<p>Have been enjoying hearing of all the fantastic places overseas many of your kids have gone . Would appreciate more details, you know, what did they do , what courses did they take, did they benefit, did they get sick, how did you handle insurance, did they drive overseas so did they need a special license? Just curious, think it may be helpful. Especially interested in exotic places but all will do.</p>
<p>My oldest drove us crazy with a few of these trips and will post his after I read a few of yours.</p>
<p>My eldest son spent last summer in Vladivostok, Russia. I'd never heard of it before he went, but am now an expert on far eastern Russia! He applied for and received a foreign language acquisition grant (FLAG grant) at his school (University of Chicago) and applied the grant to 10 weeks study at Far East Asia University through a program with SRAS based out of Boston. It's basically a russian language program where they live in the residence facility and have classes a few hours a day. He had studied Russian for his first 2 years at school and wanted a more immersion situation. He went with one of his roommates and they were 2 of only 3-4 Americans in the program. Most were from Asia and the only language they haad in common was russian. It was a really wonderful experience for him, though I was a little uncertain about him being on the other side of the world, directly north of North Korea. ANyway, he loved his time there, explored the area, went on "field trips" with the school and actually taught English for a few weeks in a local ESL type school. AFter leaving they travelled by the TransSIberian Railroad to Moscow over a period of 10 days, stopping in Ulan Ude, and several other areas. He then took a bus from Moscow to ST. Petersburg, went from there to Poland, SLovakia, Ukraine, Italy, Switzerland, France, and finally ended up in London where he studied in his school's abroad program for the fall.
I was a wreck while he was travelling, because we relied on e-mails when he could find an internet cafe. WHile he was in Russia and London he bought calling cards for not much money and called about once a week. We bought student travel insurance to cover him for the entire six month period (I can't remember the compnay, but it was one of the ones that specialize in student travel) and made sure to get the level that would provide transport home if needed. </p>
<p>It was the most amazing six months and we're still hearing the stories. Tough for us at home, most incredible life experience for him.</p>
<p>Sounds like such a great experience. It sure takes plenty of confidence to try something like this. Do they have this grant your son received for other languages also?</p>
<p>Wow. They have a huge Russian speaking community in Philadephia. But anymore, Philly has a huge Ukranian, Latin, Asian and now I guess Mexican population. The reason I would hesitate on taking Russian, although the kids seem to do fine with it, is the fact 1.it's not one of the Romance languages and therefore more difficult to speak 2.the writing looks so difficult and 3. there are so many Russians here in my area who speak it so well, I would feel an immediate inferiority complex. Do you speak any Russian? It amazes me how the kids jump right into these languages after high school which are so difficult. (Russian, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) Kids today are more inspired I guess.</p>
<p>No, I don't speak Russian, and actually my son was not exactly a whiz at languages in HS..as a matter of fact he dropped Spanish after 10th grade. U of C has a language proficiency requirement and since he was starting at square 1, he decided on Russian. Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but he liked it and achieved "competency" within a year and wanted to continue studying. By the time he finished last summer he could get along in Russia and write reasonably well...but there hasn't been room for it in his schedule since his return, so he trys to keep up by reading books in Russian etc.</p>
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there hasn't been room for it in his schedule since his return, so he trys to keep up by reading books in Russian etc.
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Back in the day it was hard to keep up with a language other than books and the occasional tape/movie, but with the internet everything's changed ;) Has your son looked for radio stations or newspapers online, as well as chat sites? If he hooked a speaker up to his dorm computer he could immerse himself in the sounds of russian.</p>
<p>My daughter participated in the Knox College program in Buenos Aires this fall. She took three classes (I think four were offered). The classes were taught -- in Spanish -- by Argentine professors at a college there. She lived with a family. Took public transportation to get around town. There was time for extended outings to other parts of the country. She set off one time for Chile, but got distracted in another part of Argentina and didn't get there.</p>
<p>She had trouble at first adapting to local customs, "Dad, they don't eat dinner until 9 PM!" And she was living on the other side of town from her friends. But she realizes what a great learning experience it was for her.</p>
<p>Weren't you afraid to send her there considering the economic situation? How did you have the guts to let her go?
Actually, before you go into an explanation my oldest spent two several month trips to this region. He was perfectly safe. There were a few riots concerning the economic crisis but nothing serious or anything anywhere near him. And so many backpackers too. I had no control over my son. He had learned Spanish well while doing volunteer work in Mexico and went with several friends. I think at one point on the second trip they all rented an apartment. I sure it was of great value for him but as for me I was scared to death for him.</p>
<p>Argentina is pretty stable and Buenos Aires is a very cosmopolitian city so we weren't too worried. Plus she was with the Knox program and one of the profs from campus was there as an advisor.</p>
<p>Of course, we really didn't know about the side trips until she took them. Not that we would have (or could have) stopped her, but we couldn't worry if we didn't know.</p>
<p>She said there were demonstrations every day. The woman she stayed with was a good resource as to which one of the protests a Yanqi should stay away from.</p>
<p>My daughter is an only child so being on her own thousands of miles away from Mom and Dad was a tremendous growth opportunity for her.</p>
<p>My S spent the summer before his senior HS year in Beijing. It was great, he spent 15 hours per week in a Chinese language immersion class, and studied martial arts and explored Beijing the rest of the time. He will be going back to China on a grant next summer to do a research internship at a Chinese medical center. His trip really helped to give him confidence that he could handle things on his own. He made side trips to Mongolia where he stayed in a ger, and to the Shaolin Temple.</p>
<p>idad -- oooh, Shaolin Temple. do you know whether that program is open to college students and remember what it's called? I'd like to pass the info on to my son.</p>
<p>has anybody's kid done a Budapest Math Semester?</p>
<p>My DD taught English at a residential camp for (wealthy) Chinese children last summer. The program paid for her roundtrip airfare from L.A., visa, room and board (teachers had air conditioning - unlike the kiddies), a free travel week at the end (food and lodging, etc paid for by the program) and a stipend of $450.00. It was a great experience, although not a big money-maker! She will be going to Chile from mid-July through mid-December - so I will share her adventures after they take place. :)</p>
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Have been enjoying hearing of all the fantastic places overseas many of your kids have gone . Would appreciate more details, you know, what did they do , what courses did they take, did they benefit, did they get sick, how did you handle insurance, did they drive overseas so did they need a special license? Just curious, think it may be helpful.
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</p>
<p>Mine is off next fall to Buenos Aires, Beijing, Shanghai, and Bangalore (India). She'll be living with a host family in each city. We've read enough journals from students who have done the trip (and she's talked to several from her school who have done it) to know that it will be difficult. The consensus is that the most difficult part will be coming home. As Paul Simon sings, "nothing is different, but everything's changed."</p>
<p>My son spent his junior year in Kyoto in a program sponsored by Stanford, but open to kids from other colleges, too. (may just be certain colleges; I'm not sure.) He lived with an elderly couple for awhile, but that didn't work out, so Stanford found him an apartment for the rest of the time. He took a full course load, including 3 hours a day of Japanese. They went on some nice field trips, and he did a lot of exploring with friends in the program.</p>
<p>During Christmas break of that year my son took the ferry up to Hokkaido to visit families he had stayed with during a Sister City exchange program during high school. That was quite an adventure, as the water was quite choppy on the way up, making him a bit nervous and doing bad things to his stomach. :)</p>
<p>He also stayed afterwards for a couple of weeks, taking the train north to visit a pen pal he had been writing to for 2-3 years.</p>
<p>Now he is over there on his own, having found a job for the summer and probably beyond in a little town near Nagano.</p>
<p>My son is just finishing up a semester at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a Middle Eastern Studies major . He chose to live in a dorm and has an Arab roommate. Many of his friends are in apartments off campus but he thought he would meet more people and have more interaction in a dormitory. </p>
<p>While there he has taken a full course load but found it academically much less challenging than his US school. (although the classes were all very interesting) He has been working on his fluency in both Hebrew and Arabic, and managed to get an internship in a special school for both Arab and Israeli children so he could really use his language skills. he has travelled all over Israel with friends and also gone to Turkey (twice), Cyprus, and Jordan. At one point he had been scheduled to go to Egypt but there were problems at the border crossing that day and for some reason the trip never got rescheduled.</p>
<p>Overall it's been a great experience for him.</p>
<p>Next week we are going to Israel to travel with him for 2 weeks; then it's back home for 6 days, and then he is returning to campus for one summer school course and work on his honors thesis; then it's the start of senior year!</p>
<p>Are you children planning to use the language as a career option? What is your children in Japan and Israel planning to do for a career? One of my greatest dreams would be to go on an archeological dig in Israel. I don't think that one will ever come to pass .</p>
<p>Right now my son is aiming to get a ph.d. in some area of middle eastern studies--one of the reasons he is spending the summer on campus is to have time to work with his professors on his grad school options. They have been very hands-on in advising him every step of the way, helping him get experiences and fellowships that will enhance his application to grad schools.</p>
<p>Right now he thinks he might like to teach at the college level and also be a consultant/policy wonk/think tank person like his favorite two or three professors--I can see him doing any or all of those things. He'd like to do a program in Egypt but I'm not sure that's the place for a Jewish American boy these days! Mom still has veto power, or at least a little bit..</p>
<p>My son loves langauges and is trying to learn Farsi as well but finds learning two languages to be very time-consuming as it is--each takes at least 2 hours/day which is 4 hours right there. He also recently discovered that he has to take French and/or German for grad school so he plans on adding French this year. It never hurts to know foreign languages--it opens up the doors to all kinds of jobs.</p>
<p>P.s. I'd like to go on a dig too. My son spent about 10 days on one on a previous trip and decided things were too hot and dusty for him. He might have liked things better if he used sun screen (red hair, blue eyes, freckles...and Meditteranean sun=not a good combination without ample sunscreen).</p>