Study Abroad Experiences
Foot Prints of an LVC Student
By Madelynn Hughes ’10, Individualized/Business Administration Major
LVC has been an adventure. It has given me memories, stories, and life experiences. I have never laughed as hard or worked as hard as I have at LVC. One opportunity was studying abroad. I had only taken two French courses and was sent off to represent our school and our country in France. Three suitcases and two larger biceps later, I arrived at the place I would call home for the next three and half months.
My brain hurt for the first three weeks; I found out the hard way that I couldn’t speak any French. On my first day of school I was pulled out of class and sent to the Dean’s office. I thought to myself “what could I have possibly done now!” I knew I was always causing a stir around the LVC campus but having been in France for only two hours I didn’t know what I could have done wrong. I sat anxiously, seating and waiting for the Dean for over an hour sweating before he called me into his office to tell me they had made a mistake on my entrance exam. They were going to move me to a higher level.
I then had to make the embarrassing late walk into my first class. No one wants to be the late kid on the first day but that was me. The teacher made me stand in front of the class and say who I was, where I came from, and why I was late. Leave it up to the only American in the class to be late. It wasn’t the best way to start off my school year but it is definitely a memory I can laugh about now.
Throughout that semester I became as fluent as a six-year old in French. I traveled to Morroco, Africa in celebration of Halloween. I celebrated Thanksgiving weekend in Belgium with another LVC student, Lauren Throne. I took a ten day trip around France, Italy, and Monaco. I accidently bumped into a couple from my hometown in New Jersey while eating at a bistro in Paris. I went on a date with a soldier in the French Foreign Legion named Julien. I danced in public on the famous street the “Champs Elysee” and I got in trouble for trying to climb the Eiffel Tower while at the top.
Every day I woke up ready for my next adventure. On my last Saturday night in France, I missed my bus home and refused to pay twelve euro for a taxi so I begged a police officer to take me home at four o’clock in the morning and he did! I was so excited I got to sit in the back seat. I was lucky enough to meet a girl who would become a huge part of my life and will remain that way. We still talk on the phone everyday and relive our crazy journey together.
I became a wiz on the metro and noticed my once hard everyday tasks became so much easier. My clothing style began to change and I as person started to change too. You learn a lot about yourself, packing up your life, taking the risk of starting fresh in a culture and society that isn’t your own. You’re going to make a lot mistakes and it’s O.K. It is overall empowering to your spirit. It pushes you to expand yourself. It is an experience of a lifetime. One, that without the encouragement of my advisor and family I am afraid that I would not have had. I took the chance, and came out a better and if possible a more confident person. Studying abroad made my college career what it is and helped define me as a person.
Outfitted for Maastricht
Emily Welsh ‘10
Perhaps I should begin with the antics of packing. My first bag weighed too much, my second one’s zipper broke, and my third wasn’t big enough. I was going to a foreign country farther north in the hemisphere than I am when I am at home in Vermont, where it supposedly rains a lot, and needed to be ready to play the roles of student, businessperson, and tourist. Talk about an outfit dilemma!
To say that I was nervous and excited at the same time would be a complete understatement. I knew nothing about the language, not much about the country, and relatively little about what it would be like. Looking back now, it’s hard to believe it is over. Nothing could have prepared me for the friends that I would make, the information I would learn, or the experiences I would have.
As we tried to adjust to the six hour time change, our first days in Maastricht were full of practical tours around the city and the school as well as learning to find the student hot spots. I was so absorbed taking pictures of my new surroundings that I neglected to pay attention to where we were actually going. Luckily, true to all advertisements, Dutch people are quite friendly and I eventually made it to class my first day, 45 minutes late after stopping to ask for directions three times (my first true cultural conflict). As the buildings where we went to class were about a mile and a half from where we were actually living…the walk in itself was a definite change from life on the LVC campus where you can roll out of bed five minutes before class and still get there on time. I quickly realized I had drastically overestimated the comfort of my flip-flops on the cobblestone streets.
The classes we took in the Netherlands couldn’t have been more perfect for the experiences we had. Our class on the European Union was timed perfectly with the EU elections and our Intercultural Communications class could not have helped us adjust better to the various differences and conflicts we encountered. Both classes were truly hands on learning as we spent a lot of time analyzing our night and weekend adventures in our communications class and about the pros and cons of being part of the EU during the current financial crisis in our other class.
Maastricht, as a city, was true to form as we passed more bars than stores and saw more bikes than cars. We finally deduced that people have the right of way over cars but that bikes have the right of way over EVERYTHING. So if you see one of the four of us casually attempting to cross 934 without looking for cars, kindly grab our arms, stop us, and remind us that we aren’t in Maastricht anymore (our mothers will appreciate it.)
Student life in the city was a lot of fun as we all found favorite spots for everything from gelato to beer and all was within walking distance. The international student bar, Highlander, was an instant hit. However, at my favorite bar, Shamrock, there was an LVC t-shirt hung on the wall that was a gift from previous students who had participated in the full-semester program there.
I originally planned to only stay in the Netherlands. Filling out my U.S. Customs declaration form on plane as we departed, I realized there was not enough space on the line labeled “Countries visited on this trip” to fit all the places I had been. While there, I was able to travel to Austria, Germany, Belgium, Amsterdam (I know it is not another country but it felt like one!), and I even got a flight to Ireland for fifteen Euros! To sum up the experiences I had traveling in this short amount of space would be impossible so I won’t even try. But let me tell you that they were nights and sights I will never forget. Sleeping in hostels with people you don’t know (even a Paul Bunyan or two from Utah) is also an adventure not to be missed when traveling through Europe as a student.
As I sit in Vermont writing this, listening to thunder rumble yet again as the storms push out the humidity, I think the outfits I had were just fine. As a student I made new friends and learned how to handle cultural conflicts. As a businessperson I learned the significance of the European Union, and as a tourist I experienced some of the “can’t miss” places of Europe. I have come home with a new found confidence in myself and my ability to handle new and unfamiliar surroundings and a desire to learn more about life in other places. What better way to get to know yourself than by experiencing how others see you? I now have friends in places I can’t wait to go visit and certainly enough pictures to contribute to a yearning to go back. Ask any one of the four of us who went and we will probably be able to sit down and talk for hours about the things we learned and the fun we had. Overall, if I could do it again—I wouldn’t change a thing.
London Adventure
Erin Staab ‘09
On September 23rd, 2007, I left all that was familiar behind me, 
and began my study abroad experience in London, England. I was not sure what to expect when I arrived in England, or even if I made the right decision to drop everything and go abroad for three months. I was hesitant; I missed Lebanon Valley College, family, friends, and all the comforts of home. The first two weeks abroad were the longest and hardest to get through. I was homesick, stuck in a city where I was lost most of the time, and now going to a university that had over 40,000 students.
While I had my doubts in the beginning, as time past I grew fonder and fonder of my new surroundings. I began to travel with other students that came to London from LVC, and also became more familiar with what it was like to live in a large city. I realized how lucky I was to be able to study abroad. When else in my life would I have the opportunity to go surfing and coast-steering in Wales (coast-steering is a combination of cliff jumping, rock climbing, and swimming), sail over the Loch Ness in Scotland, ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, see a windmill in Holland, and the Christmas markets in Germany?
The more I fell in love with London and traveling throughout Europe, the quicker the time seemed to go by. Before I knew it, Thanksgiving had come, which meant I only had three weeks left till I was on a plane headed home. Thanksgiving in London will always be a one to remember. My flat mates and I went out to eat for Thanksgiving at a restaurant that was catering to the holiday. While it did not compare to home in the least, we still had a great time appreciating all that we had done in the past few months. I was also lucky to have friends come to London who were spending the semester studying abroad in Spain. We appreciated having each other over the holiday since our friends and family were all home in the states.
Finally, it came time to leave London. I thought I would feel excitement at finally being able to go home and see my friends and family. I definitely missed home, however in three months, I also found a new home and learned a great deal. I walked off the plane on December 15th 2007, a different person then I had been three months prior. I now had confidence in myself when it came to trying new things, a new independence, a greater knowledge when it comes to other cultures, and a new respect for things I am not familiar with. I still think about my semester in London on a daily basis, and reminisce with the LVC students I went with every chance I get.