Day-to-Day, Far Away Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I was very satisfied with the program academically. Aside from a few nits to pick, the classes were engaging and helpful, with ample opportunity to practice new grammar and vocabulary. I think it could have been more rigorous—perhaps not more vocabulary, as each week would already introduce dozens of new words in each class, but maybe more vocabulary tests to ensure students are learning and retaining the vocabulary. But I did feel challenged by the courses, and I certainly improved immensely over the course of the semester.

On-site administration of your program

All of the program staff were consummately professional, helpful and friendly.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Having Chinese roommates was a really important aspect of the program. Without having our roommates around it would have been much harder to make Chinese friends, and I think the Middlebury program students would have been much more isolated from the rest of the college. I became friends with my roommate and went on several trips with him over the course of the semester, including to visit his family in a city nearby, which was an invaluable experience. I was very satisfied with the Yunnan University Hotel where we stayed.

The food was fantastic. I fell in love with Yunnan's cuisine—ever since returning home I've been dying for a 酸辣 (sour-spicy) bowl of 小锅米线 (rice noodle soup with ground pork and pickled vegetables) or some 凉粉 (cold mung bean jelly). The cafeteria at the university was the cheapest option, and had a good range of dishes available at each meal, but I ended up eating at local restaurants most of the time. This was marginally more money—I spent an average of around $6 per day on breakfast, lunch and dinner, while I probably could have averaged less than $5 eating at the cafeteria, but I found the food to be better eating out and I enjoyed visiting different restaurants in the area.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

For the most part, I did not feel like I was closely integrated with the local culture. The semester was more like catching glimpses of culture through a day-to-day which was largely spent by myself or with other students in the program. This was mostly my fault—I could have more proactively sought out opportunities to connect with locals and find a community within the greater university and city, and I know more gregarious and outgoing students on the program who did make more of an effort to engage with people outside of the program. I do think the program could have done more to encourage students to make these efforts—I heard other students complain about how our workload limited our time to make excursions to meet locals and see the city, and I felt the same to a degree. However, but I think one's integration with the local social and cultural scene foremost depends on one's willingness and ability to engage, something that the program in itself can only tangentially influence. In retrospect, I think my personal habits, comfort level with meeting new people, and confidence with the language were the biggest factors in how integrated I felt with the local culture in Yunnan University and Kunming.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had no health issues while studying with the program.

I did not have any instances when I felt unsafe in Kunming. Traffic is much more hectic than in the US, but that comes with the territory of living in China.

I don't think there is a better program out there for what I was aiming to accomplish through studying abroad. That's not to say I don't think I could have had a valuable experience elsewhere, but being located amidst the cultural and linguistic diversity of southwest China set the program apart from the others I considered, all of which took place in cities along the eastern seaboard.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I can imagine China is probably one of the cheaper places to study abroad. Three square meals could be had in Kunming for well under $5.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

The language pledge was essential. I followed it very closely, and I think it made all the difference for my improvement.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students

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• Americans

• Our Chinese roommates
• Rigor—language pledge especially
• Location—Yunnan is an incredible part of the world

• More programming to get students out in the wider campus community
• Teaching style—more emphasis on using language in conversation on given topics, rather than directly following teacher's prompts

The Academic or Linguist