<p>Does anyone have a student over in London/ UK or somewhere else in Europe now? Anyone with study overseas plans for the fall that they are rethinking?</p>
<p>There is a thread in the Parent Cafe about the terror in London that has mostly turned into a political debate, but there is one person on that forum that is from London (?)that has some touching first-hand stories to share.</p>
<p>Our oldest D is in Scandinavia with a group from her university. She was in Denmark when we saw the news and, of course, learned that Italy and Denmark had also been 'targeted'. Funny feeling, being so far away. A little more unsettling is the fact that, even though she will be home in another week or so, she will head back over the sea in September for her junior year abroad. She is an English major, and, you guessed it...she will spend that year in the UK, although not in London.</p>
<p>We are not prone to hysteria, and neither is she. We just sent reassurances in our reply to a calm e-mail she sent from Norway. Not that anyone can be really 'sure' of anything these days. We also got a 'we will keep you posted' message from the study abroad office. </p>
<p>Just wondering if any of you have family in London now or that will be headed that way in the fall and what are your thoughts? I know our daughters' resolve. She will want to go, unless they tell her she can't. We wouldn't want her to miss it, but she will have more to think about now. It's too bad, though. First visit to Europe. And hers was the group that had to pause and think about pending college choices in light of 9/11. Do I ever remember all of the discussion on threads about whether kids should consider, or even to be ALLOWED to consider schools that meant a flight to and from home!</p>
<p>Well, London may be the safest place to be at this point and I guess we tend to think that if Denmark and Italy were mentioned as targets, other spots may be more likely. Guess as our friend the psychologist is fond of saying-it's a waste of time trying to find logic in irrational behavior.</p>
<p>Yes, I have a student in London - 17 year old D. Next week she will begin commuting from our home in Surrey into the East End - her tube stop is Aldgate East which is where one of the bombs went off. If there are still travel delays from disrupted services, she will simply get up that much earlier to get to her rehearsals on time. Please don't rethink your D's overseas study plans. Here we are resolved to carry on as usual and we urge visitors and friends from abroad to do the same. All the best.</p>
<p>I have a bunch of cousins in London and my D has traveled on her own to London three or four times now for vacation/summer trips. I still think it's one of the safest cities there is. They have massive numbers of video cameras in their central areas.</p>
<p>I understand your concerns - I'd have them, too, but frankly at this point I'm more worried about my husband working downtown Los Angeles than I am about my D traveling abroad.</p>
<p>Critter, my daughter was overseas last fall when there were numerous acts of terrorism in the country where she was living - it was scary for me, but she was no where near any of the incidents, and was probably safer there than she would have been living at home, since she does a lot of driving when she's home. (Bombs are scarier - but car accidents are far more likely). </p>
<p>I would advise two things:</p>
<p>1) Get your daughter an international cell phone - she needs a triband phone and a contract with a US service provider that provides GSM service - either TMobile or Cingular/ATT. Whenever we saw news reports of problems in my daughter's host country, we were able to contact her easily by phone. International cell phone calls are pretty expensive, but we mastered the art of text messaging, which is a lot cheaper and affords instant communication. It's worth every cent to know that you can always reach one another in an emergency. </p>
<p>2) Get an international travelers health insurance policy, and buy the "terrorist rider" that is offered. That won't prevent terrorism from happening, but it means that in the event that something does happen, the insurance will cover it. The odds of any one person being the victim of terrorism are miniscule, but in the highly unlikely even that your daughter is in the vicinity of an explosion, the odds of being injured are far greater than the odds of being killed. You will probably never have to use the insurance or take advantage of the terrorist rider ... but you will feel better knowing that if anything does happen, there is an insurance company that will pay for your daughter's treatment, pay to bring her home, and pay for you to fly over to get her if necessary. For a young person, these policies are very inexpensive -- I paid only about $300 for almost 5 months of coverage for my daughter, and I splurged and bought the policy with higher limits and very low deductible.</p>
<p>As many of you know we live in Indonesia, a country that has been stricken by two terrible terrorist attacks and several other blessedly minor but equally evil instances of brutality. The US and other countries -- State Departments have issued vehement travel advisories in place for Indonesia and Bali for years, to the great detriment of the tourist industry that millions depend on. Our families ask us constantly when are you coming home? Hardly a week goes by when someone -- a friend, a client, a relative asks me is it safe to visit? </p>
<p>I find this a challenging question to answer. Usually I say two things: First, compared to what? The world, sadly, is unsafe and sadly the most civilized places are the best targets. Secondly, my conclusion after living under the pall of terrorism is that nothing that was predicted has ever happened and everything that has occurred couldnt have been foreseen. It's that element of unexpectedness that exactly what makes terrorism terrifying.</p>
<p>Indonesian is a moderate peaceful Islamic country. It is making the transition to democracy with chaotic but heartening progress. Islamic extremism is like an evil plague and from my perspective only the strength of the moderate, tolerant majority offers hope to stamp it out. (I have a friend whos a scientist who says you can count the terrorists here in parts per million; a few hundred crazies can, however, cause a lot of heartache.) </p>
<p>So I say go to London, to New York, to Bali, to Madrid, to Istanbul, to Egypt, to Russia to that ever growing list of victimized destinations. The chance of your being personally affected or god forbid harmed by a terrorist attack is statistically miniscule. Dont put your life on hold. There is no point in fearing what you cant control. </p>
<p>Calmom has given some very sensible travel advice. Id add make sure your kids know how to contact their embassy or consulate and make sure that your insurance covers medical evacuation.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently in Paris and during the school year is in NYC. I admit that I encouraged her to stay away from the subways when we spoke yesterday. </p>
<p>A certain concern is always in the back of my mind but we can't all hide out in the countryside indefinitely. She has to live her life so I push my fears aside. She plans on studying abroad in Paris next year.</p>
<p>My 14 year old, 9th -grader -to -be is headed to England at the end of this month with his soccer team to play in the Manchester United Youth Soccer Festival at the end of this month. We are apprehensive--in some ways, the Festival seems like too attractive a target--400+ teams of kids from 25-30 countries, all there just to have a good time.But to keep him home would be to let the bad guys win, so he is going.</p>
<p>We've been doing this calculus now for what seems a long time--my oldest son is middle eastern studies major and has been traveling back and forth to Israel frequently. He will be there for 7 months later this academic year, from January through July. We have said NO to his spending a semester in Egypt--he wants to go to increase his fluency in Arabic, which is one of his minors. Americans aren't real popular in Arab countries these days, a Jewish American? I have no desire to see him on Al Jazeera (which he watches to increase his fluency in Arabic).</p>
<p>My daughter has been in central London since July 1. On the evening of the day of the attacks, she called to say she's thinking about cutting her stay short. (She was in Germany from 5/22 till 6/26, planned to return to US 8/3). I told her to take her time and decide. So far, no more talk about returning early. </p>
<p>She had been making plans to study abroad spring semester in Ireland. I don't know if she'll keep those plans or not. If so, I plan to follow some of calmom's suggestions regarding insurance. That sounds like good advice, calmom. </p>
<p>She called a few weeks back and said she "might have an opportunity" next summer to work installing photovoltaic systems in Mali. I think I would say no to Mali, based on health concerns more than security.</p>
<p>It is no longer a matter of talking about London. My D wants to study abroad in Spain. When we travelled to Germany many years ago, security was incredibly high because the airport had just been bombed. We will never know where or when something will happen - most people hurt or killed are just ordinary people doing what it takes to live - go to work, school, etc. It can happen anytime, anywhere, but to live in fear and not live, just isn't the way to go, either. I will be nervous when she goes, but nowadays, one can be nervous if their child just goes around the corner. And we both plan on being at the Olympics in 2112! Long live England!</p>
<p>We live overseas, in Germany. It has been our experience in the 5 1/2 years that we have lived in Germany that the Europeans take terrorism, security, etc. very seriously. Our son, who is a rising Senior, and daughter, a rising Freshman, have taken numerous school trips around Europe and we have felt pretty comfortable. We also travel quite a bit as a family and we were surprised by the police/soldier presence in airports, train stations, subways, and on the streets as well as the number of cameras in public places. The amount of security was new to us compared to what we had seen or not seen living in the US (prior to 911).</p>
<p>We spent this past Thanksgiving break with our family in London riding the double deckers and taking the tube to the sights and the theatre. My DH surprised me with a trip to London over our last Winter break to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We really enjoy London and hope to visit many more times in the future.</p>
<p>It is my impression that traveling and studying in Europe is as safe a place as any (my tuppence worth).</p>
<p>More Americans (30,000+) died of firearm-related deaths in the U.S. last year than ALL the terrorist-related deaths worldwide. And homicides plus accidents alone (roughly 11,000) are about equal. 1,400 college students were counted in alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. last year. (My friends who come from abroad, even those with high percentages of Muslims, wonder how we can live that way?) If your son and daughter goes abroad, most of these risks are eliminated. So it's either terrorism, or a Berkeley fraternity to be shot with a pellet gun by one of your bro's. (apologies to the Berkeley folks - the event was just a bit over the top!)</p>
<p>Mine is currently in India, by way of Cambodia, and Bangkok on the way home. She was supposed to be on a train to Gujarat last week, heading directly to the area where 123 people were washed away. Train was cancelled (all tracks washed out), and she will be headed that way next week. She will be spending junior year in Italy.</p>
<p>My younger one wants to go to Burundi (we have friends doing good work in the center of the conflict, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen somewhere down the road.)</p>
<p>Starting this fall, both my kids will be living in NYC. We live close enough that we could see the smoke from 9/11.</p>
<p>Last November, my beloved SIL was killed by a reckless driver on a rural backroad in Michigan. I agree with the above posters; you can't live your life in fear. There are no certainties.</p>
<p>Garland, I'm so sorry about your SIL. "Stuff" can happen anywhere and in any number of ways. D's high school orchestra is considering a trip to London next year. D herself is planning a junior year partially abroad. Living as a prisoner of fear is a wretched way to live and I try not to do it.</p>
<p>Such heartache! I have one BIL in Afghanistan and another who will soon go to Iraq, the family of the Afghan one is in Germany - but one of the best ways to support them is to live. National politics aside what THEY are trying to do is bring some of the freedom we have to people who have none. I hope to go abroad next year, and send my child. That is best fight we can make.</p>
<p>As an example of tragic irony, last year at the holidays many expat families avoided Bali because of their Embassy's warnings. They went to Phuket instead.</p>
<p>My advice -- take reasonable precautions, know what to do in an emergency and live your life!</p>
<p>My DS returned recently from spending the spring semester in London and was quite shaken by the attacks. Especially so, since had he still been in London, on a Thursday morning he would have been at one of the tube stations that was attacked at the precise time of the attack. It brought home to him, me and DH the dangers in the world. But would he have not gone to London had he known? Not at all.</p>
<p>Agree with all the other posters about just living your life.</p>
<p>I was in london studying abroad just a month ago, and took a double decker bus to the british medical association around 9 am one morning. The BMA is just across the street from where the bus was bombed. It hit a little too close for comfort, but I figure London is probably just as safe as Houston, where I go to school, or lower manhattan where my dad works.</p>
<p>I'm not about to let terrorists dictate where I go and how I live.</p>
<p>DS is going to London in the fall. His plans haven't changed at all. So far as we know, his university hasn't made any changes. They had students abroad in fall 2001 and spring 2002....I can't imagine they will change their plans.</p>
<p>My rising sophomore daughter is studying at Oxford right now and has been there for a little over a week. She has not been into London since the day she arrived at the airport there, but she does have plans to go back to London several times over the course of her 6-week stay. She does not seem overly concerned, so we are not feeling very hesitant about her being there either. She emails daily to share what a wonderfully enriching summer she is experiencing - from 6-mile hikes through the English countryside to croquet tournaments to stimulating tutorials with her British tutor.</p>