The Odyssey Newsletter - Fall edition
Volume 4 Issue 4
It is my pleasure to send you the fall edition of The Odyssey, which contains articles to catch you up on some recent happenings on our study abroad programs. This particular edition focuses on how study abroad students become immersed in their host culture.
In case you are new to reading The Odyssey, it is a publication intended for students, faculty, administrators and study abroad advisers to keep informed about Central College Abroad programs. Over 400 colleges and universities have used our programs during the last 40 years, and each year we send approximately 400 students overseas.
We want to extend a special thanks to Allison Fegley, an alumna of our London program. She is a senior at Central College and the marketing intern for the Central College Abroad office this semester. Thanks, Allison, for overseeing this edition of The Odyssey.
We hope you will enjoy reading The Odyssey and consider a Central College Abroad experience either for yourself, your friends or your students.
Brian Zylstra
Director of Central College Abroad
The Central College Abroad program in Paris has piloted new projects and activities this semester to help students with immersion into the host culture and aid with the development of their language skills. Paris program director Shelley Cavaness initiated a variety of opportunities ranging from evening entertainment to volunteer work to get students to interact with their French peers and to improve their language skills.
One of these opportunities is Club International des Jeunes à Paris. This organization was created for both French and foreign students to encourage them to make new friendships in an international atmosphere and share their experiences with others like themselves, while participating in a variety of cultural activities. As a non-profit organization, the club creates a monthly agenda of excursions and activities including workshops, visits to Parisian districts, museums and shows in which students may participate.
Another opportunity comes from Espace Bénévolat, an organization that matches willing volunteers with organizations in need. This provides an opportunity for students to practice French language skills and also receive service-learning credit for their efforts. Another benefit is that it allows students to take a deeper look into the French society than they are able to do on a daily basis.
Cavaness also encourages students to get involved in a club or organization aside from daily classes and internships. Examples include sports teams, church activities or exercise clubs, which most students are used to participating in the United States. Being involved helps students stay busy and avoid feeling homesick, especially if they are doing something they are comfortable with and enjoy. It also gives them a chance to practice speaking French and meet other French students in a non-classroom setting.
This fall, Central College Abroad’s program in Leiden was reviewed. Each semester Central College Abroad does an internal review of one of it's programs. This semester's review team was made up of CCA’s own Brian Zylstra, director, Annique Kiel, associate director, Jessica Klyn, coordinator of admission and adviser for the Leiden program and Kevin Hayden, a coop member representing Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. The review took place on Thursday-Tuesday, Nov. 1-6, at the program site in Leiden.
The program was reviewed using the Forum’s Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad. These standards recognize that there are no “one size fits all” answers for how organizations and programs should address a broad range of study abroad standards. These standards are designed to fit a wide range of academic programs and are anchored in a set of queries, rather than regulatory statements. They seek to provide the basis for self-evaluation by individual professionals, their programs and their institutions, for internal or external review.
Central College Abroad recently appointed an interim director for its program in Merida, Mexico. Ana María Diez assumed duties for the Mexico program this summer and welcomed her first set of students for the fall 2007 program.
Diez studied four years at Instituto Politécnico Nacional and earned a degree in English. She continued her education at Guadalajara, Jalisco, taking courses which prepared her to teach religion, human rights and sociology. She also studied at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, where she was on a program called Perfeccionamiento en la docencia del Inglés which further prepared her to teach English. During the entire time of her schooling, she also was working as a teacher at several private schools across Mexico.
After she finished her schooling, she started a program for students from Canada who were interested in studying Spanish. This program is similar to the Central College Abroad program and includes excursions throughout Mexico and daily Spanish language classes.
In 2004, Diez began working with the Central College Abroad program as a Spanish teacher. The new responsibilities that come along with the title of interim director include teaching a variety of courses, coordinating the activities and excursions for student participation and simply being there to advise students throughout the semester.
Diez is excited about this new opportunity to spend even more time with the students and staff on the program.
“This is my city,” she said. “I love this place, and I am eager to share that love with others who are excited to learn.”
Central College Abroad (CCA) was chosen to present at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators regional conference in Kansas City. The conference took place Saturday-Tuesday, Nov. 10-13. The purpose of each NAFSA regional conference is to advance the causes of education abroad and to learn about new initiatives in the field of international education.
Presenting at the conference was Central College Abroad’s own Brian Zylstra, Annique Kiel and Betty Baker. The title of their presentation was “Beginning to End: Tying it All Together for Effective Learning.” It focused on Central College Abroad’s efforts to prepare students for their semester abroad before departure and to encourage students to make the most of their time overseas. It also shared ways CCA has encouraged students to hold onto the value of the experience after they return by sharing their experiences with others.
NAFSA is an organization which promotes international education and provides professional development opportunities to the field. Through all of its activities, it seeks to advance international education and global workforce development through exchange programs.
NAFSA's membership in the United States is organized into 11 geographic regions. Central College Abroad is a part of Region IV which includes Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and North and South Dakota. The regional conferences, which are held each year, serve as great networking opportunities for the participants.
My name is Jennifer Stewart, and I am a territory representative for the Central College Abroad office. I am also the program adviser for London, Colchester and Wales.
I came to Central in 2000 from Lisbon, Iowa, and graduated in 2004 with a degree in communication studies with an English minor. Like many Central students, I spent the spring semester of my junior year abroad. In mid January 2003 I crossed the pond and landed in London. I chose to study in London because I craved a routine and setting completely different than what I knew. What I found was that this marvelously busy, metropolitan city was very different than the life I knew in Iowa; however, I also discovered that sometimes there are more similarities among people than differences. This fascinated me, and needless to say, I came home with a newfound interest in various aspects of culture and travel. Upon my return to Central, I immediately applied to work in the Central College Abroad office and spent my senior year as an intern.
After graduation, I joined the admission staff at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. I spent the past three years meeting with high school juniors and seniors through out the Midwest as they prepared to make their college decision. I felt very fortunate to assist them at such an important time in their lives. Although I was not a Cornell alum, I believe in the benefits of a small liberal arts education and loved working with the students … especially when I talked to them about study abroad options. So, when the opportunity arose this past summer to become a member of the CCA staff, I jumped on it!
I have thoroughly enjoyed the past few months back at Central. I eventually plan to pursue and master’s degree in higher education with an emphasis on comparative and international education. However, until then, I continue to enjoy my free time! I love to be with my friends and family. We travel when we can and spend the rest of our time in the kitchen when we can’t.
Recent Central College graduate Brittney Hansen of Indianola is one of 145 students nationwide who will be U.S. foreign language teaching assistants at Austrian Secondary Schools. This is a program administrated by the Fulbright Commission in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture.
The Fulbright Commission assists the Austrian Ministry of Education with the management of its U.S. Teaching Assistant Program, in which United States college and university graduates work in Austrian secondary schools for eight months of the school year. Funded primarily by direct contributions from United States and Austrian governments, the Fulbright Program provides grants for United States citizens to study, teach or pursue research in Austria and for Austrian citizens to engage in similar activities in the United States.
Hansen applied through the Austrian government and Fulbright Commission in January. She received word in April that she would be teaching in Klosterneuburg, Austria, just north of Vienna, where she studied for a semester through Central’s study abroad program. Hansen will teach English at Höhere Bundeslehranstalt und Bundesamt für Wein- und Obstbau, a specialized institute for higher education that focuses on fruit and wine farming.
Hansen departed for Vienna Monday, Sept. 17, and began teaching Monday, Oct. 1. She will teach through Friday, May 30.
Hansen graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and German studies. While at Central College, Hansen studied abroad on Central’s Vienna program in the spring of 2005. Prior to being in Vienna, she completed the two-month intensive language option at the Goethe Institut in Prien am Chiemsee. She had an internship two days a week at the Volkschule Sievering, an elementary school in Vienna, and instructed English.
“Studying abroad in Vienna, as well as completing an internship there, really helped to prepare me for this opportunity,” she said. “I felt very lucky to have such great help from the Vienna program directors who aided me in applying for the teaching assistantship. I feel their references, along with my experiences abroad, gave me an advantage over other graduates who were applying for the same
I won’t lie; my time in Paris wasn’t easy. In January 2007, the time came for me to get on a plane in Chicago, Ill., and cross the ocean. My mind was scrambled. I couldn’t focus on a single thought. I covered up my incertitude of the future by pulling out a book from my carry-on. Believe me, I was ecstatic to finally leave the country. It was what I had waited for. I could live!
But, I had doubts like any person would about living abroad. The intensity of adjusting to a new lifestyle is a difficult thing to handle. The hardest thing about living abroad was realizing I wasn’t able to learn everything at once. Prior to my departure, I had an assumption I would be a magnificent French speaker within the first month of my arrival. In reality, it took me at least that first month to understand just because I was in French classes (where speaking English was gibberish), I couldn’t expect to be fluent overnight.
With a lot of hard work and newfound confidence, each day I began to develop relationships with French students living in my foyer. My time spent in the foyer was the most helpful with my language barrier. My particular dorm was a challenge at times, but the influence I experienced was far more positive than negative. The students who lived there helped me through an intense part of my life.
My French friends opened my mind to the passion of French people and the issues that concerned the whole country. My American friends helped me face internal difficulties of studying abroad and missing home from time to time. Both groups meshed and melted into a diverse family. We spent nights helping each other with French and English translation homework, and obviously, fun nights out in Paris.
I took advantage of my time in Paris as much as I could. Not only did I explore the city daily, but also explored the new transformation of becoming a French student and a French friend. Being able to expand my horizons in another culture and broaden my social skills were the most life-changing findings of my study abroad experience. I realize these changes and how they affect my life as a young woman living in the United States.
The transition of coming back to Iowa from France has been the hardest I’ve ever encountered. Without the help and support from all my friends and family in Iowa, I don’t think I would have been able to reach as many goals as I did while living abroad. Being away from home wasn’t the hard part. It was what made me stronger.
The hardest part now is not being submerged into French culture. I miss French food and seeing the Eiffel Tower whenever I felt the need. Most of all, I miss having the perfect, roller coaster abroad experience.
I try not to let the past overpower my thoughts. I plan to return to Europe to experience it with a completely new and widened perspective. It took a lot to adjust to a new culture for the first time; I realize now, that was half the fun.
I remember touring Central College as a senior in high school — walking around campus and being asked by the tour guide if I was interested in study abroad. “Not really,” was my timid response, but the tour guide went on to share her stories of studying abroad in Spain. “You should really consider it,” she offered. “I think you would really enjoy it.” However, I am not much of a risk taker … or at least I didn’t used to be. Growing up I tended to follow the rules and never made a move that would rock the boat too much. One of the first truly impulsive decisions I ever made happened sophomore year when Sasha, a good friend, and I decided over a bowl of shells and cheese that we were going to study abroad in London the following spring … and at the risk of sounding trite it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
January came and, hand in hand, Sasha and I walked through the first airport I had ever been in to board the first plane I had ever ridden which would take us to London (I said I wasn’t much of a risk taker). I was obviously nervous, but Sasha had navigated her way through many airports before. She helped me through it and soon we were in London.
I remember very few things about that first day … or even that first week. I remember riding through the city in one of the London cabs I had only seen in the movies and being in awe of all that was around me. Buckingham Palace right in our back yard, Big Ben a few blocks down the road, the Thames River just three tube stops away. These are things I never expected to see in my life, yet this was my home for the next four months. It was surreal. I remember my first trip to Sainsbury’s, the grocery store in London. Let me just say, if I had any moment of true panic and culture shock during my four months abroad, this would have been that moment. We made the mistake of going to the store right before dinner, which is what everyone else does in London. They shop every day after work since their food doesn’t have as many preservatives to keep it fresh and they have no way to transport large amounts of food home when they ride the tube. So there I was, standing in the middle of this tiny grocery store, which was bursting with customers, trying to locate some food that even remotely resembled food from home (Pringles and Twix bars became my staple). People rushing past me, bumping into me, cutting in front of me, clearly knowing I was far from home and out of my comfort zone. I had never felt so helpless and homesick in my life.
I made it through the grocery store experience and was soon navigating my way through the store at any time of day with ease. But there were many more challenges to overcome — the tube, classes, an internship. All of these experiences started off as extremely scary and intimidating for the girl from Iowa who had never even flown before, but one thing I learned about myself is I tend to adapt to new situations relatively quickly and can typically work my way through any situation thrown at me.
One of the things that made the greatest impact on me during my four months in London was my internship. I worked at Mission 21, which is a public relations and promotions company. It represents a variety of clients and I helped with several events — a photo shoot and trade show, a conference hosting a panel of speakers for school-aged children in London. I even got to help interview one of the members of parliament! As amazing as these experiences were, I learned so much more from just being in the office or going to a pub after work with everyone and having conversations. I became great friends with my co-workers, and we would talk about my travels, my feelings about London, and the differences between the two places. One co-worker spent a significant amount of time living in California and tended to understand what I was going through. She knew I was eager to get home in May for my brother’s high school graduation and party but didn’t know what the party would be like, so she asked me to e-mail her about how it went. I still e-mail her as often as I can to update her on my life in the states.
I took a lot of things away from my semester in London. There are the obvious little things like my newfound preference for drinking tea with milk in the morning instead of coffee or my tendency to use phrases such as “Cheers!” and “Fab!” in conversation. But more importantly than those small details are the ways I have changed as a person and keep my London experience as a part of my life every day. I certainly have grown from that shy, sheltered girl into a woman who is prepared for the rest of her life. My time in London made me a more independent and take-charge person. It helped me to come out of my shell and realize I have a lot of skills and talents that will serve me well in my future. As I often said to my dad in e-mails back home, “If I can conquer London, I can conquer anything that comes my way.” And I truly feel that way.
