South Africa: Opportunities to learn more than you know Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The classes are markedly different, you only have class once a week per class, but it is for an hour and a half. You have little homework, only main big assignments and then an exam at the end that is worth half of your final grade. Overall they are pretty easy on grading, but you can get caught in the details. The teachers I had all loved their subjects and so were pretty engaging and interested in the topic. There was no big cafeteria but a few mini eateries that you could eat at on campus. There are no books that you really have to buy except for a few here and there and you can usually rent them at the library. Overall classes were not stressful. The exams at the end were stretched out over an entire month, so for 30 days you only had 4 tests maybe, and the rest of the time was free, which was interesting, but worked out okay.

On-site administration of your program

When we registered for classes it was quite difficult because the set up is unlike anything we have at UNI. It was quite confusing, but they helped us out and we got it all sorted. They were helpful overall, and pointed you in the right direction if you had any questions.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in a house in a suburb which was a 40 minute walk from campus with 5 other students, one was my husband, two were sisters from Iran, one was a South African, and the other was a Canadian. It was a hodgepodge mix but it worked out really well, and we all got along. The South African helped me with my Afrikaans, so that was nice. We had a maid, which surprised me, and a garden man, however our pool was broken the entire time and our landlord never did fix it. We were pretty far away from other international students as the majority of them lived at Annie's, but we had bikes, and walked. We always had to take a taxi if we wanted to go out at night though. we brought our own sheets and actually our neighbors lent us blankets for the first week or so until we were able to acquire our own.

I thought that the braii was probably the best thing ever invented. It was quite cold when I was there, as it was the end of winter, but grilling out on the braii was phenomenal. We went on the farm tour and they also had wonderful food. Go to John Dory's for good sushi, and the little places that are tucked away. We didn't dine out much, we mostly cooked our own food, but the instant coffee is quite grand. When you eat a South African meal though, they give you alot of food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We went to the farm tour, and it was amazing, Winnie, and the whole family was welcoming, and talkative, and just fantastic. Not to mention the food was to die for. That was the only thing that my program paid for, and also the city tour and the retreat, which were great to get to know people. I also went Shark Cage diving, which was exhilarating, you must do that. I think some of my favorite things were when my friends and I decided to just go away for the weekend and take a road trip somewhere, Hogsback was life changing, Durban was fun, and we even went to Jeffery's Bay for a surfing competition.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had to get a check up due to a job I was applying for an the insurance covered it. The insurance is great there, they covered everything. Safety is a bit different. Due to tensions racially you have to be careful sometimes. You can't walk outside at night, but the place we were in was pretty safe, you just had to be aware of your surroundings all the time and your belongings. There was quite a few break-ins in the student quarter, at Annie's Cove and other places. This happens anywhere really because if someone knows students have their things around then people will try to take it. I didn't need any shots for this program, I felt healthy pretty much the whole time, and only came down with a cold once.

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

The country spoke Afrikaans, Xhosa, and English. On a day to day basis, you would get along fine because almost everyone spoke English, but walking down the street or in a bus is strange because nobody speaks English unless it's to you half the time. I took Afrikaans as a class just for my own sake, and it was good, I learned enough to get around easy things, and to stay polite in situations where I didn't understand what was going on. But our program itself did not have learning a foreign language as it's main component.

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• Other

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• International Students
• Local Students

• road trips
• living with international students

• More Preparation for registration
• Communication in South Africa between students and staff