housing: living local abroad
What do you want out of your study abroad experience?
Do you want to return home with some pleasant
memories and a smattering of foreign phrases and
vocabulary words? Or will you commit to total immersion,
embrace the experience for all it offers, and live your
life knowing you thrived in another culture, faced its
challenges, and emerged reinvented?
Your accommodations play a big role in shaping the
overall experience you have. Housing choices vary
significantly with each country, city, and program, so it’s
important to thoroughly investigate the options to select
one that is a good fit for your personal needs and study
abroad objectives.
When spending a summer, semester, or year abroad you
may choose to live in a dormitory, student apartment, or
homestay. Your hosts, roommates, and neighbors could be
students from the host country, other international students,
or students from your own country or program. If language
acquisition is a key goal of yours, you may want to seek
out a program that pairs students with native speakers in
a homestay or dormitory. To better integrate into the host
community, you should look at programs that place you in the
community with a host family or local students.
stretch yourself
No matter what destination you choose, it won’t be like home. There will be a temptation to spend time with people of similar backgrounds, to live in a comfort zone, or “American bubble.” Instead, stretch your heart and mind to embrace differences and seize opportunities for growth. Don’t keep your host culture at a safe distance. Wade in and live it like the locals do. The right housing choice can be a gateway to meeting and befriending local residents, sharing how they live, work, eat, and socialize.
classes without walls
The beautiful part of studying abroad is that your education
extends far beyond the walls of the classroom. It spans out
to encompass neighborhoods new and ancient, cobblestone
streets and modern thoroughfares, monuments to antiquity
and artistic expressions of enduring aspiration.
Connect with your host family and local students for an
inside track to discovering and living it all with the guiding
wisdom that only a local host can provide. They can tell you
the best times to visit popular attractions, share the fastest
transportation routes from points A to B, and reveal the
lesser known sites that foreign visitors often miss.
what to expect from accommodations
Houses, dormitories, and apartments in the United States tend
to be larger than their foreign counterparts. Remember this as
you travel because your room is likely to be smaller than what
you are used to at home. In many parts of the world, locals
don’t socialize at home. Instead they may gravitate to public
spaces like restaurants, parks, and festivals. Internet access
is available in some locations, but not all, so you may have to
use campus computer labs, Internet cafés, or similar venues
to go online.
adjustment period
The exhilaration of your first few days and weeks abroad may
be coupled with other emotions as well. The absence of familiar
people, surroundings, food, and communication can lead to
homesickness, and difficulties adjusting to your new culture.
This is perfectly normal. Connecting with local families
and students can ease the transition by acting as your sage
advocates, gastronomic mentors, and cultural navigators.
As you enter a new culture, an evolution begins. You start
to learn new ways of thinking and acting as you adapt to
your environment. It’s a natural growth process, one that an
experienced homestay host can help you through until you’re
ready to start opening new doors of adventure on your own.
guidance
When you live with a host family or local students, they can
instruct you about the ins and outs of their country and
introduce you to local customs and traditions. They can
nudge you toward shopping and dining venues, steer you
away from seedy or dangerous areas, or direct you to cool
hangouts where you may meet your next lifelong friend.
They are an invaluable resource as you start to learn your
new environment.
language learning
The best way to truly experience a foreign country and its
people is to learn and speak their language. Living with local
host families or roommates gives you a chance to practice
classroom learning in real life situations, which is the best
way to learn. They can correct you when you make mistakes
and introduce you to idioms and idiosyncrasies of the
language you can’t learn in a book, and ultimately enables you
to become part of your new community.
the homestay option
A popular alternative to dormitory or apartment living is the
host family. A homestay allows students to live in private
homes of local residents and many homestays offer the
best means of cultural immersion, language acquisition, and
other benefits that enrich the experience. Homestays come
in many different forms; it’s not one size fits all and no two
experiences are the same.
Some of the more common forms of homestay include
households made up of the following:
- Families with small children
- Families with high school age children
- Households with young professionals
- Households with graduate school students
- Households with with older couples who have no children in the home
- Families whose children are young adults and are rarely present
- Homestay moms [known as señoras in Spain]
To evaluate your housing options, ask your campus study abroad
advisor what they have heard about homestays versus other
options on the programs you are contemplating. Ask if they can
connect you with other students who have studied on
the same programs recently so you can get their been-theredone-
that perspective. Always remember that every homestay
experience is unique to the host you are placed with and how you
fit in with them.
when considering a homestay
Choosing and committing to a homestay is a serious undertaking,
one that you will benefit from for the rest of your life.
There are many variables to consider, however there are a
couple areas where it is unwise to compromise–and you need
to do your research.
Quality
Here are some questions to ask when evaluating a study
abroad program’s homestay offering:
- How does the organization ensure the quality of the homestay experience?
- How are homestay hosts and residences selected?
- Is there an approval process for hosts and, if so, how thorough is it?
- Does the study abroad organization visit each homestay for an in-person evaluation?
- Are the hosts experienced, perhaps repeating semester after semester, or is this their first time hosting?
- Does the program have in-country personnel to coordinate the homestay process, or is it managed remotely?
- Are homestays uniformly located near campuses, city centers, or public transportation?
- Are students allowed to evaluate their homestay experience and are past evaluations freely available?
Health and Safety
Your health, safety, and general well-being should be of
paramount importance to your study abroad program and to
your homestay host. When evaluating a potential homestay,
ask what policies and procedures the organization has in
place to safeguard students.
- Do they have resident medical professionals who can assist in a crisis?
- Are homestay hosts committed to maintaining a healthy, safe environment?
- Are hosts or in-country coordinators prepared to act as liaisons with medical professionals if you become sick or injured?
- Can hosts assist with medical needs such as prescriptions?
- Have residences been vetted to accommodate students with allergies or specific eating styles?
long-lasting connections
The language and living skills you learn studying abroad will
enhance your life in ways you cannot anticipate. And the
experiences you have will put a smile on your face for years to
come. But nothing will be as enduring and heartwarming as the
relationships you forge. It’s common for former students to stay
in touch with and even visit their host family or friends years
after their stay. And don’t be surprised once you return if they
want to visit you in the United States and ask you to be their
cultural guide.
Knowledge is a series of informational brochures for students, parents, and advisors brought to you by CIEE. As the leading U.S. non-governmental international education organization, CIEE develops and provides programs that allow students and educators to study and teach abroad. We believe that there is no better way to increase international understanding and establish trust between nations. Whether you choose one of our 80 programs or another provider’s, we’re thrilled that you’re embarking on this transforming, enduring experience.
Additional copies and displays are available upon request at knowledge@ciee.org.