The best possible way to finish up my college years Past Review
By Alysha D (Northwestern College) - abroad from 01/26/2017 to 05/08/2017 with
Northwestern College: Muscat - Spring Semester in Oman
If I learned one thing, it is this: People are still people, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or what they believe. We need to love and respect all people if we ever hope to attain peace in our world. My time in Oman brought me into contact with countless people who held different views from me. Those interactions served to further broaden my worldview--especially my religious and cultural understandings.
Review Photos
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. |
Not gonna lie--the course work was INTENSE! We took 6 credits of Arabic in 6 weeks (that's the equivalent of 2 semesters of language study in most universities). However, the language institute was amazing and had excellent instruction. The rest of our classes (held during another 6-week period) were equally rigorous (mostly meaning a lot of paper-writing), but as we only met twice a week, we had ample freedom to explore and venture out during the off days. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Our language school was brilliant and scheduling outings for us and field trips to different cities and regions. In addition, our programme directors were always on hand to lend us a hand if we ever needed something. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We lived in apartments for the first half of the semester (boys and girls in separate flats) and a house setting for the second half (everyone in the same house). I enjoyed the different group dynamics afforded by each dwelling. Both were located within convenient distance of restaurants and shopping places (and, if those weren't enough, taxi stands were close by). |
| * Food: |
Having grown up in the Middle East, I may be biased, but Middle Eastern cuisine is, hands down, my favourite food in the world. Therefore, I was quite satisfied with the food options in local restaurants and homes. However, a word of warning, there is a LOT of rice. If you're not used to that, it can be quite a shock for the "uninitiated stomach." In addition, each week, we received a "shopping stipend" with which to buy our own food supplies for the week. For the most part, we pooled our money and everyone shared everything. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I think the only thing that kept me from feeling completely integrated was my gender. As a female, I found it difficult to venture out and make friends in the same way that the males in our group did. Since Omani women tend to be a little more "private," I had to make an extra amount of effort if I wanted to form relationships. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Oman doesn't really have any "out of the ordinary" health concerns. The only vaccines recommended/required were Hep. A and Typhoid (in addition to the regular routine ones like MMR, DPT, Polio, etc...). I did go to the clinic one time with a friend who had food poisoning. I was very impressed with the setup. The staff were very helpful and knowledgeable and the facilities were clean and well-maintained. In addition, the cost for treatment was only a small fraction of what it would be in the States. |
| * Safety: |
Before going to Oman, I had SO many people tell me that Oman is the safest country in the Middle East. After having spent a semester there, I have to agree. The Omanis are a very friendly and gentle people. I encountered little to no hostility during my time there. I frequently went to the souq (shopping centre) or corniche (seaside) by myself and never felt threatened or unsafe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
The Middle East has to be one of my favourite regions on earth. I loved being able to explore and become acquainted with it more thoroughly through this programme. |
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) |
Basically everything was covered by our tuition cost. Food was really the only thing we had to buy. As I mentioned previously, we received a food stipend each week that we tended to pool. Since this stipend was far more than we actually needed, we had a good deal of spending money left over. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $20-$25 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Go in together on staples like food and laundry supplies etc. It's much more efficient (not to mention, cheaper) to have one of something that multiple people can share than to have 5 smaller somethings that everyone has to keep track of. |
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 |
While studying Arabic, we were in an "interior" region of the country where English wasn't prevalent. Thus, we were forced to exercise our limited Arabic skills to communicate with restaurant owners, taxi drivers, shopkeepers, etc. |
| 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? | None |
| 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? | Get out and about! There is nothing that helps hone your skills like practicing with the locals. Almost everyone we talked with was willing to laugh along with us over our mistakes and help us work through whatever we were trying to say. |
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? |
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? | I can always learn something new from others--especially those who are different from me. I simply need to be willing to listen and keep an open mind and heart. |
