A semester in the capital of Europe! Past Review
By A student (Art History, Criticism and Conservation., Fordham University) - abroad from 02/01/2012 to 06/08/2012 with
CIEE: Brussels - Advanced Liberal Arts
The experience was definitely worthwhile. Of all my friends going abroad, I was the only one who actually took my classes in another language with local students and, even though it was a HUGE challenge, I'm so glad I did. Studying abroad shouldn't just be about doing everything you normally do, but with new people and on a different continent. It should be about new experiences and challenges. There were about 10 people in my program and about 40 in the other (English-speaking) program in Brussels, so I met a ton of amazing people on my program. The trips CIEE plans were amazing, and the staff was really helpful even though our university was kind of a disaster. I have such Belgian pride after leaving this program. Now that I know I can live abroad, I can't wait to graduate and go back to Europe.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
ULB is notoriously horribly run, and everyone apparently knows it. Administration is a mess, professors are impossible to contact, nothing is well-organized. Some classes were interesting, but the university in general is not very friendly in terms of foreign students (it took a few months to finalize registration and get e-mail addresses, we were never notified when classes were cancelled so I would make my 45 minute commute to find an empty classroom)... basically this reflects Belgian bureaucracy in general. Takes forever to get things done and no one seems to mind. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
CIEE as a resource is amazing. The program directors were incredibly easy to get a hold of at any time for questions or concerns. They organize great field trips for the group to other cities and countries and even smaller field trips within Brussels. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I asked to be put in an independent living situation with people my own age. Instead, I was basically placed in a homestay. Lived in an apartment with an older woman and her son my age. The only thing that make it not "technically" a homestay was that I had to make my own meals... though when the family would eat they would often invite me to join them. The situation wasn't what I asked for, but I would up making the best of it and enjoying it. It would have been perfect for someone who actually did want a homestay. |
| * Food: |
Belgian food is amazing. Frites and chocolate and waffles all day, every day. I don't know how I didn't gain 50lbs when I was there. Also tons of other cheap street food (yummy durums and kebabs). Cooking for myself was also super easy. I sticked to what I knew... pasta, soups, vegetables. The markets are amazing (I would make a long commute just for the cheap and good quality produce at the Gare du Midi market on Sundays) and the grocery stores are incredibly cheap if you buy the right stuff from the right places. Often I would spend maybe 10 or 15 euro on a week's worth of groceries. The food in restaurants is also AMAZING. I would only eat out when CIEE was treating us (which was a lot - the optional events were almost always accompanied by an incredible meal including appetizers, entrees, sides or salads, desserts, and coffees - all paid for by CIEE) because the food is generally quite expensive, but I managed on cooking for myself and only getting cheap street food except for special occasions. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I still felt like a foreigner by the end of the program, but then I realized that being a foreigner is a HUGE part of the real "local culture" of Brussels. You hear every language on the metros or trams, people there come from all over. No one stares when they see you speaking English (unless you're being annoying and loud). In general, the city is very accepting of foreigners, so I learned to stop trying SO hard to blend in and just accept it. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any health care issues. |
| * Safety: |
Almost got my purse snatched the first week of the program (guy came running up behind me, but luckily I held on and he ran away) and got my phone stolen out of my purse towards the end of the program. Several people on the program had similar experiences (things being snatched, someone reaching into your bag on the metro unnoticed, one girl even had her apartment broken into). I go to school in the Bronx, so I know common sense things to stay safe when walking around, but I was still surprised by the amount of small crime in Brussels. |
| 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) |
CIEE pays for a lot of things (meals and field trips) and I was able to find cheap markets and grocery stores. As ULB students, we also had a special rate of 23 euro for our monthly unlimited metro/tram/bus pass, which is pretty amazing. Still, the cost of traveling to other countries/cities and shopping and going out on the weekends and doing other things added up, but it wasn't too bad. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Excluding travel and special trips, probably no more than 40 or 50 euro (including groceries, food, my metro pass, and beer/coffee on weekends) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Buy things in cash to be more aware of how much you're spending. Also always look at the prices of certain brands and be mindful that prices of produce and other products vary hugely between different stores or markets. By the time you leave, you should be an expert on which stand has the best strawberries, and which bar has the cheapest beer. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
The CIEE program directors would almost always speak fo us in French. When we went on field trips, the ALA kids (and anyone from the BCC group who spoke French) would go on a French-guided tour while everyone else did one in English. This definitely improved my French comprehension, though it was kind of frustrating going on a tour of a beautiful castle and not being able to understand a lot of what was being said about it. Still, CIEE definitely encouraged French, but when we were struggling or had something important to discuss, they would let us speak English. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had been taking French in school for 10 years. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Watch movies in French. I had to listen to French much more than I had to speak it (all the classes are lecture-style, and the field trips were always led in French), so it helps to work on comprehension more than anything. |
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? |
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? | The Belgian school system is SO different. Everything relies on a final test/paper (I had two 5+ single spaced papers in French, one oral exam, and one written exam - in addition to other things for my Tandem program and internship), though there is always the possibility for retake. Anyone who fails an exam (scoring below a 10 or a 12 out of 20, depending on the class) can take the exam again in August. Sometimes, the Belgian students will split up their exams and take half in June and then "fail" the other half to take the test in August so that they don't have to study for all of them at the same time. Apparently they have to do this for foreign students as well, so even though failing an exam may seem like a horrible thing, it's actually quite common and not that big of a deal to the Belgian students. Luckily, all my professors knew I was a foreigner from the start and were (hopefully) a little more lenient, so I didn't fail anything. |
