June in Paris Past Review
By Jacqueline C (PSYCHOLOGY., University of Rochester) for
CIEE: Paris - Summer Contemporary Music Creation + Critique
Amazing experience!
Personal Information
| 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. |
Not a ton of work, but a long time spent in class in the morning or afternoon depending. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Good program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The neighborhood was not very safe, and traveling to the metro after dark was extremely sketchy, especially for women. A friend and I were followed more than a block once afternoon. The hotel had an apartment style set up which was nice and included towels, sheets, cleaning service once a week, dishes, a stove top, and a fridge. |
| * Food: |
Not to difficult if vegetarian, extremely difficult if Vegan, and pretty difficult if lactose intolerant. However the food was amazing on the program trips, and the lunch tickets provided to the restaurant by the CIEE center led to decent sized meals with a reasonable variety of options. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Going to Dijon, France was an amazing trip! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Paris is a large city, and has the usual large European city problems. However the teachers and administration on the program were extremely helpful in all matters and we were able to call them day or night if anything happened. One member of the administration helped me go to the pharmacy and get medication, she also accompanied a sick student to the doctor's office to help translate. |
| 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? | Lunches were covered 5 days a week, breakfast was at the hotel every morning. All the trips had a large meal with them. I spent 350 euros total for the three weeks there including gifts, food, expenses, metro pass, etc. I stayed a week after the program too, which costs about 400 euros including food and hostel prices. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Metro pass is expensive, but definitely necessary and worthwhile! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | none |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Daily I spoke French on the streets, in stores, in class, getting lunch, meeting locals, shopping, etc. Some English, but most interactions stayed in basic French. |
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 did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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