Around the World: Finding Friends in the People of the World Past Review
By Hannah S (Biology, General., Trinity University) for
Semester at Sea Study Abroad: Make the World Your Campus
I learned how much I love all countries in the world! I thought I would like the countries that I was going to but I didn't think I would love them and want to go back but I was wrong. I want to go back to every country I went to and do all the things I didn't have enough time to do! I also learned how unimpressed I am with college students when it comes to traveling. Although I learned it doesn't matter what my friends do because I can leave and have an amazing adventure and then meet up with them a week later on the ship and we are friends just enjoying ship life and moments together.
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. |
Compared to Trinity the workload was less and the grading was easier but overall I learned so much from this semester. It is pretty difficult to make workload super demanding when the professor is also trying to ensure that they student won't have to be doing homework while at port because it is important of the student to get off the ship and discover the country. That is really where a majority of the learning takes place and it is amazing, unforgettable hands on learning! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I really like a majority of the Semester At Sea staff and I loved the MV Explorer Crew but there were a few people from the SAS staff who I felt were not flexible enough for this program. They would snap very easy when things would go wrong and blame it on everyone around them. They couldn't handle pressure in a lot of situations even situations as simple as a game. Although for the most part the rest of the staff was so great they made up for the others flaws and I became very good friends with a lot of the staff. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I was okay with my living conditions. It was challenging at times because I had an inside room so I didn't have a window but overall it was nice and I liked my room mate. |
| * Food: |
They did not accommodate very easily to dietary restrictions and the food was very repetative. I was not a big fan but I survived because whenever I would get to port I would go crazy and the food at port was always sooooo gooooood! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
INDIA! MOROCCO! VIETNAM! SOUTH AFRICA! JAPAN! I just want to say I had so many unbelievable memories from interacting with the locals in these countries that it is almost impossible to describe it to you in this text box so I am not even going to try! I will just say make sure that your primary interaction with people while at port are the interactions with the locals... the semester at sea students are fun but you have time on the ship with them... you may only have this one time in this country with the locals... love every second of it! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I would usually always spend under $100 in each country although in Japan that was a whole different story and I ended up spending more then $400 there. It really depends on the port you are going to but you do spend a lot more money then you anticipate. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | CABS! Make sure you know which cabs are legit cabs. There are cabs in every country that are fake and have ways of making the meter run fast so that they charge you way more. Don't get screwed by fraudy cab drivers. Other then that there are ways of not spending much money such as sleeping on the ship and eating on the ship when at port to the point where you don't spend any money at port but it detracts from you experience a lot. You should be prepared to spend more then $1500 on trips, food, lodging, and travel when at port because if you don't the experience won't be as fun for you. Be willing to spend money on the adventures you want to go on and have fun. Although you can also save money by not going to the super touristy spots which is where a lot of the Semester At Sea students go. Avoid that and you will save a lot of money as well! |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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? | Someone independent who is super adventurous! So many students would get to port and they would leave together in a group of like 20 students to stay in a fancy villa on the beach and get drunk the entire time while at port. They had fun with each other but the students that had the most fun were those that went on adventures all over the country and met locals. They would party but only at a local bar and they would always still wake up to have a full day of discovery. |
