London, not amazing, but the theater was good. Past Review
By Wendy L (Creative Writing and Gender Women Studies, Hollins University) for
Hollins University: London - Hollins in London
I did not feel that I was exposed to "English" culture all of that much because London, like most capital cities, is so full of other foreigners like myself that I hardly ever had any contact with "real" English people. Also, it seems the bigger the city, the lonelier you are. The trips and theatre is what made it worthwhile for me, but I don't have a very positive view of my abroad experience. I felt that I made many efforts to find and engage in English culture but most failed.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I enjoyed the field trips and the plays I got to go to, but for most of my classes I would have liked a little more content, maybe more assigned reading. A lot of the time I felt that we were barely scratching the surface of a topic. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Our Program director in London was amazing. She did so much for everybody and was always very nice. Very accessible/available/willing to help. She got so much done for us. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The dorm situation is not well explained by our school before-hand. Half of the time I had no idea when or where meals were served even after I asked it was completely confusing. The walls were so thin I could pratically hear everything the neighbors said. The shower was so tiny I could barely move in it, but you get used to it and used to hitting your head on the bed when you get up from your desk. A large part of the staff seemed to have no clue what they were doing and so could not help me when I asked for information. Plusses: 20 minute walk to class so no tube fare to spend on that, and free Ceroc (popular jive and salsa dance in london)lessons which were really fun. |
| * Food: |
Food was too expensive. Basically lived off of sandwiches. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I enjoyed our trips to Bath, Wells and Budapest. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Make time to do things with other students in your program because it is really lonely by yourself. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
The London Stage |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Susie Thomas |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Loved it. Got to see a play every week, the instructor was hilarious and great at explaining cultural things and helping us understand different aspects of the plays. Best class I took there BY FAR. We got to go to different thatres and experience fringe theater productions as well as more main-stream plays. We even had the writer of one of the plays as a guest-speaker and he was really interesting. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No problems. |
