By on June 10th, 2015

Life in the United States – A Brief Guide for Foreign Students

You have decided that you want to take a semester, or even two, abroad. Perhaps your firm is offering an overseas internship in the U.S. and you want to accept it. Any of these opportunities are amazing, but they do come with some concerns.

Where are you going to live?

How will you adjust to life outside of your home country?

Will you have anyone in the city or setting to offer support?

Whether or not you feel any of these are major issues, they are directly related to your success or failure. If a student arrives in the United States unprepared for issues like culture shock or without any sort of support in their new community, they can struggle so greatly and for such a length of time that it negatively impacts their studies or professional performance/success.

This is why we’ve drafted a brief guide for foreign students or interns planning on a bit of time in the U.S.

Housing
One of the most challenging things for anyone to deal with as they prepare for a year of study in a foreign country, or for temporary work as an intern, is to find the right place to stay. We might think that we can adjust to anything when we arrive, or that it won’t be difficult to find student housing in the days or weeks before departure. However, it can be much more significant than that

For instance, there are cities frequently called “college towns” and because of that, they tend to have very competitive housing situations. If you think you’ll easily find a share with a few people on campus, you may be sadly mistaken. Also, thinking that you can easily arrange for an apartment to be furnished upon your arrival is another mistake.

Instead of counting on things just going smoothly, you will want to make arrangements – complete arrangements – for housing before you depart. Though shared apartments are a nice option, one of the best choices you might make is to choose a dependable homestay service.

This is a good way to begin your American experience in the company of friends who want to help you adjust and then introduce you to their lifestyle. Not only does this prevent you from struggling with furnishings and finding a roommate to share the rent, but it gives you a major advantage. You get a safe, comfortable, and friendly place to call home, but you also get to live in a neighborhood and fully immerse yourself in real, everyday life.

More Benefits
Of course, the benefits of this option don’t end there because you can find homestay providers that help to match you up with the best situations possible. As the most basic example, if you want to live with a family or household that is of the same ethnicity or background, you can request that. If you want to be with house pets, you can ask for homes with animals too. If you want to be able to walk to your school or office, that can also be a possibility.

The key here is to recognize that a homestay can help you to adjust and then to succeed because you can feel much more comfortable and confident right away.

Start with a student housing service that uses a system like the one described, and which focuses on students and interns and you will enjoy a lot of options. This sort of approach will allow you to interact with peers and colleagues but also give you the same stability and structure that allowed you to achieve so much when you were at home, as well.