Study Abroad: Finding a Place to Live

Living in dorms or apartments

Most study abroad students live in dorms or apartments with roommates from the host country, other foreign countries, or from the United States. You can expect to share your accommodations, regardless of whether it's a dorm room or an apartment, with other students. However, dorms at abroad universities commonly provide students with their own rooms that share an adjoining common room and kitchen with three to seven other students.

Most dorms and apartments abroad are self-catering, which means you prepare your own meals. Meal plans and dining halls in most study abroad situations are very limited when compared with the offerings of U.S. schools.

If you'll be living in an apartment in the middle of a major metropolitan area, you may want to consider investing in renter's insurance to protect your personal belongings. Renter's insurance is relatively inexpensive, considering it covers repair or replacement of damaged, destroyed or stolen personal property in case of fire, theft, vandalism, or water-related damage. Where you live, your deductible, what your building is made of, and a variety of other factors determine the cost of your policy. Renter's insurance also comes in handy in covering your personal belongings while traveling. Consult your insurance agent for more information.

Home-stays: Living with a host family

When you choose or are placed in a home-stay situation, you'll live with a local family. Major benefits of a home-stay are that you:

• Have the greatest opportunity for immersion in the host language and culture.
• Learn how the local population really lives on a day-to-day basis.
• Live with a family that treats you like a family member (in the most optimal home-stay situation), takes the time to get to know you, and includes you in all their family activities. You eventually feel as if you have a second home with them!

In some cases, however, home-stays are less than perfect. Your host family may consider their relationship with you as strictly landlord/tenant: They have an extra room to rent out, and you have little social interaction with them. Realize that although the program should screen these families to ensure suitability, not-so-great host families do slip through the cracks! When that happens, these families consider you just an extra source of income. Because you're paying for the experience, however, if your living situation becomes unpleasant or unbearable, contact your program immediately to find out what can be done to fix the situation.

Your home-stay hosts will, more than likely, provide most of your meals. If you're a vegetarian or have other dietary needs, check to see whether your host family can accommodate them. Bear in mind that vegetarian menus are not as readily available as they are in the U.S. Your host family may perceive your refusing meals they serve as rudeness. So, at least temporarily, you may need to compromise your food choices or spend your own money to make special meals for yourself.

After you've settled in with your host family, make sure to clarify what's expected of you. Do you have weekly or daily chores? What can you do to help around the house? Should you call when you'll be staying late at school or missing dinner? Or should you let someone know before leaving for the day what your evening plans are? Be polite and courteous to your host family and respect their cultural or family traditions, and you shouldn't have any problems getting along with them.

Always on the go: Living in hotels, hostels, and pensions

Some study abroad programs allow you to study and travel to multiple places during your semester or year abroad. Because you'll be moving around so much, it's possible you won't have a permanent place to call home while you're away. Programs may choose to house you in hotels, hostels and pensions for a week or two at a time while you're studying in a particular city or town. Depending on where you stay, you'll probably be sharing a room with at least one other person, or as many as 6 or 8 if you're living in a hostel for the week.

If you don't have a permanent "home away from home," you'll be traveling from place to place with all your personal belongings, constantly living out of a suitcase. Remember to pack light and don't pack anything too valuable in case of theft.

Deciding to room with U.S. or foreign students

If you select a U.S.-based program, you may get to choose whether you live with foreign students or U.S. students. If you apply directly to an abroad university, you won't usually get a choice about the nationality of the students with whom you live.

You may feel more comfortable living with other U.S. students, because just about everything else about your new home is going to be so new and different to you. At times, living with people who are experiencing similar culture shock, homesickness, or adjustment issues can be very reassuring. Realize, however, that unless you make a conscious effort to avoid it, living with students from the same culture as you can also be isolating. When cultural immersion or an authentic experience of your host culture is important to you, you may want to choose to live with students from the host country.

If you're attending a major university or living in a major city, you'll always be able to find Americans whenever you need a reminder of home, someone to celebrate Thanksgiving with, or a sympathetic ear to listen to the trials of being an American abroad.

When you feel strongly that your living situation is a quintessential part of your study abroad experience, then opt for living with students from your host country. If your program provides you with housing in university dorms, be aware that in some places, host-country students live in dorms only during their first year of school and then move to off-campus apartments. In other countries, it may be traditional for students to continue living at home while attending the nearest university, which means that few native students will live in university dorms. Likewise, you need to realize that some universities house all foreign students (and remember, that includes you!) in special dorms for international students. While living in an international dorm, you won't encounter host-country students, but you will have the benefit of knowing many other students who share the experiences of being new to the school and country.

If you've rented an apartment and need to find a roommate, usually the best place to start is at your host university's accommodations office. Sometimes an accommodations office dedicates space within their office (such as a bulletin board or binder) for students to post if they're looking for a roommate. Otherwise, the accommodation office can usually advise you whether it's best to post in a local newspaper or on the Internet — and can suggest which newspapers and sites seem to get the most traffic.

When interviewing potential roommates, make sure you ask about their daily schedules to assess compatibility.

Asking the right questions

When it comes to housing, no amount of knowledge is too much. You want to gather as much information as possible about your potential housing situation before you go abroad so you know what to expect. In addition to helping you decide whether a program is right for you, knowing as much as you can about your housing can also prevent total shock when you see your new home for the first time.

Student housing abroad is almost never as luxurious as it is at American universities. Try to maintain realistic and unprejudiced expectations about your housing. Student apartments in the United Kingdom and Ireland are likely to be old, drafty, and damp, and your London dorm won't look like Buckingham Palace. In big cities, housing may be located on dingy, noisy streets. Give your housing a chance before becoming too critical, and remember that part of the purpose of study abroad is to live and study like students from your host country.

Regardless of where you may be living, you need to find out whether your dorm, apartment, or home-stay is located in a safe part of town. Although you may be able to save a little on rent by living in less desirable digs, the potential risk to your safety is never worth the money. Determining what areas are safe to live in is as easy as consulting your program representatives, asking students who've studied abroad before you, or checking with your abroad university's international student or housing offices. If you want to be extra cautious, you can even go to a police station and find out whether local law enforcement can provide you with some guidance or even a crime report for the neighborhood you're considering. Don't assume that your housing is in a bad neighborhood just because it's home to immigrants, minorities, or working-class families.

Ask the following questions to make an informed decision about whatever housing option you choose:

• Is the dorm or apartment fully furnished? Partially furnished?
• What kinds of appliances and utensils are available in the kitchen?
• Will I have a workspace that includes a desk or table?
• Do I need to supply my own linens (sheets, blankets, pillows, and so on)? If so, is there a service available to rent linens?
• Are there laundry facilities (a washer and dryer) in the building? How much does it cost to use them?
• What kind of telecommunication facilities are available? Will I have access to a phone or high-speed Internet?
• Who pays the utility bills? If I pay them, how much per month do they typically cost?

If you'll be studying and living in a developing country, make sure you also ask if there is suitable drinking water available, hot water for showers, and electricity.