spring semester in kunming Past Review

By (Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/11/2019 to 06/03/2020 with

Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Kunming

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
it was ok

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

The Academic Director is amazing as well as the resident director. they both helped me a lot during my time there and they were the best.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

it was good, it was really nice and a privilege to have cleaning staff come in every day, wash our sheets and clean the bathroom for us (having our own bathroom and showers was also really great)

* Food:

food at the cafeteria is really cheap since it is subsidized by the government, but there are a lot of local establishments in the area that had lots of good food for good prices as well.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

not really, there were no clubs/ campus organizations that we could get involved in. they did try to compensate by giving us extracurricular activities but that was only with people in our program. our only link to the culture were our roommates, but i wished there was another way where we could integrate ourselves without having to depend on them.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

in my opinion, it was freaking amazing. i along with several other students had food poisoning, but our resident director took care of us and took me to a local on campus clinic where i was helped very quickly. it was also very affordable. of course, it's different than the us, it may not look as clean, it's a bit noisier but the care i got was great.

* Safety:

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

i mean the only reason i would do it again is because you meet really cool people from different universities through the program.

Finances

* 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)

pretty easily, especially choosing to eat more local food rather than western food.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
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.

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? Intermediate

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Hotel
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? 0

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • food
  • weather
  • other program students
* What could be improved?
  • the roommate situation
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? to take it easy

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Business Chinese

Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:
Comments:
Credit Transfer Issues: