Being in a different country with a totally different culture might sound challenging or even scary for a few people, even if it is just as a tourist. When you decide to intern abroad, you need to be open minded to new habits, a new language and other values that might differ from the ones you have at home.
Make an effort to be understood
Once you arrive in Brazil or at another country, you have to make an effort to communicate with other people. Not only the language can be a barrier, but also the way you deal with that problem might be crucial for you to have an awesome or awful experience. Communication can be a lot easier by just trying.
Be curious and hardworking
This is applicable for the work environment and also for your daily lifeabroad. Whenever you face something new and you don’t know, be curious, ask people, get yourself involved, show that you care and I’m sure that locals will appreciate your curiosity about their country and they will do whatever is in their power to help you.
At work, show that you care about the company you are working and try to reach their goals, even if you are doing an activity that you don’t like. People expect you to have a positive attitude and your colleagues expect you to have a high performance while abroad. If you really don’t like something, be open and share your dislikes with your boss. Open communication is key to success, either abroad or at your home country.
Get out of your comfort zone
Challenge yourself. If you are shy, set goals to overcome your shyness (if that is important to you). Prove dishes that normally you wouldn’t even try. You only get one chance to do the exact same internship abroad, so our best advice is: Get out of your comfort zone and try everything that is – reasonable – new or different from what you are used to.
Explore the world out of your room
Sometimes when we start working, we get tired and the first thing we want to do is to rest. Forget your tiredness and explore the city you are interning during the day, night, etc. Imagine how much time it will take until you leave your country to visit Brazil again? Or, think about when will be the next time you will be interning/travelling abroad? If you are staying a few months, enjoy the most out of it and explore.
If you stay at a smaller city that doesn’t offer that much culturally or in terms of entertainment, then, gather with your friends, colleagues and feel a little bit how locals live. We’re sure you won’t get disappointed.
Make connections for life
Networking is a word that is getting more and more important every day. With the ones that you get in contact, try to exchange business cards, e-mails, be friends in social networks. You never know when you will need them, so start building your work network with locals and even other foreigners that might be here. Their contact can come in hand later.