On a foreign study program or language study abroad, you attend classes with Dartmouth students, live with Dartmouth students and explore a foreign country with Dartmouth students. Despite that language pledge, sometimes studying abroad can feel a lot like studying in Hanover. Holding a job or internship abroad, on the other hand, demands more thorough immersion in another culture. Most immediately, language can present a significant challenge. For Olivia Evans '14, working for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome was made all the more complex by the mix of nationalities in her office.
"It was the most foreign you could possibly get," Evans recalled. "On a daily basis, I would have to speak three languages."
Even one language can be quite a challenge. While working in Paris for AmCham, a nonprofit facilitating economic communication between businesses in France and the United States, Bailey Johnson '14 focused on improving her French.
"Speaking the language is definitely a huge barrier," Johnson said. "Even if you think you're almost fluent in the languages, there are all these phrases and colloquialisms that you don't understand."
Even working in an English-speaking country, Victor Hollenberg '14 had to adapt to cultural differences in London without a safety net of sympathetic peers. Hollenberg, who worked at the London office of AlphaSights, a global investment firm, said that norms governing business relations are completely different in different countries.
"I think it was different in that there's something to be said for being an outsider in an office, because you bring a different perspective that you might not even realize you have," he said. "There were a lot of things they didn't know about American culture, so being able to share that with them and clear up a lot of stereotypes about the United States was great."
Hollenberg had the benefit of a significant community of Dartmouth students during his work experience, as his time in London coincided with both the government and history department FSPs.
"I knew almost everybody who I was spending time with, and that's kind of the wild thing about it," he said. "In most senses I never really left Hanover."
But what about when he left the comforts of his friends' apartments?
"In the workplace, it was kind of the opposite" he said.
Unlike Hollenberg, Johnson and Evans did not spend much time with Dartmouth students while abroad. Evans lived independently in a small apartment 10-by-10 and 300 meters from the Coliseum, found on the Italian version of Craigslist as any expatriate might.
"When you're living on your own, you definitely have to learn about the culture more and you have to explore more," she said. "You get lonely, so you have to meet people."
Evans connected with Italians in Rome more than she did with French people while on an LSA+ in Toulouse last year, particularly as her Italian improved.
"On the LSA you go to class, and when you're in class you speak French, but the second you go outside, most students break that language pledge," she said.
Outside of Dartmouth programs, the basic need to communicate, as opposed to a language pledge, holds students accountable. Because she traveled by herself, Evans spoke in Italian wherever she went. One night, while sitting at a small trattoria on a seaside cliff, Evans pushed her table together with a friendly group of Italians.
"I learned so much from them," she said.
Johnson agreed, adding that she connected to people she would never have met had she been on a Dartmouth program.
"Studying abroad, I wouldn't have been able to interact with as many older, working Parisians, even though I definitely would have interacted with younger Parisians," she said. "I think this was really cool to be immersed in a real Parisian lifestyle."
In addition to fostering interactions with locals, working abroad can also allow for more flexibility with cultural immersion. Working this term in South Africa, first at the Kiptown Youth Program and then for Mixit, a popular local social media company, Kathleen Mahoney '15, Julia Weber '15 and Ryan Shelley '15 have the benefit of determining how to spend their free time.
"I have never studied abroad, but I would imagine that a main difference is that we are not with a large group of people, it's only the three of us," Mahoney said. "This gives us more freedom, I would imagine, to form our own schedule, around when we are working of course. Not having homework or tests or any of the other responsibilities of a student also allows for more freedom."
This might seem fairly similar to off-terms spent interning or working in the U.S., but there is a key difference: you're living in another country. During a night of pub trivia, Hollenberg said his team was "completely obliterated" by competitors because they lacked a comprehensive knowledge of British culture.
"That was, like, day three for me in London and that's when I realized, contrary to popular belief, that Britain is a different country," he said. "You'd think London would be a lot like the United States, but it's actually very different."
In the office, these differences manifested themselves in little things, from how people interacted with coworkers to the daily break for afternoon tea. On Thanksgiving, Hollenberg took the day off to celebrate what he called "the most meaningful holiday of the year." Missing out on Thanksgiving with his family and Homecoming made Hollenberg realize the kinds of sacrifices expats have to make.
"You'll absolutely have the chance to integrate yourself in the local culture, but you'll always carry a little bit of where you're from in you," he said. "I definitely missed Hanover a lot when I was there, but the opportunity to do what I did was one that I couldn't be more lucky to have had."
Mahoney said she sees profound differences in social relations in the workplace between the United States and South Africa.
"I guess one obvious point that is visible everywhere, including the workplace, is the effect of apartheid, which ended only 19 years ago," she said. "Segregation is everywhere, and formal businesses such as the one we are working with in Cape Town are mainly dominated by wealthy white people, while informal settlements with very poor black people are situated shockingly close to developed cities."
For Evans, the most Italian part of her workday was the laidback nature of her schedule. The Italian work ethic is not at all like the American one.
"It's really interesting when your boss is stepping into the 90th minute of your lunch break," she said. "Then there's coffee three times a day with your colleagues."
Evans will be working for the same organization in Washington, D.C., this summer.
"I'm basically doing the exact same job just in the U.S., but I feel like it's going to be a completely different culture because you're here," she said.
