MiC in Kunming is great! Past Review
By Jeremy (Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/15/2015 to 06/04/2015 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Kunming
Absolutely it was worthwhile. I improved my Chinese by a lot while living in an amazing and unique country.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The program was very academically rigorous and in a wonderful location. At many points I found the academic rigor took away from the experience, forcing us to stay in the dorm and memorize vocabulary instead of having time to explore the city or travel around the region on weekends. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration of MiC Kunming did a great job supporting the students, listening our feedback about the program, organizing activities, etc. The spring break trip was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The housing was extremely comfortable and the arrangement with chinese roommates was great for the language pledge and cultural exchange. Our dorms were far better than the equivalent dorms for Chinese students. |
| * Food: |
Chinese food is amazing and economical, especially if we just ate in the dining halls. However, if we were tired of the dining hall food, amazing noodle bowls, dumplings, and hot pot were just around the corner! And of course if we just needed to settle our stomachs with some Western food we could always head to Salvador's down the road. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The experience of having a Chinese roommate added a lot to the program, and while some were more active than others about it, many of them were great at inviting us to events, helping us meet their friends. There were many chances to interact with locals as well. However, as I stated above, many of us felt like we were trapped in the dorm by the workload, and wished that we had more opportunities to get out and explore. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have an experience with healthcare. |
| * Safety: |
Kunming seemed to be a very safe city, at least in the area of the university. I had no issues and never felt unsafe during my semester. Important to note that I am a man, and I've heard of some negative experiences for women occurring at night. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I loved the city and the program but I would want to explore other regions in China. Kunming is great but at a point you run out of things to do. I would be more inclined to go back if there were more time to explore the region, since it is so incredibly diverse and interesting. |
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) |
Kunming is a pretty cheap city, especially in terms of food. It will depend on how often one eats western food, goes to coffeeshops and bars, etc. I did not find it difficult to keep a budget. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100-150, including Western food, bars, etc. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eat Chinese food! It's much cheaper than Western food. At the dining halls we could eat a full meal for $2, so that is easily the most economical way to do 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 |
They required us to speak only Chinese with the Language Pledge. |
| 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? | Chinese 301 |
| 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? | Keep to the language pledge, it's difficult at times but worth it in the end. Try to make friends with locals or Chinese students at the university. |
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? | Facebook, Skype, etc ways of communicating with home will take away from the overall experience, keep us from going out, and reduce the amount of cultural exchange/language improvement we experience. |
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: |
1 on 1 |
| Course Department: | Chinese |
| Instructor: | Hu Yuwei/ Yang Huiling |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The 1 on 1 is a great experience for Chinese students. Our 1 on 1 tutors enabled us to research a topic of our choosing, and for me was essential in providing materials from scientific papers and sources. Hu Laoshi was a graduate student studying soil chemistry, was was very able to concisely synthesize information from scientific sources and summarize them in a way that provided me with information and improved my Chinese. The culmination of the course in a thesis was a fulfilling experience and helped to improve my formal writing a lot. Yang Laoshi was extremely helpful in breaking down the language and vocabulary in class and helping me with proofreading my paper and giving feedback on my presentation. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | There was no trouble transferring credit. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Contemporary Issues in China |
| Course Department: | Chinese |
| Instructor: | Liu Dan |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The course was extremely and informative. We discussed a large variety of issues in modern Chinese society, without shying away from something if it was controversial. Liu Laoshi was very good at facilitating discussion and providing counterpoints from the views of others within Chinese society. Watching "Wo Ju" was a fun and relaxing way to think about these topics while improving our Chinese. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I had no issues with transfer credit. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Kunming Impressions AA |
| Course Department: | Chinese |
| Instructor: | Zhang Youlan |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The course was altered before our semester began, and many of the topics relating specifically to Kunming or Yunnan were removed, with other more general topics about China added. I thought this was disappointing, since I was excited to learn more about the city and region, and was frustrated to be learning more basic things about China, many of which I had already experienced in lower levels of Chinese. Zhang Laoshi was a very good professor and made the class very enjoyable and more interesting. She excelled at explaining the vocabulary and grammar and clarifying any questions we had about the course material while relating it to our lives in Kunming. I did enjoy the other aspects of the course that we did outside of the classroom, such as exploring different parts of the city and the wonderful host family experience. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I had no issues transferring credit |
| Course Name/Rating: |
China's Environment and Development |
| Course Department: | MiC |
| Instructor: | Yang Huiling |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The course was very interesting and informative. Yang Laoshi is a great professor and was very good at adjusting the level of the class to meet the levels of individual students. The class was very small with 2 students, so class participation was necessary and discussion was engaging. We were assessed each day in class with a quiz, with alternating review days and tests every other week on Fridays. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | There were no transfer credit issues after returning to Middlebury. |
