Best 4 months of my life Past Review
By Jacob H (COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES AND SUPPORT SERVICES., The University of Texas at Austin) - abroad from 09/02/2014 to 12/20/2014 with
IES Abroad: Berlin - Study Abroad With IES Abroad
The world is awesome
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. |
Small classes with 8-12 students. The professors were all fantastic. Most worked at other universities in the area and only came to the IES center for a couple of classes every week. Very personal and flexible though |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
If I could give a 6/5 I would. Fantastic administration. They posted daily about events happening in Berlin and gave us a ton of information and advice. They were very helpful in helping me submit claims for insurance. Super, super helpful |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Lived in an apartment. Had a large room and a full size bed. Shared a bathroom with one other "renter." The family was a dad and his son. I had access to a full kitchen, wifi, TV, etc. Everything I needed. |
| * Food: |
IES/ Your host does not provide you with any food. So this rating is the food in general in Berlin? I ate a ton of Doners. 3 Euros for a full meal. Cheap and delicious. When I got bored of those, I either made sandwiches or explored Berlin's food scene (which is incredible). |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I came into the program speaking German. About 3/4 of the students in the metropolitan studies program did not. We all were able to get around the city and communicate with most people. My friends could get by. I found knowing German before hand very helpful because not everyone knows English (about half of the service industry did). |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had an eye infection that came back. If you use the IES insurance (which you have to have), you pay the whole fee out of pocket when visiting the doctor. Small stuff, like a headache or pain, you go to a small doc-in-a-box place and the total cost was like 40 euros. Specialized doctors might cost up to 200 Euros though (the case for my two opthomologist visits). At the end of the semester, you gather your receipts and send them to the Insurance company. They had a 100 euro charge. Otherwise everything was refunded and I got a check at my US address two weeks after I submitted the claims. Ella at IES did the whole thing practically. She's done this many times and is very helpful. When I got sick, she sent me a list of three doctors, directions to those doctors, and their hours. Fantastic all around |
| * Safety: |
Berlin's one of the safest capitol cities in Europe. Watch out late at night in the sketchy parts of town when you're drunk. Just because there's graffiti everywhere doesn't mean it's unsafe. Berlin is much safer than any city in the U.S. |
| 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) |
Cheapest capitol city in Western Europe. Doner was 3 euros and that was a full meal. Mensa meals (cafeteria meals) were delicious and also pretty cheap (3-5 euros, depending on dish, drink, and desert). Cheap restaurants were anywhere from 5-10 Euros for a main dish. Groceries were about the same as the U.S., Fruit and vegetables were cheaper at the Turkish corner shops/ vegetable stands. Go there for the best produce. They're located in every neighborhood. Use carpooling.com, blahblah car, meinfernbus, and other bus/ trains for travel. Easyjet can be cheaper sometimes. Traveling around Europe can be cheap if you are willing to do overnight commutes/ more inconvenient methods (like carpooling, which turned out to be the best method). Be adventurous |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Probably $140 or so because I traveled every other weekend |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | carpooling.com, hostelworld.com, cook stuff, look for free events and activities (they're usually the best). Take a picnic to the park. Really, spend a lot of time in parks (Hasenheide, Tempelhof, Gorli :) ). Shop at the cheap supermarkets like Aldi or Lidl. Go without the expensive food and spend your money on traveling and concerts. BUY A BIKE. Best way to learn a city, you get exercise, and it saves you from buying public transportation. IES may or may not provide public transportation pass. They said they might change it |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
All of my classes were in English except my German class. I spoke German off and on with the administrators and teachers however. Not the best program for learning German though. The Language studies students (the all German program at IES) learned soo much more. My German class was superb. The professor was the best foreign language teacher I've ever had. Great at explaining stuff in German and very patient. Yet 2 hours a day wasn't enough. Go meet some Germans and flirt in German. One, it helps your German. Two, Germans find it sexy when you speak German. Speak in German |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Intermediate German? I had taken 16 hours |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Speak German even if you pronounce/ form sentences incorrectly. When the German gives you the confused-face, speak in English. Repeat until English isn't required. Speak with your host family daily. I spoke off and on English with my host father and he spoke German back with some English when I didn't understand. He was the best tool for learning |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
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? | Expect to spend more. Bring some winter gear. Don't need to know anything really. It's Germany. Anything you need, you can get somewhere closeby |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Nearly Native or Trail BlazerCraving the most authentic experience possible, perhaps you lived with a host family or really got in good with the locals. You may have felt confined by your program requirements and group excursions. Instead, you'd have preferred to plan your own trips, even skipping class to conduct your own 'field work.' |
