A truly valuable experience3 Past Review
By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 12/29/2017 to 06/08/2018 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Hangzhou
I gained a better understanding of Chinese culture, Chinese language, and got to really know Chinese people on a deep level
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. |
The program was not as rigorous as Middlebury College normally is, but it still helped me explore Hangzhou and helped me progress my Chinese immensely |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration is mostly helpful for me |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The roommates we were grouped together with were absolutely wonderful |
| * Food: |
I mean, it was China. Of course the food was fantastic. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I got as integrated as I could with the culture, I think. I could only get so integrated as I'm white, and that causes its own barrier in China, but I found lots of great friends and got to understand the culture on a deeper level than 99% of other Americans do |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
They were addressed, but there were mutiple things that the study abroad program here wasn't helpful with. China doesn't have very great therapy, for one thing, and the school in Beijing was not helpful in helping students get appointments. |
| * Safety: |
It was pretty safe, I rarely ever felt like I was in danger |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent about $10-$20 a week on food every week |
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 |
We had a language pledge, I was required to speak it all the time |
| 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? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 301 Chinese or so |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
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? | That I would have been fine and would have had a really great time in China, for all the good and bad things that happened. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Discussion Class |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Lian Laoshi |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | In some ways, it was challenging. The vocabulary and the grammatical patterns certainly helped me better express deep thoughts. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No trouble in transferring credits |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Business Chinese |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Shi Laoshi |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This class was surprisingly very interesting. I learned a lot about China's business world, and I also learned quite a bit of vocabulary and grammatical patterns that I found helpful. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No trouble |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Hangzhou Studies |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Zhang Laoshi and Shi Laoshi |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This class gave me the opportunity to explore Hangzhou on a deep level. This class was simply fun and wonderful |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
| Course Name/Rating: |
One-on-One (China-Africa Relations) |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Wu Laoshi |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This class was my favorite. I learned the most from this class in terms of language and in content. It inspired me pursue a thesis in China-Africa relations. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
