Exciting City Life in Bologna January 20, 2022
By A student (Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/17/2021 to 12/22/2021 with
Eastern College Consortium (ECCO): Bologna - Università di Bologna Study Abroad Program
I learned a lot of Italian and took classes that were interesting. I cooked for myself a lot and it does feel more independent than a traditional American college experience.
Personal Information
| 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. |
I feel like the beginning was definitely hard honestly my Italian felt much worse than other people's which made it hard to participate |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
it was pretty far from my classes and by the end of the trip my back and knees would be in pain from the level of walking just to go to class and back |
| * Food: |
its italy, the food is good, I mostly made my own and there were cooking classes which I liked |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
honestly did not feel very integrated but that may have been on my end, anxiety probably prevented a healthier level of connection |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
didn't have serious enough health issues to go to the dr. but a flu vaccine wasn't covered which was frustrating since I didn't want to pay for it and there was a pandemic |
| * Safety: |
felt very safe personally |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I enjoyed being in a city of many young students, there are always things to do and new things to see |
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? | $120 |
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 |
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| 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? | 200 level |
| 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? | Honestly don't be afraid to start with English, sometimes its easier to start with a mix and then move towards using more of your target language once you are already familiar with the person. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | I wish I knew that doing extracurriculars would be more important to make italian friends than classes at the university of bologna and I wish I was more involved in other things. |
