Half a World Away, Yet RIght Where I Belong Past Review
By Lindsay M (Finance, Mandarin Chinese, The University of Texas at Austin) for
CET Beijing
Yes. Everything I hoped and more. I even made some business connections and will be returning to Beijing for an internship.
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. |
I truly learned so much. It is hard to retain everything I learned because of the sheer volume, but I definitely improved a lot. My largest problem was strictly memorizing how to write around 70 new words every night. The grammar principles were easy, because we spent so many hours in class going over them. The tricky part, something which I did not completely master, was being able to internalize the grammar for use in my daily life, because the next day we would learn new grammar and push the old stuff aside. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I had an amazing time. Any issues I had (i.e. roommate, lost luggage) were professionally and swiftly resolved. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I bought towels, shower shoes, shampoo, laundry detergent, laundry card, water, snacks. |
| * Food: |
I stopped eating in the BIE cafeteria after the first 2 weeks. The food was oily, gross Chinese food that did not agree with me. Most of the students felt the same way, but it was included in the cost so it was hard not to eat it. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt verrrrrry safe in Beijing. People will not mess with you. We got home from nightclubs very late at night and never had a problem. |
| 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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eliminate cafeteria, eliminate mandatory field trips (make them opt-in instead of opt-out), had to pay for cell phone, laundry card. |
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?
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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? | Say Yes. Meet new people, meet their friends, ask questions about their life. What is their favorite restaurant? Their favorite thing to do on a Saturday night? Other tourists and students tend to do the same things, go off the beaten path and create your own Beijing. Take weekend trips, too! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
260 |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Xiu Laoshi, Zhang Laoshi, Ping Laoshi, Ren Laoshi, Chen Laoshi, Wang Laoshi |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The course was very challenging and pushed me every day. The teachers were beyond amazing, and helped in every way they possibly could short of forcibly inserting the new vocabulary into my brain. We took two tiny field trips to places nearby to converse with locals on topics we learned about in class. There is no way to skate by in this class, your weaknesses are immediately exposed and the teachers challenge you to improve. You have a 25 minute one-on-one session each afternoon with a professor, where your progress and preparation are exposed. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
