Handbook

Safety

Most of you will be studying in cities and, during your vacation periods, traveling to other cities and through picturesque countrysides. For your general well being it is advantageous to become familiar with your "home base" as quickly as possible. You should also familiarize yourself with cities that you will be visiting before you begin to wander around and explore. This is easily done through maps and travel guides. If you have a good map of a city, you can learn its transportation system. You may want to purchase Let's Go or Lonely Planet travel guides before leaving the U.S., since these guides may be more expensive or unavailable in your host country.

Cities in other countries, like American cities, have their safe and unsafe neighborhoods. You can find out what areas to avoid by asking at an information booth in a train station when you arrive. Use your common sense and do not take risks.

Safety Guidelines for Study Abroad Participants

While studying abroad, as in other settings, participants can have a major impact on their own safety through the decisions they make before and during the program and by their day-to-day choices and behaviors. Here are a few suggestions of safety precautions addressed specifically to American students:

• Students should keep a low profile and try not to make themselves conspicuous by dress, speech, or behavior in ways that might identify them as a potential terrorist targets.
• Students should avoid crowds, protest groups, or other potentially volatile situations, as well as restaurants and entertainment places where Americans are known to congregate.
• Students should be wary of receiving unexpected packages and stay clear of unattended luggage or parcels in airports, train stations, or other areas of uncontrolled public access.
• Students should report to the responsible authority any suspicious persons loitering around residence or instructional facilities, or following them; they should keep their residence area locked, and they should use common sense in divulging information to strangers about their study program and their fellow students.
• Students should make arrangements through their overseas program director or host university officials to register upon arrival at the US consulate or embassy having jurisdiction over the location of their foreign study. They should make sure the resident director, host family, or foreign university official who is assigned the responsibility for their welfare always knows where and how to contact them in an emergency and knows their schedule and itinerary if traveling, even if only overnight.
• Students should develop a plan with their families for regular telephone contact so that they can communicate with you directly about their safety and well-being in the unlikely event of an emergency.
• Students should remain in contact with on-site personnel at their location as well as informing them of all travel plans and checking travel advisories for any country they visit.

Help the International Center to Facilitate Communications

As a regular part of safety preparedness, please carry at all times the phone numbers and e-mail addresses (if applicable) for the following contacts:

• MU's International Center (573-882-6007). Regular office hours are 8:00 AM-12:00 PM and 1:00 PM-5:00 PM, Monday-Friday.
• MU Police Department (573-882-7201) who will contact a member of the MU Study Abroad Team at home in the event of an emergency occurring outside of regular office hours
• The Program Resident Director, as applicable
• The International Programs Office of the host institution
• Emergency phone numbers for the host institution
• The US Embassy and/or local Consulate in any country you are studying or traveling
• Family at home and work
• Your travel agent when applicable

Stay Informed

Keep informed of current political situations by listening daily to the television or radio news. In the case of an emergency, advisories may be made to the general public through the media. You will still find yourself with many surprises, such as strikes, that may cause you to change your plans. Stay out of the political affairs. You can be deported or worse -- end up arrested or hurt. Unsuspecting tourists sometimes find themselves in downtown areas during protests. If this occurs, you should leave the area immediately.

There are several websites for news on line:

• Europeline
• BBC
• Latin American Network Information Center
• New York Times Travel Information
• Directory of Newspapers by Country
• Asia Studies Network Information Center (for Asia and India)
• MSNBC
• AllAfrica

Street Smarts

Be cautious, when meeting new people. Don't give out your address and phone number to strangers or divulge too much personal information about yourself. If you are going to withdraw money from an ATM machine, receive wired money through an American Express, Citibank or Western Union location, please go with a buddy that will help you stay alert to your surroundings. Pick your ATM location for safety and not just convenience.

Do not attract attention to yourself by speaking English loudly in public spaces or wearing expensive looking jewelry. These mannerisms will certainly attract thieves, or worse.

Taxis are not safe everywhere, especially late at night. Inquire about this. In some places, women just do not ride taxis by themselves, because it is not safe to ride in a taxi with an unknown man. Men and women are often robbed and assaulted by taxi drivers. In many cities, taxis have gotten so dangerous that people use Radio Taxis, to get the names of reputable companies. It is hard to resist the temptation of flagging down a taxi. The wait is worth it. Please make sure that the taxi is identified, so that if the call has been intercepted and several taxis show up you can pick the right one.

In general, do not hang around famous American hangouts (restaurants, bars, clubs and associations, consulates and embassies, etc.). Especially, if there is a terrorist threat or the U.S. has just participated in some military action or if there is a warning about an impending terrorist threat. During times of international crisis, many U.S. embassies and consulates are picketed and threatened.

Do not be afraid to be assertive when confronted with unwanted situations. Do not let anyone push you into taking risks. If you feel unsafe, you probably are. Listen to your instincts.

When using public telephones, stand facing out so you can see your surroundings.

If someone stops you to ask for the time or to ask for directions, step away to a distance that is safer. Why would they consider asking an obviously foreign person for directions?

Please do not hitchhike no matter how many people tell you that it is perfectly safe. It is not!

Your life will always be more important than any of your possessions. Let them go and run away if necessary.

Risk Factors

Some factors that increase risk are:

• being intoxicated;
• being alone at night, especially after midnight;
• being alone in an isolated area;
• being alone in a high crime area;
• being asleep in an unlocked place;
• being out after a local curfew;
• being new to the country;
• being unable to speaking the local language;
• being in a new place and making new friends.

Alcohol

It may be very tempting to over indulge with alcohol in a foreign country where the beer may be stronger and cheaper and there are no barriers to drinking before the age of 21. However, there are some serious dangers. Drugging is not at all uncommon. Always try to buy your own drinks. Keep control of yourself. Never go home with a stranger. Always go out with at least one friend (especially if you are a woman), and return with that friend. Please note that abuse of alcohol can be grounds for dismissal from the program.

Stress

Read through the information in this workbook about culture shock. Be familiar with the symptoms of depression, so that you can identify problem signs and can seek help if needed. Speaking another language all the time and getting used to cultural differences is tiring. You will need to pamper yourself from time to time. Take care of yourself. Be patient and flexible with others and yourself.

Swimming

Many drownings on beaches abroad are due to the fact that foreign swimmers are unaware of what the local population knows about undertows or particular dangers on the local beach. A very large percentage of drownings are foreign swimmers (for example in Costa Rica and Mexico). Do not count on lifeguards, for most of the places you will be visiting, there will be none. Swimming under the influence of alcohol or other drugs increases your risk.

Sex

Although sex is not necessarily planned, safe sex should be. You should always be prepared for any eventuality. Therefore, even if you are not expecting to experience intimacy with anyone while overseas, bring a supply of condoms with you anyway. Keep in mind that American-made condoms are in general safer and more reliable than many of the ones you may purchase abroad.

If you are a woman do not be afraid of being perceived as promiscuous if you carry condoms, and do not expect male partners to always have their own. Most importantly, understand that this is not a joking matter: even one apparently insignificant episode could ruin and shorten the rest of your life--and often someone else's.

All this said -- be aware that in some countries, especially outside of Europe, males and females may be virgins until they get married. Likewise, sex may not be talked about publicly.

To Women

At the risk of sounding alarmist, and at the risk of perpetuating unfair stereotypes, we urge you to be more careful about where you go, when you go, and with whom you go than you are accustomed to being at home. This is not to say that you shouldn't go out with men and establish relationships of various kinds with them. It is to warn you about casual encounters, possible misreading of non-verbal cues, potential real misunderstandings owing to language difficulties, and inaccurate notions about American women in the minds of many men.

One common assumption is that American women are "easy." Some men will harass American women though the same men would not dream of treating "their own" women in similar ways. For the most part, such harassment is relatively harmless although it can be extremely annoying. Due to the unique social and cultural milieu in the U.S., most Americans tend to be less reserved, less inhibited and less restrained to communicate friendliness and sociability. But in some areas abroad this outgoing manner, especially on the part of young women, can be grossly misinterpreted: A friendly smile and a warm "hello" on the streets of Rome could be easily interpreted by an Italian man as something more than mere friendliness. Therefore, it is wise to be more formal and restrained in your social contacts.

Uncomfortable situations can often be avoided by taking the following precautions. Dress conservatively. Although short skirts, shorts and tank tops may be comfortable, they may also encourage unwanted attention.

In many countries if you are out alone-- even during the day visiting a museum, for example--your solitude may be construed as an invitation for company. Take cues from the local women on behavior. Talk to people about what to do in certain situations before they arise. Asking older women for their help is often recommended as an effective tactic. Avoid walking alone at night or in questionable neighborhoods. You should also be wary of going to unfamiliar places, like beaches and parks, with men whom you do not know well. Invitations will not be lacking, and rape, especially "date rape," is as much a reality abroad as it is in the U.S.

Do not carry mace with you unless you are absolutely certain that it is necessary, and that carrying it is not in violation of the laws of the country in which you are traveling.

American Embassies and Consulates

Should you encounter serious social, political, health, or economic problems, the American Embassies and/or Consulates can offer some, but limited assistance. They can, for example, provide you with a list of local attorneys and physicians; they can contact next of kin in the event of an emergency or serious illness; they can contact friends or relatives on your behalf to request funds or guidance; they can provide assistance during civil unrest or natural disaster; they can replace a lost or stolen passport. Please understand that they are the contact for information on where to get advice but they do not give advice.

Register with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate upon arrival. They will require a copy of your passport. This will be handy if you later lose your passport because they will already have the basic information needed in order to replace your passport. In addition, the U.S. Embassy will know where to contact you if they need to alert you to potential problems. You can check the addresses of the closest U.S. consulate or embassy.

Office of Overseas Citizens Service

Should your family need to contact you while you are traveling (e.g. after the program is over), emergency assistance is available through the Citizens' Emergency Center of the Office of Overseas Citizens Services (OCS), operated by the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. The office is open from 8:15 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and can be reached at (202) 647-5225.

For emergency communications between 10:00 p.m. and 8:15 a.m. or over the weekends, contact can be made through the Overseas Citizens' Services duty officer at (202) 634-3600 or at (202) 647-5225 on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

This office can transit emergency messages from your family, provide protection in the event of arrest or detention while abroad, transmit emergency funds to destitute nationals when commercial banking facilities are not available, etc. It would be wise for you to provide your family with at least a tentative itinerary so that in an emergency, they can give the State Department some idea where to begin looking for you.

To contact the International Center, please call:
+1 (573) 882-6007

To contact the University of Missouri-Columbia Police Department in case of an emergency, please call:
+1 (573) 882-7201