Hamlineites. Past Review
By Alyssa F (Anthropology, Hamline University) for
Hamline University: York - University of York
I enjoyed York but I wouldn't do it again. My academic experience with the university was nightmare and I never want to experience it again. It made me appreciate all over again just how wonderful Hamline professors are (they can testify to the soppy emails I sent during the course of that term waxing poetic about their wonderfulness and how much I missed them and just general notes on my experience because my professors in England clearly did not care or engage their students). That being said, my placement at Hungate really did save the trip. I was always busy and very involved at work and it did eat into my social time. I wish I had a little more free time but at the same time I can't regret it because the people at Hungate were amazing and the time I had with them will always be cherished. England, while wonderful, is small and not especially life-changing. My mother visited during the Icelandic volcano and was stuck with me two extra weeks and she commented later, after my time in Turkey, that it was Istanbul that really shaped me this summer. I feel this way as well. Turkish culture bends you and bends around you. English culture is so THERE, historical and recognized, nothing about it really touched me. I still say university instead of college and trouser instead of pants and gherkin instead of pickle but that's all that I was really left with. Istanbul got into my soul and hooked me. I feel passion about it. While I will return to England it will be to visit London or to see friends. I may make a trip up to York for memory's sake but it will never move me the way London or Istanbul do. It's not the metropolitan city with culture, contrast, people and bustle that I love and feel. I lose myself in London and Istanbul. It's easy to be there.
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. |
The academic work load was very light in comparison. Most of the work generated was from the internship/placement. The teaching style was lecture-based with a tutorial, meaning that there was little to no professor-student interaction with minimal interaction with the teaching assistant. Students were not encouraged to interact with the department (linguistics) and it was incredibly difficult to contact professors or to get a response. The students in the module rarely talked to each other and did not speak in class to comment or question. Overall it was a very different style of teaching. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Susie was accessible and she was very involved with us when she was at York. She gave us a decent grounding for York at the beginning and let us sink or swim which meant that it had a nice feel, like an actual study abroad program rather than our home uni transfered abroad with us. Susie is incredibly knowledgeable about England and the English and she's lived in the UK and in York knowledgeable. This makes her uniquely qualified to comment on certain situations and well-suited to direct students to out of the way places and little-known holes in the wall. All in all, having a bunch of other American students there too was nice but weird. Sometimes it's hard to be "one of the Americans" but it definitely meant that there was little to no culture shock because home was never really far. It was hard to miss anything when there was someone there to talk about it with you and reminisce and really remind you about why it wasn't actually as good as you thought it was. It's different too because we're all from the same area (sort of) and knew the same people. We provided a center point for each other. We all had individual friends who knew us as more than just "one of the Americans" but we all had people who all knew us as a group too. It provided us with a net to come back to the States with too. Hamline in York is definitely unique as a study abroad trip. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We were split between Derwent A block and Langwith G block. Langwith G was not a great experience. The heating did not work for the first two weeks (this was in January during the crazy winter when it snowed; when it snows in England things are bad). I put in work requests multiple times a day and ended up wearing literally every article of clothing I owned in order to stay warm. I ended up with bronchitis and cracked two of my ribs from coughing (if you do it while shivering the muscle contractions will break bones). It was a miserable first month. On top of that, the block is housed next to the lake, which is very picturesque but there are geese and swans that live there and honk incredibly early in the morning and loiter outside the doors hoping for food handouts. And they're vicious. The kitchens were the most terrible part of the entire dorm though. They were dirty and they were smelly. The other students were mostly to blame for this. There's plenty more that I could say about G block but honestly, it could have been worse and there was a roof provided so I can't complain too much. It was just...that first month was really bad. And it was really dark and dismal. And my window didn't shut properly so it leaked cold air in all the time. It was a really grim prospect to go into after living in the Hamline dorms. |
| * Food: |
The meal plan didn't work well for me since breakfast started after I left for work and dinner was usually bland and unexciting. Tea was my favorite part of the meal. That probably says something. But I didn't have to cook it in my shady kitchen so...that was a plus. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Scarborough was a great first outing. It was lovely to see the sun and it showed us how to really use the train system. London was also nice. But London can be done a lot and not get old. I would have liked more free time in London just to sort of chill out and to have relaxed and had time off. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I liked the free health care for students. I wasn't so fond of the effort it took to GET the free health care or the fact that the doctors didn't tell me anything unless I bullied my way into getting the information or being treated like an idiot. I had two cracked ribs but I got free codeine, free xrays, and a free a&e visit. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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 a lot on lunch/snack meals because I was working a physically exhausting job with limited access to food and time constraints. I ate a lot because the meal plan didn't accommodate my work hours. And I ate a lot. Like, four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Try to keep track of how much you're spending. It doesn't seem like a lot. It is. Drinking will suck up your money. I was bled dry and I don't even drink. Travel also sucks up your money. Train tickets, plane tickets, hostels...fortunately it all gets cheaper once you leave the UK. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Ones who get homesick? It's a good program. It's totally unique. You're abroad and you're in a good jump location for traveling but you're never really alone. You have a safety net abroad and when you return home. Make the most of it. York is a good city. |
