I felt safe and welcome while in the Czech Republic Past Review
By samantha S (VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS., Salem State College) for
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Prague, Czech Republic
Yes! Open-mindedness. Patience. Appreciation.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Fall 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Not only were the classes interesting, involved, and multi-dimensional, but just living in a completely new and foreign place with many other foreign students and locals added so much to the educational experience and global awareness. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were very helpful for school and living inquiries. Easily available. Always kept in contact. Made us feel welcome and bonded the group together well. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Our apartment was nice. It accommodated our needs and was conveniently close to the metro and within walking distance of school. <br /><br /> Got along well with neighbors and landlord. things were fixed in a timely manner when needed to be. |
| * Food: |
Grocery shopping was very difficult in the beginning because of not knowing the language on packaging etc. restaurants were great. cooking at home saved us more money though. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Never boring. Always things to do. Good community set up within the program with events. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
there was a small outbreak of a rash with a few students. The staff dealt with it promptly and effectively. They got medicine and then preventative measures were put into effect for the other students to not be effected. |
| 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 went a week or two without spending very much at all but then I would have travel expenses another weekend. Averaged out I'd say it was close to 200 dollars a week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | During one of my travels, my expensive camera was stolen. To replace it was $600 that I was not planning on spending. Things like this come up unfortunately so it took away one of the weekend trips that I was planning for later on. best advice would be to be frugal for the daily things and save and spend your money on the trips and bigger items that you really want. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The majority of my classes were taught in English but I took an introductory Czech language course in order to better acclimate to living there. I enjoyed taking the class and found it very helpful. |
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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | You can't go wrong with CEA Prague |
