Past Review
By Cassandra W (Government, The University of Texas at Austin) for
University of Texas - Austin: Beijing - Government Maymester
Although I was never interested in Chinese culture, and I always viewed their government and people as an entirety I could look down upon, I decided to travel to Beijing anyway. I have come back an entirely new person; I have a more positive outlook on other cultures and this program spiked a curiosity in Chinese history that would have otherwise been stagnant. So far, it has been the most worthwhile experience I have had while in college. It made me more culturally aware of others and one of our guest speakers has led me to explore a career path in political journalism. Traveling to China made me very aware of our political freedom as Americans, and that makes me eager to take advantage of all opportunities presented to me.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Tsinghua University |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was relatively light-we were only assigned two papers. However, all students put forth a lot of time and effort to make their essays exceptional. Personally, I was eager to put effort into my essays, simply to use it as an outlet to describe all the amazing experiences I had while traveling China. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
We did not have an on-site administrator per-say, but our program did entitle us to constant access of our three Teaching Assistants, who were all very knowledgable and consistently helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I was housed in Tsinghua Dorm Building #20. It was located in a very convenient part of campus; right near the soccer fields, basketball courts and nautatorium, and also near a main gate, a campus convenience store and many on-campus restaurants. The building was about ten stories, with a daily cleaning service and very nice housekeepers. <br /><br /> The dorms were not the greatest part of the trip, but they were similar to American dorms. Small, homey and a little bland. The tiny rooms were actually a little comforting. I was not in Beijing to work on my language skills, so the dorm was not important to me in that aspect. However, through interaction with the Chinese Tsinghua students, I did learn enough Chinese to help me get around the city. |
| * Food: |
The breakfast is exceptional and lunch is satisfactory; it reminded me of cafeteria food in America. The dinner at the restaurants was amazing though. If you eat in a group you are served "family style" round table with a lazy suzan full of food), like in most Chinese restaurants. The food tastes great and they have a wide variety of restaurants including American, Italian, Indian and traditional Chinese. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
There are too many experiences to list! The fact that you are in such a foriegn country really brings you close to the people in your program, which creates for the best memories. We toured the Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Shanghai World Expo, Xi'an-the "old capital" (on our long free weekend), the terracotta warriors and many other historical Chinese sites. Each one was different, interesting and very unique. |
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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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I think the program went perfectly and although it cost a lot of money, the value was very high and I would not have prefered to miss out on anything. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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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 do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Any student can find numerous benefits in a program this great! |
