<p>I want to study abroad at some point. My ideal study abroad program would be a semester long or a summer long; my favorite so far is the Budapest Semester in Cognitive Sciences. (I do neurobiology.)</p>
<p>Fueled by the plight of someone I knew during high school who apparently got harassed and turned away at an airport in the United Kingdom, my mother is all OH NO YOU CAN'T STUDY ABROAD YOU'RE A SINGLE WOMAN UNLESS SOMEONE MEETS YOU THERE YOU'RE NOT STEPPING OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY NO WAY.</p>
<p>How are you going to pay for your semester abroad and all of the expenses that go along with it? If your parents are your source of income, then they make the final decisions on this kind of stuff. They are not obligated to financially support you any more–legally, you’re an adult.</p>
<p>As a parent (who has a D studying abroad next fall, and to who will not freak out if she has to find her way to the college alone from the airport), here are a couple of suggestions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>You could explain your mom’s (irrational, in my opinion) fears to someone at the program, and ask if they could please come pick you up at the airport. Note, though, that all major airports of the world now work pretty much like our US ones. No one can come to the gate (or see you before you make it through customs anyway). So… while it might ease your mom’s fears, that is only because she is not really thinking it through But if she does think it through, then she might freak out more. That said, it is not irrational at all for you to carry a complete list of phone contact information (including cell phone number if you can get it) for contacts at the program you are arriving for. So if there is a customs snafu, you can contact someone at the program even at odd hours who might be able to help you.</p></li>
<li><p>Anything you can do to provide statistics on how many students have studied from the US at the program in the past would help. If hundreds of students have successfully navigated the airport from the US to this program, maybe that will help.</p></li>
<li><p>I know you said the bad experience she talked about was in the UK, but it sounds like there might be a single woman/worried about crime element to this as well. If so, pick a country that is stastically safer. And… maybe not the UK because of her associations, but in an English speaking country, you could suggest to her that it will be easier for you to handle any customs or airport issues there. So maybe Australia or New Zealand, or someplace in northern Europe where almost everyone speaks English (eg, Finland or Sweden) might put her more at ease.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>S is studying abroad thru IES. They meet all students at the airport. At least they’re supposed to, as long as you arrive in the designated times. S’s flight was delayed, and the IES staff left the airport before he- and at least a half-dozen other kids - arrived. But they had given him an “emergency” number to use if there was no staff there. Too bad there were so many kids arriving late that the number was swamped and S couldn’t get thru. He eventually just took a cab to his dorm and all was fine. The homestay kids took cabs as well.</p>
<p>But you can tell your mom the program meets you at the airport, maybe that would help you out. BTW, there are more women than men in S’s program, I hear that’s not unusual at all.</p>
<p>I just studied abroad last semester in South Africa and I met a lot of people that were studying abroad through different programs. All of our programs met us at the airport and drove us to school. They also took us around the area to show us where things were, including the mall so we could buy the things we would need for the next 4 months. <y program even gave us cell phones to use for our semester, but the other programs took the students to go get cell phones.</p>
<p>For the first week of being in the country, we were guided through so we knew what to do and where to go and to fully get us acclimated to the country (or at least to our city). Considering South Africa has the highest crime and rape rates in the world, my family had some obvious problems about their only daughter going, but our programs fully prepared us for our semester.</p>
<p>I think most programs do some form of this…you could always find out and use it to ease your mom’s mind (or find another program) because yes, you are an adult and you can do whatever you want without your parents’ permission, but trust me when I say that things go a lot smoother when your parents are on board and you have someone you can go to for help when you need it (because sometimes the application/packing process can be really frustrating)</p>
<p>BTW…I went through a program called interstudy (and absolutely loved it!), but I don’t know if they have a program in Budapest or something that focuses on neurobiology.</p>
But if she does think it through, then she might freak out more. That said, it is not irrational at all for you to carry a complete list of phone contact information (including cell phone number if you can get it) for contacts at the program you are arriving for. So if there is a customs snafu, you can contact someone at the program even at odd hours who might be able to help you.</p></li>