order your drink yourself and watch the bartender pour it in front of you. For whatever reason, tourist bars tend to add more liquor to their mixed drinks than what you would get at your local spot State-side, so make sure you see exactly how much alcohol is going in to your glass.

Once you have your drink, keep it close by your body at all times, and try to keep your hand covering the top of the glass. This will hopefully prevent anyone from spiking your drink. And like I said, guys are just as vulnerable. When I was travelling in Peru three of my friends had their drinks spiked while they were out – two of them where guys. People mistakenly believe that only women are at risk of being drugged, but men are often targeted, and then robbed.

If you do feel like you have been drugged, go to a hospital. Give the doctors as much information as you can provide, then contact your in-country program coordinator to let them know about your condition.

If you and your friends frequent the same bars and clubs over and over again while you are abroad, get to know the bouncers and bartenders that work there. If they are good at what they do, once they know you (and see you as a regular customer) they will watch out for you.

What if something does go wrong while I’m abroad?

If something does happen while you are abroad, you should first contact your in-country program coordinator. Your first reaction may be to call your friends and family, but to be honest, there isn’t much that they can do (except worry) from back home. Take down all of the contact information your program coordinator gives you at your orientation. Four numbers you should definitely have are:

1)   Your study abroad program’s on-site address and phone number(s)

2)   Your host family’s address and phone number(s)

3)   The local emergency phone numbers (police, fire, medical)

4)   The closest U.S. Consulate’s address and phone number

Keep them in your phone’s contact list, and written down in a second location, in case your phone is lost or stolen. Sometimes, those numbers become your lifelines.

The U.S. State Department has a very good resource for student’s who need help in emergencies while studying abroad. See their website (below) for more information.

This is hardly an exhaustive list of safety measures to take while studying abroad. Behind every safety warning is a call to be prepared and aware. Pay attention to your surroundings, especially the people around you, and prepare yourself for a misstep or mistake that could land you in trouble. This isn’t meant to scare you, but to prepare you for a true adventure. Enjoy yourself abroad! You will have a much better experience abroad knowing that you are safe and secure in your new surroundings, prepared to tackle any unexpected circumstances that may come your way.

Good Sources

More tips on how to keep yourself, your friends, and your belongings safe abroad!

http://www.hercampus.com/life/how-stay-safe-while-traveling-abroad?page=3

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles/76192

http://studentsabroad.state.gov/index.php

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1747.html

–  Emily Bowman, DUSA Blogger

The Ultimate Decision

Published on by sarahsouthafrica3 Comments

On a chilly November morning a young woman was spotted crossing the street at Evans and University.  She was flustered, in a rush, and multi tasking (as most young people in this time period do).  The noticeable thing about this common situation were the papers in her hand.  Multi-colored and large in quantity, it was clear that the papers had been acquired from a Study Abroad 101 session.  They were brochures for different schools in different countries.  While most students leave their 101 session with a few flyers, Sarah left hers with 89.  When she was spotted, she was in the process of arranging the flyers by color, into different regions.  Sorting the schools by color was the only way Sarah knew how to start.

As a mathematics major at the University of Denver, Sarah only knew one thing about her academics abroad: she didn’t need to take any math.  Maybe she’d take a few theater classes to fulfill some of her minor requirements, but theater was offered everywhere.  She didin’t have a particular interest in a certain language, she didn’t have to go anywhere for scholastic reasons, and she didn’t have an interest in a certain area.  That is why she walked out the 101 session with every flyer that didn’t have a language requirement or other prerequisite that she didn’t have.  That was why she was sorting flyers by color because it was the only way she knew how to start.  Because she didn’t have a single preference on where to go.  Actually, she didn’t even want to go.

Sarah is a master of the idea, “Don’t wait for the rain to pass, learn to dance in it instead.”  A life in poverty and tragedy teaches some to rebel, be angry, and do things they think they ‘deserve’ after all of the crap they’ve been through.  It teaches others to be happy with what they’re given, work hard, and change whatever they can.  As a Daniels Fund recipient, Sarah fell into category two.  The Daniels Fund is a supplemental scholarship to any University in the United States.  This includes financial coverage of study abroad.  As someone who had never left their hometown and who had only been on a plane twice, it’s more than unfathomable that she got to study in a different country for almost no cost.  So much more unfathomable was that she didn’t want to go.  She was happy at DU. She’d found a home, friends who she loved, and a place she belonged.  She was more than blessed, and couldn’t think of a good reason to leave it except the fact that everyone told her she should.  Deep down she knew she should too, but knowing and feeling are two different things.

Luckily the story doesn’t end with a confused girl with 89 flyers.  I know this because I am that girl and I know that I’m going to the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg.  It’s a beautiful school in South Africa. (see below)  The thing is, the process of choosing UKZN wasn’t simple.

After organizing the schools by region, I realized how pointless that was.  I’ve never dreamt of going anywhere.  I’m not even sure if I understood that I could.  So I didn’t have a place I really wanted to visit or didn’t want to visit.  Who cares what part of the world the school’s in?  So then I prayed a lot.  I read through all of my flyers again and again.  I tried asking myself questions to narrow the search.  Do I want strong culture shock?  Do I want to live on campus, with other international students, or in a home of a native?  Do I want a lot of other Americans around?  Do I want beauty and places that have lots of adventure?

The more I questioned myself, the more I didn’t know the answer.  I’d be happy anywhere, and probably happiest right here at DU. I got rid of the schools that required me to take a language while I was abroad because I stink at foreign languages.  I got rid of the flyers that told me I had to present a ‘portfolio’ to get in because I didn’t have one and didn’t have time to make one good enough to get accepted.  I got rid of the schools that didn’t offer theatre classes and the ones that specialized in an area that I’m not good at.  I had about 41 flyers left.

“The heart can be deceptive, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to its suggestions.”

I had spent so much time of weeding out schools based on facts about them, and I felt like I was getting nowhere.  So I tried a different technique.  I let my heart decide.  I just started reading flyers (for about the 30th time) and placed them in piles.  The ones I was sick of looking at and reading I placed into the ‘no’ pile.  The ones that made my heart excited got placed into the ‘maybe’ pile.  The maybe pile only had 13 flyers in it.  This process was more successful than I thought it would be.

With only thirteen schools to look at, I felt more equipped to make a decision.  I looked up the schools online.  I looked up information about where they were located, climate, culture, ect.  I looked at pictures and imagined myself in each place.  Then I let it go.  I didn’t look at those thirteen flyers for about two weeks.  I didn’t think about abroad.  I went on with life and gave my brain, heart, and soul a break.

When I went back two weeks later, I played the heart game again.  They all still excited my heart.  I was still interested in all thirteen, but there were five that I lingered on just a little bit longer. There was Canterbuy in New Zeland, Cork in Ireland, Tasmania in Australia, Ulster in Northern Ireland, and KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. With in a day I had chosen UKZN.

A mini story is that I knew that I was leaning towards this school since my study abroad 101 session.  My 101 leader, Christina, went the UKZN three years ago and she spoke about how she got into a class where she got credit for working with kids who have AIDS in a children’s hospital.  Afterwards she and I had a long talk about me not wanting to go abroad and she prayed with me about it.  Through the entire process UKNZ lingered towards the top, but I didn’t want to choose it just because it was the first interesting school I heard about.  I wanted to go to the best place for me.

Once I started talking about the schools to different people, the answer became clear.  First of all, I received an email that day that told me that two schools weren’t offered for the Fall of 2012 anymore.  They both happened to be on my list. Then I was telling my pro and con list of the three schools to one of my best friends, Adam, and when I was done he gave me ‘the look’ and said, “I already know where you’re going and you do to.  Why is it even a question?” I knew he was talking about South Africa, but I asked him just to make sure.  He was.  Then I was explaining the options to one of my adult role models and he just politely listened.   After a leadership meeting, where I shared that he has a way of saying things that don’t relate to anything I’m going through, but some saying exactly what I need to hear, he looks me in the eyes and says “South Africa”.  When I woke up the next morning, I knew what I wanted.

I went through the motions, just in case.  I knew deep down that I wanted to stay here.  It took a lot to find my fire.  I talked to a lot of people, I prayed a lot; I did a lot of research.  I found reasons that I needed to go, besides just ‘ not losing an opportunity.’  I reached a point where it was my reality, and an exciting reality at that.

Sarah Caulkins, DUSA blogger