Learn About Your New Home
Before you arrive in a new country it's best to understand the culture you'll be living--it is important to start learning about your host country before leaving!
Students hosted in a Moroccan home.
Get to know your new host community in a variety of ways.
For a high-level view, do some research about your host country (such as through the US State Department country guides or the CIA's World Fact Book).
For a more personal understanding, watch movies, begin following a local newspaper, seek out someone from your host country (such as an international student here at Bowdoin), and learn key phrases from DuoLingo or an in-country YouTuber, etc. You can also reach out to a student who has recently studied in your country by looking at our Where Do Our Students Go list and asking them some of these frequently un-asked questions.