When many people think about international friendships, the first thing that comes to mind is the good ol’ pen pal. Hundreds of thousands of children used to engage in the exchange of written letters before the internet age.
Since travel (and computer access) was not as accessible as it is today, having a pen pal was the next best thing. But nowadays, you can jump on a flight next week to Lima to see your Peruvian buddy.
And due to the increase in people choosing to work and live elsewhere, you can often meet your friends from all over the globe wherever you live!
International friendships are not merely a cultural exchange. But, rather, an opportunity to transcend your understanding of an entire culture.
When you embark on an internship, you’ll meet people from all over the world. These friendships will be invaluable and for many interns, the friendships they make often remain friendships for life!
Networking on an internship without breaking a sweat
Unless you are an overly-extroverted sanguinist, social interaction is, at times, an irksome drag.
Especially if circumstances force you to mingle when mingling is the last thing you feel like doing.
On the bright side, international friendships are much like any other. First you get to know your names and backgrounds. After chewing the fat for a while you both promise to catch up again over some coffee.
However, where international friendships have the upper hand is the endless stories and cultural exchanges you will share. Consider yourselves as ambassadors of your home countries – it’s time to negotiate a peace treaty between the two.
While on an internship, you’ll meet people who have spent their entire lives here. The bonus of this is that your new buddy will avail all the glamorous venues that travel guides miss. You’ll have the best tour guide at hand who will also lend you tips on how to survive the city alone and where to get the most bang for your buck.
But also, while on an internship abroad, you’ll meet people from all over the globe. Sure they’ll be a few language barriers and differences. But because of your shared internship experience, the chances are you’ll bond for life!
Same life, new outlook
For author C.S. Lewis, “friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” (The Four Loves).
But whose survival is he thinking about?
Friendships have always been understood as a mutual bond that transmits feelings and thoughts in order to (spiritually) nourish both recipients. This notion remains no different in the case of international friendships. However, an international friendship can even benefit the people around you.
For example, an international friendship enlivens your empathy for others, especially those alien to you. A friendship of a diverse quality sheds light on societal problems you may have been previously blind to.
On return to your home town you’ll start noticing a change in perspective surrounding your environment. Which may even incite you to seek out a more varied group of friends. Travel and international friendships broaden your mind and your perspective.
Global networking is fantastic and you can learn so much from your peers, including about yourself!
Dust up your language skills or start from scratch
Remember the glory days of your Spanish, French, or German classes? It’s a shame the majority of young people prefer the monolingual life while a multiverse of languages exists.
With the help of your new multilingual clique you can hone your foreign language skills. Alternatively, you can take on an entirely new linguistic journey.
Every two weeks a language dies, which means a culture is being wiped off the face of the earth. However, you can participate in the preservation of the earth’s linguistic diversity.
Although most of your buddies will be speakers of popular tongues, don’t exclude the possibility of meeting a representative of language isolates like Basque and Albanian.
Idioms like ‘Iku macja, lozin minjtë’ (Albanian for ‘when the cat is gone, the mice play’) and ‘Ez kendu babak altzotik.’ (‘don’t take the beans out of your lap in’ Basque) can reveal a lot about a nation’s identity.
You’ll learn lots of unique idioms and sayings of the place you decide to intern in too!
Learning a new language or brushing up on old ones is a skill that employers appreciate. An extra language may just be the thing that secures you a job over a candidate without one.
A few things to take home about international friendships
Any kind of friendship teaches us valuable lessons. And the international ones, especially, give the taste of friendship a surprising twist.
Friendship is a free invitation to get in somebody’s shoes; to gain access to another person’s thoughts and feelings as you earn their trust.
Riding the same wavelength with somebody from another corner of the world can be an eye-opening encounter and a life-changing lesson. It teaches good communication and diplomatic skills. As well as teaching you how to manage effective communication across different time zones.
And the most efficient way to spend your time abroad while making or visiting friends is to embark on a career opportunity. Find what industry attracts you most and grow a professional and personal network of peers!
Beyond Academy and our specialist team of professional career experts will equip you head-to-toe with all the knowledge you need to take on the employment market.
From finding you the bang-on internship program to sorting out the small minutia of your travel, Beyond Academy can help you tick all the boxes to give you the ultimate career experience.
What are you waiting for? Choose your desired industry and location and start growing more international friendships with a Beyond Academy internship!
