Five Things to Expect During Your First Week Abroad

STEFANIE DAZIO / THE EAGLE

If you’re planning to study abroad sometime in the future, be prepared to have these experiences. During your first seven days in, you will:

1. Get lost: Transportation systems are pretty much impossible in any country (D.C. is no exception, especially the buses). Add a language barrier and you’re going to get off at the wrong stop more than a few times. Learn the names of local stops and program cab companies’ numbers into your cellphone. And find out the proper way to call for a cab – if you don’t speak the language, you may find yourself on the other end of a dial tone.
2. Spend too much money: You’re an American and a tourist – a.k.a., you’re easy to rip off. Also be prepared to eat out a lot because you won’t know where to find a local grocery store in the beginning.
3. 3. Act like a freshman again: Guess what? You have to make all new friends now that you’re abroad (gasp!), so bring back your best small talk topics.
4. 4. Feel homesick: The first 48 hours can be pretty tough. You’re jet-lagged, nauseous from airplane food and cranky. Several teary phone calls home should be a quick cure.
5. Make a fool of yourself: Bumble the language, forget names, get lost, whatever. Enjoy your first and only week as a tourist – after that, your work to become a local begins.