I have a better understanding of the way the world thinks Past Review
By Sarah M (Political Science and Government., University of Arkansas - Fayetteville) for
CIEE: Prague - Central European Studies
It was very worthwhile. I had a great time, and although I had some disappointments, the traveling experience, the culture shock, really helped me to understand there is more than just a US way of living. This is something I thought I already understood, but I was incorrect, and now I have a better understanding.
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. |
The courses, while they did not seem quite as rigorous in reading materials as my courses at home, were of topics unlike anything I could study at the University of Arkansas and kept me interested and my mind stimulated. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
There were some helpful staff and some not helpful staff. Organization seemed to be lacking quite a bit, and information often got crossed in emails and notices around the building. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I stayed with a host family, one mother and her son in a house about 30 minutes away from the CIEE building. I was in budejovicka. <br /><br /> I would have preferred a more nuclear family or larger one. Because the family I was with did very little. We went and saw a movie and I watched TV with them 3 times, but other than that I only saw them at dinner. It was like they were just providing meals, and not a family. |
| * Food: |
Food was amazing. The host mother was a great cook, I loved the fruit dumplings. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The program tried to do a lot of things for us in the beginning to get out seeing the country and doing activities, then it wanned significiantly and they practically stopped. But I would hang out with friends on the weekends quite a bit, and classes only mon-thursday was really nice. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Student health issues were handled with 5 pages in the orientation booklet and a 5 minutse discussion. When I did get sick I relied on my friends and host family more than the program. The program seemed safe though, they had a security guard and everything |
| 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 spent around or less than 2000 crowns, which is a little more than 100 USD. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Clothes is way more expensive, so your money will not last as long if you want to buy a lot. Also, don't bother with the Christmas markets in Prague, they are all tacky souveniers and overpriced. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I arrived knowing basically none of the language, the 2 week intensive course really helped, and then the rest of the course was nice because I could speak with my host family better. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Don't take Art and Architecture, it is too stressful of a program. The Seminar on Living and Learning is not as great as it seems, the trip to Radomysl was not worth all the trouble. Go hiking in the Czech Swiss National Park. Expect Czech people to be indifferent or "rude" to you, it is just how they are. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Czech Politics |
| Course Department: | PLSC |
| Instructor: | Holub |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | A great course! It was not a history of Czech Politics course like I thought it would be, but more along the lines of theory of czech Politics, and what could have happened, what should have happened, and what did happen int he form of discussion and lecture. Great class! |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | have not received my transfer credit yet. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Czech Language Beginner |
| Course Department: | CZEC |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English/Czech |
| Comments: | Course got a little monotonous towards the end and by that point did not seem to be helping in navigating the city. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Politics and Economics of the EU |
| Course Department: | PLSC |
| Instructor: | Holub |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Another great class with Holub. He is an interesting class, and the papers due at the end were interesting topics, I liked the one I chose a lot! |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not yet received transcript |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Eastern European Cinema |
| Course Department: | HUMN |
| Instructor: | Dominkova |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I liked the films we chose. There were issues with getting the films, but was a CIEE problem, nothing to do with Petra herself. They just need to have more copies and allow us to check them out, because it was ridiculous to try and watch the one copy in one of the two rooms that were equipped with a tv. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not yet received transcript |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Art and architecture of Prague |
| Course Department: | HUMN |
| Instructor: | Homerova |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I liked the out days where we went on excursions, but it felt like we only went on a few, because there always seemed a reason why we could not go on one. She also tried to teach all of the history of Art and Architecture in the world, rather than focusing on Prague, too much information and not enough time. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not yet received transcript |
