Communicating While Abroad
You have made the decision to attend school in another country, which means that your family is going to be even more worried about you than they would have been. Plus, you'll need to remain in contact with people back home in order to handle all the business that will remain in the states (like credit card bills and elections), and you'll need to keep up with all the gossip among your friends. Therefore, it is essential to have a system of communication with those still in America.
Thanks to modern technology, being on the other side of the world does not mean you have to be away from your friends and family. You have a wealth of opportunities available to help you remain in contact with your loved ones.
Cell Phones:
The international standard for cellular phones is GSM, or Global Services for Mobile. In addition to working on Cingular and T-Mobile's network in America, the same GSM cell phone will find service in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
This means that your Cingular cell phone will work in Rome, but your roaming charges (no pun intended) will be just a tad steep. Fortunately, there are a multitude of options to prevent this.
Your Current Provider
If you currently use Cingular or T-mobile (and over 70 million Americans do), all you have to do is add worldwide service to your existing plan and you're good to go.
You can sign up for a Cingular World Traveler plan for $5.99 a month that gives you discounted calling rates worldwide (charges based on country can be found at Cingular's website), or use T-Mobile and pay as you go: www.t-mobile.co.uk.
International Cell Phone Service
There are numerous companies that offer to rent or sell you a cell phone that will work out of the country. You can prepay or pay as you go, just like in the US, and you can rent the phone for as long as you need. The question is - which is the right move?
International cell phone giant Telestial, Inc. has a six-step analysis for choosing the perfect cell phone method while overseas: www.telestial.com. Or, if you want to skip the hassle and just rent a phone for a specific amount of time, go to www.worldcell.com.
Computers:
As long as you will be studying in a location that allows you access to a computer and a broadband Internet connection (cable, DSL, etc.), you can stay in contact with anyone in the world for free or for a surprisingly low fee.
Personal Communication
Skype
Skype is, as the website www.skype.com says, "a little program for making free calls over the Internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It's free and easy to download and use, and works with most computers." In other words, it is the perfect tool for any student abroad with access to his or her own computer (assuming Internet is fast and readily available).
A blogger on our sister site, www.StudyAbroad.com, who is currently studying in London wrote this in one of her blog entries about remaining in contact with her friend, Laura: "We had been on the phone (actually on Skype, which is a phone that works like AIM-you talk on your computer and it's free which makes it infinitely superior to a phone, I love being able to talk to my friends and family at home for hours on end without having to keep my eye on the meter. Seriously, go to www.skype.com and check it out, all you need is a microphone for your computer. I highly recommend it! Okay enough with the advertisement, back to Laura)."
Vonage
Vonage is the number one voice over IP (VOIP) provider in the world. VOIP allows you to turn your high-speed Internet connection into a local number from anywhere in the world. That means that, as long as you have Vonage back home, you can use any phone in the world to call your friends and family for as long as possible for only $5 a month. The only drawbacks are that you have to have the Vonage box with you to plug into your phone, and the cheapest monthly service (for the people back home) is currently $14.99. Go to www.vonage.com to learn how this works.
Virtual Communication
Instant Messenger and E-mail
Just like in the United States, instant messaging and e-mailing your friends is as simple as typing "Hey, what's up" and "LOL" on your keyboard, and with the inclusion of Google Chat into the Gmail Web page, you can instant message and e-mail at the same time. Obviously high Internet costs might make long chat sessions expensive, but reading and responding to e-mail can be done easily and can effectively keep you in touch with those back home.
Blogs
77 million people currently write their own blog. Are you one of them? Even if you aren't, keeping up with a blog is a great way to continue keeping up with your friends and family while abroad. You can blog about what you've been up to so they can stop worrying, and they can respond to you with their own messages and updates so you can remain in the loop. The most popular and simplest blogging communities are MySpace (www.myspace.com), Blogger.com (www.blogger.com), and MindSay (www.mindsay.com).
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