Shanghai : a rewarding learning experience Past Review
By Andrea E (BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES., University of California - Riverside) for
Xing Wei College: Shanghai - Semester or Summer in China
i truly found an appreciation for Chinese culture. I found appreciation in all the things that my parents taught me when I was younger and genuinely embraced it during my stay in Shanghai. I have decided to minor in Chinese Language or Asian studies, or both!
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The only class that I had was a Friday Chinese Language class. I was a little harsh on the evaluation of the class because students in the class were of all different levels. Some had never spoken a word of Chinese, and others, like myself, had already taken years of Chinese. Therefore, it was very difficult to find a perfect medium. It was way too easy for me because I was already familiar with the language, but on the other hand, it was way too difficult for my peers that were just learning the language for the first time. They should have split us up into different classes. My study abroad experience was focused more on my internship with Smith Group. I learned a lot and felt as if I were actually apart of the company. 4 stars to that experience. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
IEM San Diego is amazing. They were very helpful throughout the process and worked with me through various situations. On there end, they are perfect - a definite 5 stars. IEM China, on the other hand, was a great disappointment to me. They were unprofessional and selfish. I don't think they fully grasp the expectations of American students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
food is very affordable in china |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The best thing about my program was probably the group of people. Though we had minimal guidance from the administration over there, we all meshed very well and went out exploring with each other. The best part was plainly hanging out with them, and the fact that we were all in Shanghai brought us even closer together. I really appreciate the little things - eating at weird restaurants, walking the streets at night, eating dirty food on the side of the road, shopping, sight-seeing, and of course making friends with the locals. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Stay with your friends and don't wander off by yourself, especially at night. Don't trust anyone. Just plainly be cautious. |
| 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 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Food is extremely affordable. The cheapest meal (a bowl of noodles,etc) could be 1$(usd) or it could range up to 10$ and, of course more if you really want to eat glamorously. I would say 35$ a week for food would suffice. Shopping - it really depends on your personality. Some people in my group probably spent less that $150 on shopping for the entire 3 months. others, like my myself, probably spent $1000. it really depends on your spending habits, but I think like 700$ for food and shopping would get you through 3 months. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | keep in mind that you might want to take a trip to another district or "state" somewhere nearby (ie, Beijing or Harbin) and you would want to have enough money for that. |
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 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? | just go for it! studying abroad teaches you so many things that you cannot learn in a classroom. Not only are you knocking out units, you are learning so much about yourself - growing up, finding you identity, and whatnot. going abroad, puts things into perspective and really opens your eyes to the world. |
