Structure:
class UserProfile < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :home_country, :class_name => 'Country'
belongs_to :current_university, :class_name => 'University'
acts_as_aan do
[ [:current_university, 'University', :name],
[:home_country, 'Country', :name]]
end
validates :home_country_name, :presence => true
validates :current_university_name, :presence => true
end
Usage:
u = UserProfile.new
u.home_country_name = 'Netherlands'
u.current_university_name = 'University Of Amsterdam'
u.save # => true
u.home_country # => #<Country id: 12, name: "Netherlands"
u.home_country_name # => "Netherlands"