A New Experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

University of Haifa offers a good variety of courses to international students. The language courses offered are excellent and give a good foundation for learning Hebrew and Arabic if it is your first time learning these languages. In my time at Haifa I also took courses in Political Science which offered interesting perspectives on politics in Israel and the Middle East. Out of all the courses I took there was only one that I thought was not beneficial to my time there but that is not reflective of my overall experiences with the courses at Haifa.

On-site administration of your program

The international school is helpful to students. In my time there if I ever had a question they were able to help most of the time. They also send out weekly emails to inform students about what is happening on campus, and information that is important for the international students to know.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I would say the best part about the living arrangements is having Israeli roommates. I had good relationships with all of them which made the year fun. I lived in the Federman dorms which has three rooms (two students to a room), one bathroom, and one kitchen. So sometimes things got a little crowded and it was sometimes hard to maintain a clean environment. The Talia dorms are much nicer as you get a room and bathroom to yourself but it is also more expensive and you don't build as close of relationships with your roommates.

They have a cafeteria in the main building on campus and have smaller places to eat around campus. I usually went for Chinese food in the main cafeteria which gave you lots of food for 32 shekels. So it is nice to have these places on campus but it would have been nice if they had some sort of meal plan that is usually offered at universities in the US. If you get food a lot at the cafeteria it can start to add up and become expensive, so your best option is to get groceries and learn to become a better cook.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I had the benefit of being there for a year which helped me get to know the culture and people a lot more. It is nice to learn a language in the country it is spoken. Even though I was not fluent, it went a long way in building relationships when you try speak with them in their own language.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Luckily I did not have any injuries or illness in Israel so I don't know to much about the healthcare but my friends who did use it seemed to think it was okay, and the university gives you all the information you need to contact a doctor if you need them.

The entire university has a fence around it and they have security at almost every entrance point. I never felt unsafe while I was there.

Haifa is a very cultural city filled with people from all over the world. I though when I was Israel I would be learning solely about Israeli and Arabic culture when in fact I learned about many different cultures. Haifa provided a good place to do that and it overlooks the Mediterranean Sea which you can't really beat that.

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

It was a little tough at first just because I was in a new environment but if you can get into a routine then you should do fine.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Dorm

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

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• Americans
• International Students

• Meeting people from all over the world
• Being able to apply the language I was learning to everyday situations
• Experiencing new cultures

• Some sort of meal plan for students
• Less cats and no peacocks (those things are terrible)
• A little less crowding in the Federman dorms

The Academic or Linguist