How do I stay in touch with a student studying abroad?

Before departure, be sure to receive the student's program contact information. It should be kept in both secure and handy places at home. The student should also carry along a complete list of contact info for both his/her program abroad as well as people at home.

E-mail

All students are expected to have access to their UST email account while abroad. Internet cafes with email access are available worldwide in most large cities, and many small cities (especially in Western Europe).

Regular Mail

If it is possible, it is always a good idea to address mail to the student's program, because in the course of stay the student's housing assignment may change, which could cause delays in receiving anticipated letters and packages. 

Unless specified otherwise, letters are automatically sent airmail, but do clearly mark all correspondences "Airmail" on both front and back. Depending on the student's location, mail can take anywhere from 6-10 days to arrive.

Phone calls abroad

For persons phoning from the US:

First dial "011" (the international access code) instead of 1, as you do for a U.S. long distance call. For special operator assistance (collect, person-to-person, time and charges, calling card calls) dial "01". A higher rate is charged for these services than is charged for direct dial calls. Then dial the country code, city code, and the local number. Country codes for different countries can be found in the front section of any phone directory. Note that international numbers will not always be the exact length as in the United States. Some international numbers will have more digits while other numbers will have fewer.

The leading "0" used for European calls

The leading "0" in the city/area code is used only when you are making a local call, so when you are outside of the country, the "0" should most often be dropped when dialing. A leading "0" will not be included within every number for every country. 

Example:

The number for the University of Lancaster is 0612-66101 but you should dial: 

011-44-612-66101