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In one’s travels, it’s not uncommon to meet up with a local who’s surprisingly well versed in the culture and politics of the United States. While it’s fun to exchange ideas and opinions about our homeland, I always find it a bit awkward upon the realization that I know close to nothing about the intrigues of the country in which I find myself and would likely struggle to name its current leader. When time allows, I feel so much the better for having read up at least a little on the place I’m visiting beforehand.
I find a great source of general country information can be obtained by a quick perusal The World Factbook, an online publication of the C.I.A. There you’ll find the basics concerning the demographics, economy and geographical features of any country in the world.
It can also prove insightful to turn to a country’s English language news sources to see which stories have been grabbing the headlines. Here are some places to brush up on the latest before you set foot in a country:
Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland: The Local is an online newspaper geared to ex-pats residing in various European countries. You may find you can only read a certain number of articles before hitting a paywall.
Belgium: Expatica
Denmark: The Copenhagen Post
France: France24
Germany: Deutsche Welle not only covers German and European news and culture but also offers a range of tools for those studying the German language.
Italy: ANSA maintains an English language version of its website.
Luxembourg: Luxembourg Times
Netherlands: NL Times
Portugal: The Portugal News Online
Spain: El Pais is a newspaper offering some English language articles.
