Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Less ‘Gap Yah’, more ‘Year Abroad’ by James Penn (99-09)
As a French, Spanish and International Relations student at the University of St Andrews, James Penn (99-09) spent 13 months of 20112012 in Switzerland and South America. Here he shares some of the things that not even an RGS education can teach you! 8
D
oing a working year abroad is subtly distinct from doing a typical ‘Gap Yah.’ Going to a new continent with nothing but the address of your work place for the next six months makes you infinitely more resourceful and selfreliant. The deep immersion in a society, essential for language acquisition, is only possible through an extended stay in a country and very different from the fleeting snapshot that one gets from pure travel. I divided my year abroad into three parts: two months at the Chief Executive Board of the United Nations in Geneva, followed by six months in a law firm in Santiago, Chile, then five months teaching for the British Council in Ushuaia, Argentina. Building a life from scratch in each place took time but, once you have a work routine, a weekly football team to play in and exciting plans for the weekend, then ‘home’ can be anywhere in the world!
Switzerland: Mountains, Lakes and Palaces
This UN headquarters is housed in the Art-Deco ‘Palais des Nations’ on the shore of Lake Geneva and is where the Human Rights Council (among others) is held. During my two months there, an Emergency Session was called to discuss the developing situation in Syria. However, forget the violence of the multitude of wars that are raging around the world; the most brutal conflicts are the internal ones for funding and recognition within the organisation itself.
