London on Little Time Past Review
By Jessica J (PSYCHOLOGY., Clark University - Worcester) - abroad from 01/15/2014 to 04/26/2014 with
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: London, England
I gained a much more global perspective from my experience abroad. I learned how to be a Brit, and specifically a Londoner, and learned so much about my host country. By having an internship, I experienced what it is like to be a native, working and taking classes. Although I wish there were a maybe button on whether or not I would choose the same program, ultimately, I learned a lot about myself from this experience and about the world around me. Having such a busy schedule really made traveling a bit difficult and I found myself not always having the energy to do so, but having the internship and taking classes really submersed me into the culture in a way I couldn't get through doing anything else.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes are too easy, and although while studying abroad one would prefer to have an easy course-load, I feel I did not learn much academically. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They do the best that they can with the number of employees they have, but there are far too many students in the program and too few employees to help. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living in central London was unbeatable. While it is very different from an American apartment, it allowed us to feel as though we were true Londoners. |
| * Food: |
Although England is said to have the worst food in Europe, I have to disagree whole-heartedly. London has such an eclectic food scene with any type of dish imaginable available to you! While there is no food stipend or cafeteria at the CAPA center, there are plenty of places to eat in the area. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The one thing I learned from my courses at CAPA was how to be a Londoner. I felt that CAPA did a good job at helping us to better understand a British way of life and to really integrate us into multicultural London. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I never had experience personally with healthcare aside from a pharmacist at a drug store helping me when I had a cough, but the healthcare system was often talked about and we were informed of what to do if we required medical attention. There were no prevalent health issues and I did not need any vaccines. |
| * Safety: |
I felt safer in London than I do in a city in America. Brits do not have the right to bear arms, therefore it is far less likely that someone would be concealing a weapon and thus leads to feeling safer walking the streets. The police are extremely friendly, and while not armed themselves, are much more approachable than American police officers. Do not bring pepper spray with you expecting to be able to get it into the country because it is illegal! |
| 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) |
London is extremely expensive and requires a bit of budgeting. I allotted myself 100 GBP (British currency) a week, which is about $160, and if I was going out at all and had to grocery shop, I needed more. If you are at all a shopper, you will find yourself spending quite a bit of money in London. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Roughly $180 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Save as much money as possible and keep a strict budget while you are home in order to have as much flexibility financially while abroad. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | You have very little time in the week to do what you wish. Having the 20 hour internship and four classes on top of that, I felt like I was working a 9-5 job, something I don't plan on doing for a few more years. Studying abroad, I didn't expect that to be my first experience with such a schedule, but alas, it most definitely was. I would come home exhausted and not want to do much else on most weeknights, and when the weekend came, I didn't want to travel much outside of London because I was quite burned out from the week. If I had known how tiring this program would be with a 20 hour internship, I most definitely would have opted to do the 12-15 hour service learning program instead. Also, when applying, I wished I had been more specific in what I wanted in an internship placement site so as to be placed with something a bit more fitting to what I want to do in the future. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
