Winter term study abroad in China Past Review

By Patrick S (Masters of Public Administration, SUNY - Binghamton) for

SUNY Binghamton: Shenzhen - Understanding Contemporary China

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

It was one of the best things I have every done. Getting to see so many amazing things and meet so many great people was just great. I loved it and hope that more students take advantage of this opportunity.

Personal Information

The term and year this program took place:	Winter 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I learned basic Chinese language and have since moved on further with the language. I have also been studying chinese labor policy more in depth since my visit because one of the lectures we attended sparked my interest in Hukou.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	Everyone from the Deans to our professors were just very helpful and really enhanced our experience.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	The showers were tricky to learn how to get 10 minutes of hot water, the beds were not the most comfortable, but everything was reasonably nice. <br /><br /> It was good.
* Food:	Never got sick and the food was outstanding.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Our lectures gave us a brief overview of chinese culture, history and public policy and being able to venture into the city so easily via taxi, subway, and bus it was easy to go out and see the culture for yourself and thats what really helped drive home many of the concepts and remove many of the negative images of China I had learned before going and seeing how rich in culture and beautiful the country is.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Never had a doubt about my safety and never got sick.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	roughly 700 dollars in total or $30 a day but most of my money went to tourist destinations, personal items, and gifts. food is very cheap and so is transportation.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Don't goto the big stores. there are small shops all over with cheaper products. If you need anything from an iron to a bedmat you can find it in the small village outside of campus for 1/2 the cost if not less than walmart or the malls.

Language

Language acquisition improvement?	I have trouble with pronounciations but I learned enough chinese to be able to take a taxi around town, order food and drinks, barter for items in shops. Very basic Chinese but it helped make it easier to venture outside of campus without a guide.