I can't wait to go back to Berlin! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

On-site administration of your program

I met some really wonderful people in my program and was really thrown into the social life and culture of Berlin and Germany. It was a wonderful immersion into the culture and history of Germany. There were a few bad things, the classes were easy, with a LOT of busy work.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in an apartment 5 minutes from the famous Alexanderplatz in the heart of Berlin. I was about 50 minutes by Ubahn and Sbahn to Freie Universitaet, where I went to school. It was wonderful. I had a nice room and to help me better learn german, no one was allowed to speak anything but german outside of their room. I lived in an "international house" While I was living there I lived with a Tunisian, French and Luxembourgian. Everywhere in Berlin felt safe, people were always out and about having fun. My neighbor hood was in a hip part of former east berlin and filled with young people. I could easily get anywhere in the city. I loved my neighborhood.

I love food. Generally I did not eat out (except if you want to count my beer tab). Instead I went to the numerous grocery stores in my neighborhood. I could find anything I wanted there. The hardest thing for me to find was Cheddar Cheese. Eating Kosher, it was hard to find meat that wasnt pork, but I managed.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I met so many wonderful people through my program, and now a year later, I am still very close with a few of them and we talk often. We went out a lot together in Berlin and often held small house parties together. We also had numerous pot lucks. It was important for us to be together because we did get homesick, but finding friends like mine really helps. almost Every friday we went on an excursion around Berlin. We went to Sachsenhausen (a former concentration camp in Oranienburg) Potsdam (where we went to both Sanssouci and where the Potsdammer Conference was held) Hohenschönhausen (former Stasi prison camp) among others. We also went on a weeklong program trip to Nürnburg and Prague. The weeklong trip was my favorite because I really got to bond with some of my program mates as well as see Prague and learn about its history.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Berlin is incredibly safe. I never felt nervous out at night or on the streets by myself. I usually walked home with somebody but it was never specifically to keep myself safe. The German people are very open and love to have fun.

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

The program was very focused on our improvement of German. We had German class 4 times a week for 3 hours a day. We also had weekly excursions which took us all over Berlin and the surrounding towns. We were also encouraged to go with our student helpers every Wednesday night to the bars where we would speak German and meet other international students. They gave us many opportunities to speak German outside the classroom. my classmates. there were 8 different levels of classes so each class had a small number of students, meaning we got more attention. While many Germans speak English, I really wanted to learn German and it definitely helped in getting around Berlin and interacting with Berliners.

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• Apartment

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• International Students