Bregenz: the biggest little city in Austria Past Review
By A student (HISTORY., Berea College) - abroad from 06/29/2012 to 07/03/2012 with
KIIS: Bregenz - Experience Bregenz (Summer)
I learned a great deal of German, which was my main reason for going on the trip. I also gained a ton of memories with a bunch of wonderful people, that I hopefully will never forget. It was very worthwhile.
Review Photos
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program had an excellent, informed, and helpful director. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I could not have been happier with my housing situation and my host mother. |
| * Food: |
Dinner was provided each night at a local restaurant and the food wasn't bad. Many meals were served multiple times however, especially the soups. A little more variety would have been nice. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
When travelling and taking classes with other students from the US, you don't become as immersed into the culture as you would if travelling alone. It can be hard to integrate yourself somewhere new when the temptation to stay with people you are familiar with is present. This being said, Bregenz is a wonderful city, and it had started to feel like home towards the end of the trip, especially in regards to my host mother. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
As far as I was aware, any serious medical issues would have been taken care of by a doctor nearby. Fortunately, I didn't have anything serious come up. |
| * Safety: |
As far as I was aware, Bregenz is an incredibly safe city. I never felt afraid to walk home (a good distance from the town's center), even late at night. I didn't hear about anyone else having any issues about safety while walking around the city, even at night. |
| 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) |
I ended up spending about 300 dollars per week, but it would have been fairly easy to spend much less, considering that two meals per day are provided. If you were very budget conscious, I think you could probably get by spending about $50 a week, but your weekends would probably not be spent travelling very much, as those expenses probably accounted for 75% of my overall spending. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $300 |
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 |
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| 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? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 300 level course |
| 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? | The best thing to do is just make sure you are in contact with people who speak the language, and when you're with them: speak their language! Everyone, myself included, wants to just be good at the language they are studying, but the simple truth is that you won't get any better if you don't use the language at every possible chance. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | How to say the word "Glocken." |
