仔细看Appreciating Other Cultures
We can say almost without exception that living abroad is the best way to broaden your horizons and increase your appreciation for other cultures and people.Living in a different culture allows you to learn it from the inside out.Particularly if you are living with a host family or with foreign students who bring you into their group,you will learn more in a few weeks than you could in years of studying textbooks.
Little Blunders
The experience of living in another culture can also teach us how 'strange' some of our own assumptions are.Try looking for any sort of establishment abroad that is open 24/7 for your convenience.We guarantee you will not find many.(At least not of the sort that you should be going to!)
Life in many other areas of the world tends to move at a different pace and value different ideals than American culture.Although you also may be surprised occasionally at the strange places that America does intrude (such as hearing Britney Spears blaring on a market street in the middle of Guatemala).Savor the chance to get away from the familiar and learn from people that have an entirely different background and preconceptions.(Keep in mind that everyone has preconceptions; we just usually do not think about them since they inform and guide us all the time without us consciously referencing them.)
Different Lifestyles
One piece of advice for picking a school for study abroad would be to pick a type of institution that differs greatly from your home school.If you go to a small school,pick a big one,if you are on a rural campus,move to an urban campus,and vice versa.Look for someplace that will give you as diverse an experience as possible.
A new variety of available classes may also be an unexpected benefit of studying abroad.If you attend a small school normally,and pick a larger school for studying abroad,you may find that the new school offers that obscure class in children's fantasy literature that you have always wished existed at your school.The only way to discover these opportunities is to carefully examine what different schools offer.
Global Perspective
Those returning from studies abroad also tend to exclaim at their increased understanding of the world and the global perspective they acquired.It is not only the experience of learning about another culture that increases global perspective,it is learning from those that already have a more global perspective themselves.
Few nations today maintain as much isolation and general lack of global perspective as the United States and her citizens.Most Europeans you talk to will express amazement at the percentage of Americans that have never been out of the country,and do not even have their passports.People from most other nations tend to be more aware of the world around them out of necessity if nothing else.Studying abroad affords the unparalleled opportunity to not only learn about the country in which you are studying but also to visit neighboring countries and to explore the idea of a global community.
Another aspect of gaining a global perspective is understanding where the United States fits in terms of the world viewpoint.While this may not always make for a pretty or encouraging discussion,it is both informative and sobering to realize how people from many other areas of the globe view Americans.While these may be stereotypes just as we stereotype others,it is important to learn what other people think so that going forward,those with such an understanding can help shape America's future as part of that global community.