Study Abroad in London,Paris,Geneva,Heidelberg and Amsterdam: Life Changing! Past Review
By Taylor R (Computer and Information Sciences, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge) - abroad from 12/26/2017 to 01/10/2018 with
International Business Seminars: Winter Europe
I gained a better understanding of how the rest of the world works and lives everyday. I also gained the experience of networking. It was worth every penny I paid for this trip
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Before this trip, I never studied abroad before and when someone came talk to us in class about an opportunity to study abroad, earn college credit, and do it in a matter of a little bit over two weeks, I got extremely excited. This trip overall was an experience of a lifetime that I will cherish forever. I went on the Winter One trip in 2017-2018 winter break. I went to London, Paris, Geneva, Heidelberg, and Amsterdam. I spent about 16 days in all of these places combined. In a normal study abroad program, its an entire semester in one place but this program allows you to study in 5 different countries in such a short period and earn that credit for college. I learned a lot on this trip about how businesses operate and how the people in each of these cities live and work. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
This trip's program administrators were awesome. All of them were understanding of everything, knew what to do in certain situations arose, and educated us well on our visits. I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of the leaders on the trip. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
As far as housing for this trip goes, we stayed in 4 star upper level business grade hotels in the city centers of each city we visited. They were all very nice and safe. They all provided a free continental breakfast which was a plus. The hotel staff in each hotel was very helpful as far was fun places to go and if we needed assistance, they did not hesitate to help. |
| * Food: |
Now the food, I am personally a food fanatic and I absolutely loved the food I got to experience on this trip. I ate croissants in Paris, chocolate in Switzerland, fish and chips in London, wiener schnitzel in Heidelberg, and pasta in Geneva. No matter where you went they always had unique food to enjoy. Food experience was the best part of my trip. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
After spending a day or so in each city, I felt was integrated with the culture. The best thing I did to get integrated with the culture is I got off the beaten path and explored some local spots that had no tourists. So when we were in those areas, we were able to talk with the locals and learn about them and there culture. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
So on my trip, we only had one person that had anything bad happen. One of our fellow students, got a virus and the leaders were very helpful and got the necessary precautions and got the student to the hospital to be treated. She was cared for very well. Happily, I did not experience any health issues but if I did, I know it would have been handled very well. |
| * Safety: |
Overall safety in each city was good. The leaders advised what not to do and what to do in the cities that we were in. The best advice I can give is to always watch your surroundings because anything can happen anywhere no matter where you are at. We did not have any safety incidents, thankfully on our trip. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
If i could do it all over again i would do another IBS program in a different part of the world. |
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) |
In my experience with finances on this trip was interesting. I budgeted myself for about $1000 for 16 days for food and entertainment. I spent exactly that on my trip. I did not preorder my currency in the US, which I should have did it before hand. This trip is very affordable. This program offers financing offers so that you don't have to pay up everything at one time. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 500 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I would say to save some money before going on the trip and to exchange your money beforehand because they exchange rate fluctuates every second. |
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 |
Throughout my trip, we were influenced to use the cultures language to better let the locals understand what you may need and to be polite with it. I would suggest listening to your leaders about what to say and how to be nice as possible using there language. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| 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? | Spanish 2 |
| 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? | Learn common terms and phrases for each country before leaving for the trip, so you have a good understanding of what needs to be said |
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? | I wish I knew how to work around the metro systems in each city. |
