France: Beautiful, But I Want My Money Back. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Originally, there were four classes to choose from for this program: Photography, Journalism, Creative Writing and Drama. The program initially caught my interest because of the wide selection and I was most interested in Creative Writing and Photography. Unfortunately, creative writing and drama had to be dropped since not enough people signed up. I was placed in Journalism, but since that class had no benefits for me, I asked if I could switch out of Journalism and take up extra French classes instead (French is my minor). The "trip coordinator" ensured me that it was no problem and she was even surprised more people hadn't asked to take more French. She told me to contact my school about how to go about getting an Independent Study credit for French, so I did and the next day when I approached her about how to start my transition out of Journalism and into a more intensive French class, she told me, "Sorry, shouldn't have spoken so soon. You can't do that." It was very frustrating to be told one thing, do the work I had been asked to do immediately and then be told the next day that it wouldn't happen. That was one of the first moments when I felt that this program was a waste of a lot of money.

On-site administration of your program

My expectations were far from met during this program. I was so incredibly disappointed with this trip that part of me wishes I'd never gone. Not only were the supervisors of the trip disorganized and unclear about everything, but they were also very immature, rude and at times inappropriate.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host family was the best part of the trip. My host parents were very nice people and they made me feel very welcome. Our house was really close to the school and it took about 5 minutes to bike there which was very convenient. The only problem I had with my host house was that it was in kind of a sketchy area. Every night when walking back from town, the men who lived in a condo directly across from us would yell offensive things in English. And since our house was slightly secluded and basically in the middle of a field and at the end of a long dirt driveway, we often felt nervous and unsafe walking home, even when we were in a group of three.

Food at my host family's house was amazing. They were both gardners and so almost every night we'd have fresh fruits and vegetables. Our host mom cooked us a huge meal every evening and it was a great way to better understand the French culture. When we were staying at the Student Hostel in Paris however, the food was terrible. We were only allowed a certain amount for breakfast and dinner and they were very strict about how much you could get. The food also made many people sick because of it being undercooked. Unfortunately, if we wanted to get something for ourselves we couldn't easily get it in the neighborhood since it was very dangerous and there were barely any places to eat (only a McDonald's) and nothing was open anyway.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

For the most part, when we had an excursion, we were left on our own to figure out what to do. If anything, they would have one thing planned for us to check out (like a church) but we had no guides and every single time we were just left to wander around. That had its pros and cons. I would have liked to have a guide at some places so that I could learn more about it, but at the same time I did enjoy that we weren't subjected to looking even more like tourists. I really enjoyed Paris, but again we were expected to figure out our own agenda and we were living so far outside of the city that it took 45 minutes to get anywhere significant. So, it was difficult planning things since we had to be back at our Residence at a certain time if we wanted to get dinner which was included in our payment.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

In my host city, I felt relatively safe. There was only one incident that really worried me when I was followed home by a young guy who kept asking me questions. He eventually went away, though without any trouble. Even so, I was nervous about it and the next day when my group was having a meeting about safety, I brought up what had happened. When I asked the professors what would be the best way to handle a situation like that becuase I felt I had been lucky since the guy went away, one of them responded by asking me what I did in that situation. I replied that all I had was a beach mat which I held like a bat and hoped for the best and the professor (an older male) replied, "Well, there you go! If you had had any trouble that sounds like it would have been a long fight, though. I don't think you can do too much damage with a beach mat!" And he laughed. I also know for a fact that many of the other girls in the program had concerns about safety and when they brought up these concerns in the meeting, each of the program's supervisors brushed them off and suggested that the answer to any safety question is to call someone with your cell phone. Even though a majority of us didn't have cell phones. Also, a girl on the trip confided in a few of us that she had had an unsafe experience at her host house involving her host dad, which was such an uncomfortable experience that it was necessary for her to change houses as quickly as possible. When we arrived in Paris, we were staying in a Hostel specially designed for International Students. The Hostel was on the 20th Arrondissement of Paris. This meant we were about 45 minutes away from the city by taking the metro. The first few hours of being in "Paris" we found blood on the streets right outside of where we were staying and there were many homeless people. There was only one night I was out past 11 by choice since I really wanted to see Paris at night and I felt incredibly unsafe. Furthermore, I felt the professors didn't care about making us feel safe. Especially since the program had placed us in such a dangerous and low-end part of the city.

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

Very few people spoke English in the town of Hyeres and so it was sometimes a challenge to communicate but that really helped my French in the end. Every morning we had French class for 4 hours and on the first day we had to take a quick exam to see what our level was so they could determine which class we each should be placed in. I felt comfortable in my class and English was never allowed since not everyone spoke it. That really advanced my French skills. Overall, I think my listening skills improved greatly and I now speak more fluently and have a better understanding on how to form sentences which was my weak point before.

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