Trust me, Study Abroad - Best experience of your life. Past Review
By Aaron W (Unknown, University of Hartford) for
AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence and Internship Program
I feel i have said why it was the best in all my other responses above. This trip taught me things about myself i did not know. I learned travel things and personal skills. I also learned communication skills. If i were able to go abroad again i would in a heartbeat.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
they were very helpful and had a lot of fun events for the students. Soccer games, trips, and parties. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
we had electrical problems, as well as leakings from the floor above. We also had construction for three months so we did not get sunlight from the outside and had to use a lot of our electric payment |
| * Food: |
bests food i have had in my life. It gets a little repetitive but you find great little places on the ticket voucher list. There are also more than just italian resturants. Also go to the gelato shop a bridge down from the school. away from the ponte vecchio. not that direction. the best one in town. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
amazing. Great bars and trips. easy travel all around italy and out of italy. Cheep flights to other countries and long weekends. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
they had several speakings of what to do and not to do. and how to be safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | i spent a lot more money than i thought i did. that is all i will say... so be careful and buy cheap wine to drink. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | use your supermarket cards and save up on your own cash |
Language
| Language acquisition improvement? |
i did not know any italian going into this wonderful trip. now i can say many phrases and i know many words. I went in knowing some spanish, and it helped a little but now after a semester in italy, my five years of spanish dont match up to my one semester of italian |
Other Program Information
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | if your thinking about studying abroad and the only doubt that you have is you want to stay with your friends at hartford you should go abroad. You wont miss anything for one semester and the semester abroad will be better than the previous semesters combined. Trust me,.Best experience of your life. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Modern Italian Art |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Peter |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Wonderful fun course. Many field trips. Short and sweet lectures that sometimes drag out. Peter makes the course funny and his style of teaching is wonderful |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Cinema and society of italy |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Lorenzo |
| Instruction Language: | english |
| Comments: | watch italian films all day, and write a paper and have two tests. great way to learn the affects of the war on film and how film evolved in italian culture. Great Teacher. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Italian |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Luisa in Florence, and Veronica in Siena |
| Instruction Language: | italian |
| Comments: | very hard at first, learning the new language. But it pays off when you are in the streets and want to test your skills. Overall fun and enjoyable even though it was stressful at times. This course has the most work out of any course that i took. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Photography in the Media |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Neri |
| Instruction Language: | english |
| Comments: | course not as expected. Course done with 35mm cameras. He can supply cameras if you do not have one. Course was enjoyable but also very boring at times. You walk the city one day and take pictures for three hours, then the next class you sit in the classroom and talk about the pictures. Not a good grader, and only liked simple pictures, that are not interesting. Was not interested in unique photographs so if you like to experiment |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
