Love learning language and being outdoorsy? Oman Semester is for you! Past Review
By A student (PSYCHOLOGY., Northwestern College) - abroad from 01/22/2014 to 05/07/2014 with
Northwestern College: Muscat - Spring Semester in Oman
Most of what I learned from my abroad experience was about myself, other than the academic knowledge I gained. It was worthwhile, but I don't know if I would do it again (based mostly on how hard I was hit by culture shock for a month in the middle of my semester).
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I thought that academically this program was as demanding as a semester of classes on-campus at Northwestern. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Three new people were hired before my semester started. They were all trying to figure our their roles and make connections with locals and such, so this is an area that could use improvement and likely will improve in the future. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Fantastic location - house near the Mutrah souq Not a fancy house, but met our needs very well |
| * Food: |
There was always something available, and we had a grocery list on which we could request foods and list staples that were running low. We ate A LOT of Indian food. If you don't like spicy food, I hope you like pb&j and lunch meat. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The program is looking to expand in this area by eventually providing the chance to do home stays and regularly meet and converse with college-age locals, but the connections had not been made by the time I did the program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
We were fortunate enough to not have any experiences with Oman's healthcare system. |
| * Safety: |
Oman is a very safe country. There were no occasions where I worried about personal safety (other than perhaps driving with Omanis). Towards the end, we were allowed to wander the souq by ourselves if we told others where we were going and when we intended to be back. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
All expenses were taken care of for the most part. Occasional dinners out and souvenirs were all I purchased. I could have probably spent less than $100 total on the trip if I had packed carefully, avoided eating out, and not gotten souvenirs. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $10-$15 maybe |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | bring new money - some exchange agencies will only accept 2007 and newer |
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 encouraged us to use our Arabic as much as possible, but everyone in Oman speaks some English. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 200 level (of Spanish); no Arabic at all |
| 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? | make flashcards and do them daily If you are interested in learning language, great - you will probably really love this program. As a student who is not good at learning language, this portion of the study abroad experience was long and not fun. |
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? | 0 |
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? | * how academically demanding it would be * culture shock is real and it might hit you hard -- that's normal |
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! |
