Recording Your Study Abroad Experiences

Keeping a journal

Before I went abroad, the last time I'd kept a journal of any sort was in second grade, when diaries with locks and keys were all the rage. Or maybe it was in third grade, when I had to keep a journal for creative writing. At any rate, my journal skills pretty much started and ended in elementary school.

If you've never kept a journal, I'd say that while you're abroad is a good time to start. You're going to experience plenty of thoughts, feelings, observations, realizations, and memories, and a journal is the perfect place to keep track of them. A journal helps you remember what you've seen and experienced in a different way than photographs can.

Writing things down improves your memory! Detailed entries enable you to go back and relive a moment.

On a deeper level, a journal may help you process your time spent abroad. Another benefit of keeping a journal is that doing so can inspire you in the future. Maybe you'll want to clean up a few pages for publication (does your study abroad office need any brochures written?) or find some use for your entries in a course project or essay when you're back at your home university.

Two of the more important things to remember about keeping a journal:

• You don't have to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer to keep a journal.
• It's your journal; do what you want with it! No rules apply, so make it enjoyable.

Those two things said, I give you some ideas in the next few sections about what you can do with your journal, in case you need some inspiration. This information is neither exhaustive nor essential; it's merely intended to give you a boost. Besides, you may already be an avid journal writer with some creative ideas for your study abroad journal.

Practical considerations

When considering the kind of journal you're going to keep, make sure that you:

• Buy a durable journal. Get something with a hardback cover. If you intend to sketch or paste things into your journal, you may want to get an artist's sketchbook with a heavy cover.
• Choose just the right size. Your journal needs to be big enough for you to write in comfortably but small enough to take anywhere. (Remember: You don't need to take it with you to every tourist site or on every hike. You can certainly write in it at the end of the day.)
• Pack your journal in a resealable plastic bag. Because you'll be traveling, keeping your journal in a waterproof bag and using waterproof ink are good steps to take. If you're artistically inclined, pack your art supplies in a sealed bag, too.
• Include your identity. On the inside cover, write your name, address, and phone number in case you happen to lose it.
• Keep it in a safe place. If you don't want others reading your journal, that is.

Because you probably won't have constant computer access, don't even attempt to keep a journal electronically. It just isn't practical to travel with either.

A journal made of acid-free paper lasts longer.

Using your journal to chronicle your travels

One reason I'm grateful that I kept my study abroad journal is that it helps me remember all the places I traveled. Whenever you do an extensive amount of traveling during weekends and breaks from school, you'll want to remember everything you did and saw when you get home. You can also use your journal to help you remember what's in all the photos you take.

Record all your exotic destinations and describe interesting people, adventures, and mishaps you encounter in your travel journal. I guarantee you'll notice new aspects of your personality when traveling. You may recognize your fun or free-spirited self or discover an adventuresome and mischievous side.

Travel journals are also a great place for jotting down itineraries, intentions, and expectations. Writing entries the night before you depart on a trip can express your hopes and desires: "I hope for a gorgeous weekend in the west of Ireland with no rain," or "I plan to see all the art I studied in Art 101 during my three week tour of Europe's museums." Try writing down a list of ten places and things you want to do on your trip. Your travel journal is also great for:

• Jotting down suggested destinations you may hear about during your travels so you can remember them when planning a future trip.
• Noting any apprehensions you may be working through. (My friends and I are backpacking for two weeks, but we haven't made a single hostel reservation!)
• Venting some of the stress of your travels. If you don't manage stress while traveling, you may feel pretty miserable. When you happen to miss a connecting flight and lose a whole day of planned travel as a result, write about it and what you've learned from the situation. How would you do it differently next time?
• Pouring out your thoughts and frustrations. Your journal is a better source for this than a traveling companion with whom you must get along for a number of days or weeks.

You can bring your travels to life in a myriad of ways by including:

• Overviews/thumbnail sketches of your current location
• Dates, times, and weather observations
• Where you're staying
• With whom you're traveling
• The names of other interesting travelers or locals you meet
• Observations about local cultures or languages
• Things you like or dislike about your current location
• What you ate and where
• Attractions, sights, and museums you saw
• Souvenirs you purchased
• Cool pictures you took
• Interesting things you discover
• Favorite works of art you saw
• Sketches (if you're artistic) of neat places, people, or things

Providing endless details about what you saw, felt, smelled, or touched can help you remember later.

When your destination is someplace you've already visited, you can note what you remember about it and how it's changed or stayed the same.

Journaling 101

Many options for journal writing exist. What you write in your journal depends largely on what study abroad memories you're trying to capture. Journals aren't only for writing. Feel free to paste drawings, pictures, postcards, poems, quotes, or newspaper/magazine clippings in your journal. I often printed out e-mails from friends at home and glued them into my journal (good for those times when you feel homesick).

Your study abroad life may be a little hectic depending on where you're living, so you may want to think about what type of atmosphere is most conducive for your writing. Do you need the peace and quiet of your room? Do you need music, candles, or tea and cookies to focus? Maybe you'd prefer to take your journal with you to a coffee shop or nearby park. Generally, you need a place where you can remain undisturbed until you're finished writing.

Keeping a journal to perfection

Try some of the common journal techniques in the list that follows. These are merely suggestions, and they may or may not work for you. Don't feel as though you need to subscribe to any particular journal-keeping method. You can use all, none, or some of these. The choice is yours.

• Topic Method: Choose something you did or saw (maybe even discovered in class?) and just write about it for ten minutes or until you've reflected on everything you wanted to write about.
• Flow Chart Method: Pick a shape and draw it in the middle of your journal page. Write your main subject within that shape. From that shape, you can branch off into other shapes that contain thoughts related to your main idea. This technique is good for organizing your thoughts and thinking about related ideas.
• Idea Box Method: At a loss for what to write? Draw a small box on a journal page and then fill it up with thought-provoking topics you pick up from magazines, newspapers, and books you read or movies you see. Even better, keep running lists of topics to think or write about or questions to ponder during those times you have writer's block. For example, ask yourself:

What have I learned today?

What are my current life and personal goals? Have they shifted since I left the U.S. and began living in another culture?

What activities do I most enjoy in my new country? Why?

If I could travel anywhere this weekend, where would I go? Why?

What cultural differences am I struggling with?

What makes me homesick? What makes me feel less homesick?

• List Method: If you haven't had much time to write and you aren't traveling or exploring much lately, then why not take a moment to make a list of events that occurred in the past week or month, even if they seem mundane. (For example: "I've become a slave to the library because I have a term paper to write; made dinner with flatmates Wednesday night, but it was a disaster, and we ordered pizza; I really like the poetry class I'm taking. . . .")
• Reflective/Descriptive Writing Method: Step back into a meaningful moment in time within the past day or week and vividly describe and detail your feelings, reactions, and viewpoints about events in your life and the world. (For example: "Feeling adventurous, I decided to skip class for the day and take the train an hour south of the city to go hiking with a few friends. We packed a picnic lunch and got on the 8 a.m. train. We arrived, looked at the mountain and wanted to turn back, but the next train home wasn't for hours, so we decided to take on the challenging climb. . . .")
• Storyboard Method: This method is ideal for the artistically inclined who like to add pictures or sketches to their journals to relay emotions or events. Be creative. Use colorful pencils. Choose to add some narration, or let the pictures speak for themselves.
• Imagination Method: This method is great for those stressed out and homesick times when you need to use your imagination to relax. Write about a relaxing place. The more descriptive you are when writing about this place (and the place can be real or fictitious) — how it looks, sounds, feels, and smells — the better. Using this method can serve as a platform to writing short stories, songs, or poems. Another idea is to imagine yourself somewhere back home, in your dorm room, bedroom, or the dining hall with your friends. Write down what it looks like and how it feels to be there.

Notice things about your new home that make you happy and write them down. You can look at the list when you start to feel frustrated with your abroad location, and it helps you remember the positives. Or you can refer to it when you're struggling with the adjustment back home.

Look for beauty, tastes, and sounds that you can't find at home or anywhere but where you are right now (for example, the taste of a perfectly poured Guiness, how Venice sounds at night, and so on). Make a note of them. You can also compare and contrast different aspects of places, things, and situations.

Try titling your entries. Simple titles work, such as "Weekend in London". It may make it easier to find certain entries as you're paging back through them at some point.

Lists are a quick and fun way to record your experiences! Try ideas such as "Top ten things I like about being abroad," "Top five things I miss about home," or "Favorite places that I've visited."

What you don't need to worry about when writing in your journal is

• Adhering to a strict journal-writing schedule. You don't have to write every day. Write when you have something to say or report or have feelings to express. Whenever you feel inspired. This shouldn't feel like homework.
• Making sure your grammar is precise. You don't even have to write in full sentences. Write in fragments. Practice writing in a stream of consciousness, writing down whatever pops into your head.
• Being overly dramatic. Exaggerate if you feel like it. Use humor. Keep track of funny things people say.
• Making mistakes in your journal. You don't have to erase things or use correction fluid; just cross out what you don't like and move on.

Creating a post-abroad journal

You can also keep a journal of your experiences and feelings upon your return to the U.S. Doing so is a good way to reflect on your experiences abroad. Try asking yourself any of the following questions:

• What are the three most important things I learned about myself? About my host culture?
• If a student were to ask me for advice about living in my host country, what would I say? How did I acquire all this wisdom? (Through trial and error? Just by living there? Did someone else give me a valuable piece of information along the way?)
• How do I view the U.S.? What do I like or dislike about it?
• How do I describe the world I'm living in now? How does it differ from the world I just left?
• How can I apply what I discovered while I was away to my life at home?
• What are my resources? Who will listen to my stories and look at all my photo albums?
• Do I want to get more involved in international activities on campus?

Photography

Taking pictures of people, places, and things that you find interesting, unusual, thought provoking, or simply striking is an important way of documenting and remembering your time abroad.

You're more likely to flip through a photo album than reread every page of your journal when you return home. You're also more likely to want to share your photos with other people than you are your journal. Showing people photos is a great way of narrating your experience.

Photography 101

You don't have to be Ansel Adams to chronicle your experiences abroad with a camera. If you're concerned about taking exquisite photos or want to develop a hobby as a photographer while you're abroad, try taking a photography course the semester before you go.

Take your camera's instruction manual with you in case of technical difficulty. Manuals often provide helpful photography tips, too.

First rule of photography while abroad: Take pictures of whatever you want! Photography is such an inexpensive way of making memories. So shoot with reckless abandon.

Another basic idea to remember: Photography is an art form, so be creative. Take pictures at different angles. Get on your hands and knees. Lie on the ground. Climb a few feet. Take a picture of a famous statue with you or some friends in front of it making silly faces. Take pictures of strangers whenever it captures the moment (make sure it's okay with them).

You can never take too many candids, especially of the friends you make while abroad. Candids make great memories, and I guarantee that they'll mean more to you than photos of buildings and landscapes. Pack your camera with you wherever you go and not only when you go on trips. Take your camera with you to everyday activities, like meeting in the pub after classes. You remember the times and people better when your photos capture everyday expressions and things you did with your friends.

Take pictures of postcard sites, because doing so is cheaper than buying postcards. Don't be afraid to personalize the photo by putting yourself into it or taking it from a different angle. But don't get too caught up in taking pictures of famous buildings and statues. Write down names of the landmarks you take photos of, because after awhile they all start to blend together. At the end of your time abroad, take the time to walk around where you've lived and take pictures of your favorite places - the ones that weren't important to you when you arrived may now be very meaningful. If it's important to you, take a picture, even when the subject of your photo seems ordinary.

Legal issues surrounding photography in some countries.

Take pictures that express the way you feel rather than pictures that are documentary in nature. In short, capture your emotional memories. And remember to take pictures of change. Seasons and landscapes change frequently. Don't forget to take pictures of changes of appearances — especially yours. (My hair color changed a few times while I was abroad.)

Finally, if you have a digital camera, take advantage of technology and send pictures back home to your family and friends via e-mail.

When traveling, you may want to opt for a disposable camera in place of a nice 35mm or digital camera you'd rather not lose or have stolen.

Assembling albums and collages

I returned home with more than 15 rolls of film. One of my first projects (after unpacking) was to meaningfully organize all my photos. Sitting down to more than 200 photos may seem a little daunting, but it is also a fun (though time-consuming) project. Resist the urge to sweep all your developed film into a quasi-neat pile under your bed or into a box at the top of your closet, thinking that you'll deal with it later. Later you'll forget places you went and people's names.

At a minimum, you need to write the where, when, and who on the backs of your photos. These days, most cameras have automatic time stamping, so the question of when a photo was taken may not be an issue for you.

If you're interested in a higher level of organization and preservation, I'd suggest putting your photos into an album. You still want to label the backs of your photos or opt for an album that provides space for writing descriptions on each page, so you can easily reference essential information about your photos. Another option is buying labels to add captions to your pictures.

If you want to create a more extensive or detailed photo journal when you get home, consider listing simple or descriptive phrases to create a simple narrative without worrying about sentence flow.

Remember the Five Ws: Who? What? When? Where? and Why? Who is in the photograph? Who took it? What was happening? What story does the photo show? Where was the photo taken? When was the photo taken? Why was this moment special? The following suggestions may help your photos tell the entire story:

• Use adjectives — especially those describing sound, smell, color, and feelings.
• Include thoughts that the photograph doesn't necessarily show. How did you feel? What was going on in the world at that time?
• Record the circumstances surrounding the photo. If you return to this album 20 years from now, what do you want to remember about this photo? If your children or grandchildren read this album 20 years from now, what do you want them to know?

Framing your favorites

Don't leave your favorite photos buried in an album! Frame them so you can look at them every day! You can also enlarge your favorite photos to 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 sizes and put them in larger frames. Making a collage is a way to frame a large number of photos. And you don't have to be an artist. Buy collage frames, or if you're feeling slightly more artistic, just buy an empty 8 x 10 frame and cut and paste your pictures onto a piece of cardboard in any way that suits you. More collages are often better than one, for that matter.