European Union: America 2.0... p.s. Belgium is "Invadey" Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The work load while abroad was mainly attending seminars and writing journal entrees. On a Typical day we would gather together for breakfast and then head out for that days events. Each day would usually have two or three scheduled events each that would last roughly an hour and a half. We would on average be with the group from nine in the morning until nine in the evening after dinner. After spending our whole day feeling like we were at school, the last thing we wanted to do at the hotel was write journal entrees. So, myself and several others would get behind on the day to day entrees. It is my opinion that if we were back at the hotel from the days events between 4 and 6 in the evening, and were giving an hour or two break to write our entrees, not only would we have been more willing to write them, we would have also have written much more substantial entrees to read back on in the future. I do believe the grading system and teaching methods were good. However the workload was too harsh for the amount of time we had to ourselves.

On-site administration of your program

The programs strengths came from good faculty leaders with lots of knowledge on culture and politics. The weaknesses of the trip came from lack of time management. The time management was not terrible. We never missed meetings or trains or anything like that. It was just that each day was over filled with events. Some days it felt like one faculty leader would rather have a completely political abroad experience and the other would like a completely cultural experience. This never cause conflict between the leaders. They actually got along quite well. it just made the course feel like two course cram-packed into one. Therefore we had not enough time.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

During the time we were living in Germany. The hotels were a little bit on the cheaper side of things. I would given them a high two stars or a low three stars. However I felt very comfortable in the neighborhoods there. In Belgium the Hotel was amazing. It was very nice. However the neighborhood was slightly less comfortable. There was a balance I suppose. I always felt safe during the trip at all times.

While abroad it was hard to be too selective on where to eat. Myself and other students would often look for cheap dinners where we could find them because we were all tight on money. We would often find a pizza place or Italian food because of that. over all everyone found what they wanted I think. Although it was obvious the faculty and the students had much different ideas on "acceptable" prices.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The most memorable cultural aspects were visiting the ancient cathedrals throughout Europe. I do not know if these would be considered non-academic because they were mandatory events but non-the-less they were quite the sight to see.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

There were no health concerns on the trip of importance. We always felt safe in the host cities. Not safe enough to go off on our own of course. but still safe.

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

Three or four out of the ten students enrolled in the program were students who had studied German at SFA. I could practice German with the one of the faculty leaders who was fluent, but I did not have to use the language in every day life. I think I could have increased my German speaking abilities much more by going with a completely German speaking group. However, since I did not and the majority of the locals we met were English speakers. I did not improve much at all.

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• Hotel
• Apartment

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• International Students
• Americans

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• Americans