Wellington and New Zealand: The Best 6 Months of My Life Past Review
By Will S (Ecology and environmental science, University of Maine at Orono) for
AIFS: Wellington - Victoria University of Wellington
Was definitely the best choice of my life and i do not regret a minuet of it
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Victoria University of Wellington |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Workload was less than heres, grading system was completely different but graded fairly based on it, teaching methods were basically the same |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Was very good on location helped us adjust to life abroad and ran cultural programs at least once a month for us to experience the local area |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Was set up in a house/flat with 4 other american, we were one of the few houses who did not have a kiwi mate (local) living with us but was a very nice place good location and have everything we needed to live comfortably for the 5 months we were there |
| * Food: |
We were giving money back monthly for food shopping and eating out since there are no dinning facilities on campus but the food from Wellington is absolutely great but very expensive |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We got to go to Fiji for 10 day on the way and Sydney for 2 days on the way back. We had 2 trips around the north Island and got to go to awesome things such as an All Blacks rugby game and do fun activities |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Vey clean safe town not really alot of crime or issues |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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 dont know the exact number since it varied from week to week but i spent over 7000 dollars while there because food, alcohol, water, gifts, souvenir and traveling are very expensive. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | If u plan to travel bring alot of money and if u plan on going out alot try to manage your spendings |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Definitely choose this program, you get to go to 3 countries and experience alot with out being overwhelmed. Wellington isnt an often chosen destination which makes it nice and easy to adjust to |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Geographies of Globalisation |
| Course Department: | Geog 316 |
| Instructor: | Warrick Murray |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | It was an awesome class, very well taught ideas and topics were very interesting great discussions |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Still waiting for my transcript to be sent back but i will be getting credit for it |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Physical Environmental processes: field methods |
| Course Department: | Geog 223 |
| Instructor: | Brent Alloway; Bethanna Jackson; Ilias Pechlivanidis; Martha Trodahl |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | was a very good class wish timing of main field trip was better but with time constraints its understandable, very infomative and helps teach skill for working in the field |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Still waiting for my transcript to be sent back but i will be getting credit for it |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Environment and resources : New Zealand Perspective |
| Course Department: | Envi 214 |
| Instructor: | Sophie Bond; Ralph Chapman; Michael Gavin |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Was a good course wasn't what i expected, was a bit dry and boring could have been taught better but overall was a good class |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Still waiting for my transcript to be sent back but i will be getting credit for it |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Environmental and Resource economics |
| Course Department: | Econ 340 |
| Instructor: | Yigit Saglam and Paul Calcott |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | First year of class, was a little unorganized, could have been set up better but was a good class and learned a lot |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Still waiting for my transcript to be sent back but i will be getting credit for it |
