College Year in Athens: Fun and Frustrating Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was average, there was enough work to keep me busy but not so much that it prevented me from traveling and seeing the country. Many of the teachers were foreign, all of the classes were taught in English though, and they had strict rules about eating and drinking in class which are often disregarded here in America.

On-site administration of your program

The administration was very helpful and available to students. They were able to be contacted very easily and responded quickly to questions and concerns.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My apartment was very close to the academic center while others were farther away. I liked the location of my apartment, it felt safe and was in a nice building. Dishes and pots and pans as well as blankets, toilet paper and soap were made available to us by the institution, but we had to supply our own sheets and towels, which could have been brought with us or purchased cheaply at a local store.

The food at the cafeteria was good. Often times I felt like they could have given us more, but usually it was more than enough. They were very good about special accommodations for vegetarians and allergies as well as simple cases of "I don't like it". Elsewhere there were many options of where to eat for prices from very low to very high. I often went to Monastiraki Square to hang out and shop and there were many very good souvlaki and gyro places there which I recommend. If you go to Nafplio in the Peloponnese I very highly reccommend to go to the famous Gelateria in the old part of town, which is highlighted in guidebooks as the best gelato in all of Greece, and I think it was better than in Italy as well! Another thing to try, which is relatively widely available and cheap, is a Frappe, a delicious iced coffee drink which is really popular in Greece.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I was able to attend the anniversary celebration of the battle of Marathon at Marathon as well as see the Athens annual Marathon while in Greece. The program also arranged two sponsored field trips, one to Crete and the other to the Peloponnese, where the students were divided into groups by class and then traveled to various places and sites relevant to the course or the history of the country.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The program had a sort of loose outlook on safety, since the students lived in apartments, we were responsible for ourselves and our belongings, they treated us like adults and we were expected to act like adults. That being said, students did get sick and have to see doctors or go to the Pharmacy to get prescriptions, and students did get robbed or pick-pocketed on the streets, which were were told was something we had to be careful of. No one got seriously injured as far as I know and the program was there to help us if anything very serious had happened.

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

I was able to practice with my classmate and the locals as well as my professors and the staff of the school.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans