Florence: An Experience I Will Never Forget Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The teaching system is very different and I didn't like it compared to the American teaching systems, in addition to the grading system. I also didn't like that when we didn't have class on national holidays, we had to make them up on different days that worked for the professor and not necessarily for the students. It was frustrating. The workload was much lighter compared to PC, but it was still frustrating when professors assumed that their class was the only class we had. I obviously am here for school, but I'm also here for traveling and they know that, and I would never put traveling before school, but sometimes I had way too much work for an abroad experience. The quality of the education was also poor compared to PC.

On-site administration of your program

The administration here is incredible. I felt extremely comfortable approaching all of them for help or whatever I needed at the time. They are also knowledgeable about the country and Florence especially, in addition to providing events and activities for us to get more comfortable with the city and country and with other people in our program. Orientation was a rough few days because we were all tired, homesick, and nervous, and I thought it was unnecessary for us to be here for so long before classes started (a whole week). I appreciated the time to get settled, but we had almost too much free time during the week after we moved into our apartments and I didn't have enough things to distract me from my homesickness.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My apartment is in a great area, attraction-wise; however, we are half way down this very long street and there are a lot of sketchy alimentaris and sometimes not enough lighting. We were in a great location in proximity to class and nightlife, so that was really convenient. I honestly thought our area was the best compared to other programs' housing around the city. Sheets, towels, cookware and a few other necessities were left here by the previous students, so I just had to buy a blanket because it was absolutely freezing in my apartment in the beginning, but I didn't have to buy much else to get settled. Our apartment was smaller and not as nice as some other apartments, but it was cozy.

I'm in Italy, so of course the food is incredible. It is all fresh and delicious. I'm going to be such a food snob when I come home because I'm so used to the delicious food here. Even the fruit that I would consider "bad" at home is delicious here even after a week because it's so fresh and yummy. A lot of students went to Acqua Al Due because they have a discount card so each time you go, you get a certain percentage off your final bill. Another is Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe because they have a close relationship with the travel company Bus2Alps that a ton of students travel through for trips. More include Tijuana, a nice Mexican restaurant, sometimes a nice break from Italian food, House of Sizzle (American), Hard Rock Cafe (American), Gusta Pizza, Pino's sandwiches, Bigallo, ZaZa's, the American diner, la Giostra....I could go on all day.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

They planned a ton of activities for us, including a cooking class, a trip to Viareggio for carnevale, a weekend trip to Perugia, Assisi, Siena, and San Gimignano, mid-semester and end of semester dinners, a Fiorentina soccer game, and much more that made the semester really fun to get to know the program better.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Florence is generally a safe city; I felt safer in Florence compared to other cities (besides Dublin), but in every city, there's crime. More specifically in Europe, pick pocketing is a huge problem, and it happens often here. When you think you're being too paranoid, that's when you get robbed. No one actually approaches you and harms you, rather, it's more discrete and they steal your wallet or phone or something. They don't want to harm you, they just want your money. The first week in Florence, my friend Ashley had her drawstring (no!) bag that was open (double no!) and a guy came by and picked the wallet right out of her purse, she felt it and wanted to run after him (triple no!) and told him to give it back and he ran away. It was terrifying. Luckily, my roommate Melissa speaks Italian so she was kind of able to communicate with the police, who don't even speak English which I find stupid, and they were able to report the stolen card and call her parents. She contacted our program and they told us from the beginning that they can't really do anything about it and that we should contact the police and that's all we could really do. They did replace her museum card and whatever was already given to her by the program, but they can't really do anything else at that point. I never needed to go to the doctor, but my friends did, and with our HTH insurance, the appointments are free for us, so that was nice. I was also told that the doctor is awesome and a really good guy. I did get vaccines, I believe hepatitis, but I can't remember it was so long ago. I didn't experience any sickness while being here.

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

Practice the language with the locals even if they notice you're American and try to speak English. If you tell them you want to practice the language, they'll most likely help you. Most people speak English here, so I rarely had to speak Italian, but I always said basic words in Italian even if I had been speaking English for the conversation or encounter.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans

• The friendliness and helpfulness of the staff
• The quality of the housing and orientation program
• The activities and field trips

• Length of Orientation
• Clarity of pre-departure requirements...it was overwhelming sometimes.
• Parent help for pre-departure