5 books to read before interning abroad

New Delhi: What a wild and wonderful thing it is to intern abroad. Beyond the scenery, the cuisine and the independence, studying abroad offers one a lot of time to expand their horizons.

And what better thing to do but read a book on all those long train rides and flights that one will be taking? A coffee, a cafe table, and a crisply-folded paperback! It is, quite literally, the best combination.

Here are five books that one should read while interning abroad:

1. Intern Abroad This Summer by Aniket Singh

This book will show you how! Most students today are unaware that they can find a paid internship in a foreign university, and even if they do know, they do not bother applying, believing the field will be too crowded. Your years as a student are the most critical years of your life - your building blocks to a great future. Simply focusing your student's years working on getting good grades is just seeing half the picture. Internships, volunteering and practical experiences are what set you apart from the crowd much more than good grades. This book will show you how to hustle your way into a great foreign internship and use the internships as a springboard to find that dream job, make personal connections that last a lifetime and travel the world as a student. Sounds daunting? Well, that's where the Intern Abroad This Summer comes in. Find answers to all your queries on how you can land that dream internship, and many valuable tips in this book, written by Aniket Singh.

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

A short novel with many fantastic elements, this Brazilian fable is about a young shepherd boy who believes it is his destiny to travel to a far off land and seek a treasure he sees in his dreams. A tiny boy in a great big world, the protagonist experiences the wonder and awe of travel, and learns that one's treasure is often found along the way and not at the destination. A surprise twist intertwines the concepts of "home" and "destiny" and makes for one charming and impactful novel that will get you thinking about how your travels as a study abroad student effect your concept of "home" and "destiny" as well.

3. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

One of the most beloved stories-for-adults-disguised-as-stories-for-kids, this enchanting little fable about a miniature planet, a pilot who crashes lands in the desert, and a most peculiar and remarkable little boy is about what it means to be truly understood. To adults, this understanding is only recognised as the clinical transfer of information.

4. Losing North by Nancy Huston

This wonderful collection of writings and essays by Canadian-turned-American-turned-Frenchwoman has the tagline, "musings on land, tongue, and self". Huston touches on how one's language instantly and irreversibly identifies them to others -- but how does that change when one speaks multiple languages? What does it mean to be counted in two (or more) groups at the same time? Surely these are questions you'll be eager to answer yourself if you're learning a language while studying abroad.

5. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Told as a conversation between the great king Kublai Khan and his royal explorer Marco Polo, this enchanting novel is an explorer's poetic description of cities he has seen in his travels - imaginary cities that do not exist in the real world. He describes cities with no walls or floors but with water pipes running vertically where they normally would. He describes cities with long, winding hallways for men who are constantly in pursuit of something. With gorgeous prose and a nearly spiritual reverence for the "idea" of the fifty-five cities depicted, this book is a treasure to anyone studying abroad and experiencing the wonder of their own "invisible" cities for the first time.