How to stay in touch with friends and family

Though many are excited to study abroad, homesickness can occur and have a negative effect on their experience here. It’s important for students to have a way to talk to parents and keep them updated on their lives.

Not fully knowing the language and becoming used to different foods and customs from American life can be daunting, but there are ways for students to stay in contact with families while overseas.

Internet
The Internet offers an inexpensive way for students to keep in contact with their families while they study here.

It is even easier to message and video chat because these applications don’t have to be downloaded. They are offered through email accounts such as Google’s email service, Gmail.

“I recently used Gmail’s video chat to talk to my brother, and it worked quite well,” IU student Hany Alsalmi said.

Skype is also an application that can be downloaded through the Internet. It allows students to video chat, message or simply call others who have Skype
for free.

For a small fee, Skype makes it possible for students to call their parents’ phone from a computer. 

Phones
Purchasing an international phone plan through cell phone providers is an option for students, but many find the cheaper alternative is buying a calling card.

“I use a calling card because there are high charges on data plans,” graduate student Hardeep Singh Sabharwal said. “There is an Indiana company that sells them, and there are just a lot of calling cards in the market to choose from.”

Another option is Utalk, a phone service provided by MobileSphere, which allows international students to place phone calls to their families and friends overseas at minimal costs.

A prepaid calling service, Utalk allows students to register up to three phone numbers and send free domestic text messages.

Students can pay for this service through their bursar account.

Mail
Bloomington offers ways for international students to send and receive packages to and from their parents.

Students can mail packages at FedEx or the United States Postal Service offices in town. Packages are delivered to the dorms or the student’s off-campus residence.
“I sometimes send documents and presents for my family by using the post office,” graduate student Jung Eun Lee said.

Despite easy access to the post office and FedEx locations, it can be expensive for students to send packages home.

Sabharwal has found an alternative way to send things home.

“I usually send packages home with friends who are from the same city in India,” Sabharwal said. “If they are small, three to four pounds, it doesn’t add too much weight to their luggage.”