It Is What You Make Of It Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The classes were a bit of a joke. I did all my essays at the last minute and received amazing grades. For one exam where I had to write down the president of Bosnia, I couldn't remember and I wrote down the national team soccer coach - it was marked correct. I was there for a year and I'm afraid my brain has atrophied to the point that I will not be able to function at Middlebury anymore. I was still busy because there was a lot of busywork assigned (for example, the program requires every professor to assign a presentation even if it does not fit in with the course structure) but a lot of the work I did felt irrelevant. That being said, even though the courses are not hard, I learned a lot just from talking to professors. There were some amazing people that taught at the program and they were always interested in chatting with students -at least the few of us who didn't roll into every class hungover. You don't want a super rigorous abroad program anyway since you learn so much more from traveling, talking to people and going to museums and cultural events in the city.

On-site administration of your program

Most of the administrators were incredibly sweet. I became very close to the Health & Wellness ladies and we actually became friends. There were a lot of nonsense rules and bureaucratic binds (the attendance policy is quite patronizing) but most of that came from the Portland office, not the Prague office. The housing coordinator was so bad I took off an entire star and a half just for her, but more on that in the next section.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The first semester my apartment was great - centrally located, spacious, wonderful kitchen. The landlord was a little annoying (ex. our roommate called when our internet stopped working during finals and he laughed at her) but landlords are terrible the world over. Second semester, they pressured me into moving upstairs by forcing my Czech roommate to move. I moved in a week late because I was allowed to skip orientation, but the apartment STILL wasn't finished. The day everybody else moved in, they were still painting and carrying furniture in. The construction went on the entire time I was there with workers coming in and out of our apartment as they pleased with no warning, sometimes catching us in our PJs or waking my roommates up from naps by standing over them while they were sleeping. The elevator was supposed to be finished within a month after we moved in, but I moved out and it was still not there - we lived on a 5th floor walk-up. After a month of this, we complained to the housing coordinator and asked for at least our first months rent back since the apartments weren't ready for us to move in on time. She was rude to us and implied that we were spoiled Americans, but the director gave us some money back. A few days after the program ended, we found out that we had been illegally placed in the apartment. In Prague, it is illegal for tenants to live above the 4th floor without an elevator or in a building that hasn't been inspected by the municipality. The housing coordinator had placed us in apartments that weren't legally safe for us to inhabit, did not tell the director, and when we complained told us we were overreacting when she knew we should not be living there. The director returned our money, but that whole experience was ridiculous.

I cooked for myself most of the time, and I'm a pretty good cook. Czech food gets a bad rap, but even though it's a little monotonous it's comforting and there's tons of good, affordable restaurants in Prague.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It took me a while to be integrated because I came in not knowing the language and Czechs as a people are a little wary of strangers, so I was glad to have the whole year. The program has flat buddies, which are Czech students that live in each apartment or residence, and they organize events most students ignore, but if you attend them it's a great way to make local friends. I also branched out from the program by joining a local cultural organization. It's possible to integrate especially if you make an effort to join a local sports team, take a dance class, get involved with Erasmus events and generally don't rely on the program to do so.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had to visit the doctor more often than I liked, but there is an English-speaking clinic the school sends students to where the doctor is very kind and helpful. It is easy to get reimbursed through the program's health insurance it's just a logistical nightmare with tons of paperwork that needs to be scanned.

Prague is ridiculously safe beyond the usual host of creepy men. I had friends who had apartments broken into, but that's because they left the door open. It's a major city, don't be stupid, lock your doors and pay attention to your surroundings.

Even though the program itself was annoying and most of the people I studied abroad with were spoiled alcoholic brats, it allowed me the freedom to make myself at home in a city I adore. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

All the classes were taught in English and the language classes offered were terrible.

Select all that apply

• Apartment

Select all that apply

• Local Students
• Americans

Select all that apply

• Americans
• International Students

• Freedom
• Local Staff

• Housing
• Bureaucracy

The Academic or Linguist