Exchange Programs At My School

[Moco Loco]

Anyone live in any of these places?

Australia- Lismore
Austria- Innsbruck
Brazil- Salvador
Costa Rica- San Ramon
Chile- Santiago
Czech Republic- Prague, Brno
England- London
France- Orleans, Paris, Montpellier
Germany- Cottbus, Frankfurt, Marburg, Kassel, Berlin, Bremen Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Munster, Osnabruck
Italy- Merano, Rome
Japan- Kyoto
The Netherlands- Rotterdam
Scotland- Edinburgh
Spain- Castellon de la Plana
Turkey- Istanbul

I will of course likely not actually be doing any of these unless I get a job and my parents decide to get generous , but I have just found out that the financial aid I get regularly would apply to various abroad programs as well. I have been feeling more and more that I'd like to do something like this, and though it may be that I never will, I'm going to look into it just for fun. The cheapest of them are $4000 (Costa Rica), and that's about all I know right now. Czech Republic is the next cheapest, since Americans are afraid to go there Anyway, if anyone has been to any of these places and has comments (weather, crime rate, public transportation, whatever), I'd appreciate hearing them, and it would be pretty cool to still be in the same city with another clanmember

[Empty Glass]

Originally Posted by Moco Loco

I have been feeling more and more that I'd like to do something like this, and though it may be that I never will, I'm going to look into it just for fun.

Dude, just do it. Get out of the country for a while with whatever means you got. If you're open to adventure, you won't regret it. I took a course in Vienna last summer and it was one of the best decisions I ever made in college. As soon as I can, I plan on going abroad again. I really want to work on some language skills.

As far as places on that list, I've been to London, Paris, and Prague (Americans are afraid of the Czech Republic? ) but there are probably other posters here who could give you much better advice on any of those cities than I can.

[Pa'li Makto]

Lismore...Hmm it's way up north right near Queensland. Lismore Tourism*2011 :: Welcome It's a nice holiday destination, I think you'd like it quite a lot. I'm not too sure about the crime but since you wouldn't be in the major cities I'd say it's quite safe, families travel around there.

I'd love to go on an exchange program but since the nearest country is a while away, it's pretty expensive..>.< I say if you can though, definitely go for it!!

[Moco Loco]

Originally Posted by Empty Glass

Dude, just do it. Get out of the country for a while with whatever means you got. If you're open to adventure, you won't regret it.

I promise, I'll regret it intensely if I end up in debt because of it. If I do this, it'll be without any loans, and that's probably not possible, but I'll still look into it. Shady international education dept at UNO doesn't list the prices of these programs; I have to fill out a giant form "requesting information"

[Human No More]

I live about an hour away from London. It's a great place, if a little expensive

[Moco Loco]

As it turns out, in the day since I made this thread, I have come upon a very high paying job. These are now much more possible than I had ever thought

[Human No More]

London!

[Moco Loco]

As it is now, if I don't get fired (and there's no reason I should, I can do just fine selling the world's best knives ), I'll definitely be able to do a semester somewhere. The thing is, I've always wanted Germany, but there's one catch: I would need to get *some* type of job while I'm there so I wouldn't come back to America sad and broke. That rules out Germany since I'd most likely have to speak German to be employed anywhere, and I don't speak German well enough to look professional by any means This means I have to go to a country which at least speaks English sometimes. That leaves, from the original list,
Australia
Czech
England
Netherlands
Turkey
(I left out Scotland because that's only available for the summer.)

[Advent]

I think the Czech Republic would be interesting, but that's just me.

[Empty Glass]

Maybe you should go CZECH IT OUT!!

(Oh dear, I'm sorry, that was horrible, I'll just leave now, shall I? )

Prague is the only place in the Czech Republic that I've visited. There are definitely a lot of people speaking English there, not to mention a lot of signs, store windows, and restaurant menus (well, in the parts of the city that I saw anyways). While taking the train there, I was going over a list of basic Czech phrases I had printed out, but I didn't end up using it at all. I actually kind of wanted to, or felt like I should have.

London and England are certainly great to visit too. I've had the good fortune of seeing them on two separate trips.

[Moco Loco]

Lolzords, lucky for you Empty Glass, I'm quite drunk and that hit my funny bone

Personally, I feel kind of tied between Czech and England atm. Anyone on ToS known to live in Czech?

[Empty Glass]

anytime

I think rasomaso lives in Prague, maybe he wouldn't mind helping you out...? Pretty sure one of the pics in his sig is of the city.

[Moco Loco]

For a number of reasons, it is looking like England will be the best and possibly only option.
England it is

[Alan]

Just seen this Moco - Yeah I know I'm like an Ikran's tail - always behind! Hehehe.

Anyway if you do end up coming over to England, don't be a stranger. We can always have mini meet up with some UK Avatar fans.

As for the weather over here. Well there are no great fluctuations in temperature like you can get over your way. Winter time -5C (23F) at the worst usually, up to 12C (53F). Spring 6C (42F) to 16 C (60F). Summer 16C (60F) to 25C (77F). Mostly damp in winter, spring...errr...and summer too! Hehehe. Oh forgot autumn, which you know as fall...well...damp! Although it seems to change from year to year. But it's not all that wet really....unless you go to Manchester! Sorry, bit of an in house joke really.

Crime rates? Well, as you can probably guess it is worse in the cities, but I feel pretty safe the places I go, which includes cities, like Birmingham. Knife crime seems to be the main thing rather than guns...coz guns are basically banded - even the police in the UK don't carry guns (although there are armed response units). If you get lost you can always ask a policeman (also know as 'bobbies' over here...amongst other names!).

Public Transport: Although it is not as good as it is in mainland Europe, you will find there is copious amounts of it. London is certainly well catered for with a very comprehensive bus, rail and underground (that's not a terrorist organisation! - just our name for what you will know as the subway) There are even trams in some places like Croydon (south London).

Outside of London the public transport is still pretty good. You can live in the UK without needing a car...well I do!

Although the rail network was slashed in the 60s, there is still a comprehensive network that covers the whole country. A number of cities have tram networks and there a generally buses everywhere. The only downside to the public transport in the UK is that it is mega expensive! In fact any transport in the UK is - Meh! However, booking in advance really does cheapen things and the other thing you will benefit from is getting things like a student rail card, which gives you a 1/3 of fares. There are other student cards too. If you know what you want to do, I can find out further information for you if needed.

Other stuff? Errr...You may find we are quite a compact country compared to the US. Cities and towns are close together. I live between two cities each of which are only 8 miles away, yet if I walk for ten minutes I'm in the countryside. Our cities are not 'tall' unless you go to the business area of London.

The only real 'wilderness' in the UK you will find is in the north and west of Scotland - bascially like the places you see the Hogwarts train pass through in the Harry Potter films.

Maybe something you might find a little quirky about the UK, especially in England, is how the accents change every few tens of miles, which might bring a smile to your face as you try to understand someone saying "Ey up mi duck" or "Wey ey pet" or "Yor roit, yoth" - all different ways folks say hello over here - (East midlands, North East and the West Midlands respectively).

Oh, we are a bit mixed up in our units, in terms of imperial vs metric. Distance is still miles, but most other things are metric, like mass (kg) (1 kg = 2.2 lbs), volume (litres or millilitres). Inches, feet and yards are still common and well understood, although most things are measured in millimeters, centimeters or meters.

Currency wise we have a few more coin to choose from than you have in the US. They are also all different sizes and metal to help recognise them. As you will know we have 'pence' and 'pounds'. Coins come in 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2. Notes are different colours and sizes again and come in £5, £10, £20...and £50 - but if you have one of these, people will think you robbed a bank! Hahahaha.

Ohh...when crossing the road (and you can cross anywhere - unless it's like a motorway or dual carriage way - we don't have J-walking laws) remember to look right first as we drive on the left.

Names for things is fun too: We say chips, you say fries. We say crisps, you say chips! You say pants, we say "It's not that bad" Hahahah....sorry I mean trousers. I could go on but it would spoil the fun you will have

Errr...not sure if that is what you were after in your first post, but hope it was useful and you enjoy your time in the UK. As I say, if you do make it over, don't be a stranger.

Alan

[Moco Loco]

Of course, thanks for all the info, it was fun to read through As it looks now, I'm definitely coming over unless something bad happens (like if the school doesn't accept me, but there's really no reason that should happen). I laughed at what you said about jaywalking laws, since in New Orleans, nobody even waits for cars to pass before stumbling out into the street.