How long do you have to go to college to be a receptionist?

Thinking about college in Tunisia?

• I am thinking about going to college in Tunis for a year as my own sort of "study abroad" type thing. I admit that my boyfriend of a year and eight months lives in Sousse so that's a big contributing factor to why I'm kind of looking into it; since he is a year behind me in school so he won't be graduating until next year. We plan to go to college in Switzerland together; if not, then in the US. Like I said, however, I am a year ahead of him at the moment and I want to make use of it. I was accepted into college in New York City and I'm still waiting to hear back from the one in Switzerland to which I applied (I feel pretty confident that I'll make it into there with my grades/extracurriculars/SAT scores/etc. so I'm not too worried about that). I was already accepted into the "Universite Centrale Privee de Tunis" in Tunisia in their communications school. I've weighed out some of the advantages to going to Tunis my first year: - Very affordable tuition - A multicultural experience in another country - The opportunity to learn Arabic, even just by living there - The opportunity to enhance my French since all the classes are in French. French is my favorite language and I've taken it for five years so I would love to get into a setting where I can really polish it up and perfect my skills - A chance to be far away from home (which, if you knew my home situation, you'd understand) - Close contact with my boyfriend and his family (who all love me) and the ability to see them much more often and grow even closer to them - A much lower cost of living than in the US, which would be great for me - All I can eat access to Tunisian cuisine, which I absolutely love (especially my second mama's cooking!) - Great, warm weather, which is my favorite type of weather, much more often than I would normally get - Very close access to gorgeous beaches pretty much year round (since what Tunisians find "cold" is like warm, springtime weather to me) - Closer and less expensive access to Europe than the US has and therefore more opportunities to do some touring there I also brainstormed some potential disadvantages: - Distance from my high school friends. I could still visit them on holidays and stuff but it's a lot more expensive to get a plane ticket to visit them than a quick bus ticket. Though I suppose this could also apply to my boyfriend too - I won't have access to some of the restaurants and cuisines that I really enjoy in the US - I'll probably be the only really fair skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed girl there - Most likely lower wages if I get a job there - A predominantly Muslim country, which is kind of bothersome to me because I'm very Catholic and I need to have readily available access to a Church. It would be a lot harder to find other Catholic friends in Tunisia than it would in a Christian college in NYC - I'm not too sure about what the college or the educational system is like, so I may or may not really enjoy it. Basically it's very unfamiliar to me - For some reason my boyfriend isn't too keen on the idea of me attending college in Tunisia If there are any other pros or cons you'd like to add, please point them out! Anyway, does anyone have experience with this or has anyone been in a similar situation? The problem with the college in New York City is that even though I got a hefty scholarship and hefty financial aid, I'd still have to pay A LOT of money out of pocket... several thousand dollars more than I can afford. Switzerland is still an option but I'd feel much more comfortable waiting for my boyfriend to go with me so that we can be there together and at least I won't be in a strange country, on a strange continent alone. Here are some other questions I have. If you can answer any or all of them, it would be greatly appreciated! I'm so lost at the moment as to what I want to do. If I do end up going to college in Tunisia, how would I go about getting a visa to stay there for the school year? I know I don't need one for up to 90 days but obviously that wouldn't cover it. How difficult would it be for me to get a student visa? How much would it cost? How difficult would it be for me to find a part-time job in Tunisia? I have a small freelance writing business of my own but I'm sure that won't cut it. Do you think there'd be any way I could apply for some minimum wage job at the American Embassy in Tunis as a receptionist or something, because currently the receptionists don't even speak English (I know this from frustrating experiences). Or do you think there are any English or French newspapers there to which I could get a possible internship? What would you say the cost of living would be for the amount of time I'd be there? Would it be difficult to rent an apartment? About how much would it cost to rent a simple ap Oh shoot, I forgot to add these other ones: Is there public transportation between Tunis and Sousse (particularly Hammam Sousse, if possible)? If so, how much does it cost and what is it specifically? Does anyone know anything more about the university I mentioned above? If so, please let me know! Do universities in Tunisia provide on-campus housing and stuff? I'm not too worried about this as I keep in contact with the college but still, that's one less question I have to ask. Please be honest about whether you think I should do this or not and why. Thank you so much! P.S.: The last question there was "About how much would it cost to rent a simple apartment in Tunis for the academic year, and about how much it cost to have Internet access (preferably with WiFi)? Thanks again to whoever took the time to READ this, let alone answer any of it. :)

• Answer:

  Hello, It's rare to find someone from the US going to college in Tunisia. I can't really answer you about finding a job in the US embassy, but I can tell you that you can find a lot of jobs at call centers or jobs that requires English-french talking. Speaking of visa, since you're a student, having a visa won't be an issue, there's a lot of foreigners from africa who study here and it won't cost you a lot i'm sure. Public transportation is always available from Tunis-Sousse, you can take the train which the trip will last between 1:30 hour to 2hours it would cost you ~9$ I don't have a wide information about the college you are going to, but it's one a of the best Private college in Tunisia, and even if they do not offer campus housing you can still rent a small room near-by, Usually students rent an apartment in groups so they can make the rent payment much easier to themselves, as for an individual renting (renting a small room) might cost 180 DT per month not really sure, you can ask your BF about the renting price. Internet Access doesn't cost a lot in Tunisia comparing to other countries, you can refer to Orange (broadband) You'll just have to pay 30 DT per month but you need to have the 3G Kit to access to the internet and that would cost you 90DT. Hope this helps, feel free asking me by emailing me. Okay Bye !