Living Easy as an Exchange Student

How to Live and Take It Easy as an Exchange Student

Are you contemplating of signing up as an exchange student in Manhattan?

Regardless of where you’re from and your destination of choice, you must prepare for the change that you will experience once you decide to study and live overseas. Doing so will make the transition easier and less stressful.

Just like when you studied in Brisbane, where you worked out all the details, from choosing student accommodation Brisbane offers to finding a part-time job, every aspect of your trip must be taken care of.

It pays to have a sound action plan and work out possible problems that you may encounter along the way.

Once you’ve worked out the details of your exchange student program, you should focus on how to make your life abroad easier.

How to Live the Awesome Life of an Exchange Student

Learn the language

This is especially helpful in places where language barrier can pose a major problem. It will work to your advantage if you are fluent in the local dialect. But if you’re not, just learn to communicate in a basic survival way.

If you intend to study where English is spoken, communicating may not be a cause for concern. You just need to learn how to be proactive in starting a conversation with new people.

Learn the culture

Are you living in a place where schedules are flexible? You could experience culture shock when you study in a place where schedules are rigid and followed on the dot.

Are you accustomed to talking loudly, especially when traveling in groups? You might end up being reprimanded for doing the same thing in places that frown upon such behavior.

If you make an effort to learn the culture, you will be able to behave accordingly.

Know what to expect

That pie you love so much may not be available in your new destination. Commute might be a constant battle. The weather is likely to be gloomy for the most part of the year.

Know what to expect and spare yourself from adjusting and acclimating to your new environment too long. Failure to do so will make your first few weeks or months difficult to painful.

Arrange for accommodation before you leave home

Just like taking a vacation, you need to find suitable student accommodations in your new destination. In Manhattan, there are plenty of student apartments to choose from, some of which can be rented bare or fully furnished.

For your convenience, opt for a semi- or fully-furnished apartment so you don’t need to bring a truck-load of stuff with you when you study abroad. No need to shop for household needs either.  

You also have the option to live close to your school if there are student rooms on offer.

Get accommodation needs out of the way, so you can tackle other stuff that will help make your life as an exchange student easier.

Take the initiative

Don’t wait to make things happen. Do something to make things happen. Just like when trying to make friends, you make an effort to communicate with others rather than wait for them to make a move.

It is important to remember that your new classmates and the people around you already have friends, family, and a life before you came along. Unless you initiate to befriend them, they will not make room for you.

Go out and have fun

Having new friends is one of the most effective ways to make your move easier and spare you from homesickness. So don’t spend too much time in your student residence, on your phone, or online. Go out and do something productive.

When spending time with other people, be sure to disconnect from the virtual world and be in the moment.

Ask

Simple, right? But what are the odds that you’d rather figure things out for yourself than ask because it’s embarrassing to do so? In an unfamiliar place, surrounded by strangers, asking is the best way to know people and their culture and find solutions to problems quickly.

It is also the best way to avoid embarrassment because you mispronounced something, took the wrong train, or mistook a praise for a criticism.

Embrace mistakes

You don’t need to intentionally make mistakes but don’t worry too much when you do. Doing so will only make your stay intolerable and double your homesickness. Instead, embrace mistakes and learn from it. Make them a part of your whole experience.

Signing up for an exchange student program is not easy, especially if it’s your first time. But follow the tips above and you will survive with high marks.

As for finding student accommodation providers in Manhattan, make the Lara Group your first stop. Catering to a wide range of real estate market, they provide luxury studio apartments and other properties to students, professionals, and many more.

Check out their apartments online today.