Prague Rocks! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The European workload is different. The day to day workload varies by class, but for the most part, the semester relies upon midterms and finals. I also had only 3 days of class (Mon-Wed) but took 5 3-hr per week classes which is more classroom time than Midd. However, while this does not seem difficult, I can safely say that midterm week (more like 2 weeks) and finals week were very stressful and I spent as much if not probably more time studying than at Middlebury. While these were stressful times, I put in quality work and was rewarded with good grades, which I thought was fair.

On-site administration of your program

All administrative staff were very helpful. Whether there were problems with the apartment, ex. broken appliances and a horrible landlord, conflicts arising with scheduling, or general questions about life in Prague, the staff was very quick to jump on it and help out. They also did a great job of organizing CERGE activities and trips, which i felt were worthwhile.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The apartment itself was pretty bare-bones. Definitely on the lower end of other students' apartments we saw. However, it was perfect for 5 guys living abroad, who didn't spend much time in the apartment. The landlord was virtually inaccessible, and the building itself, while extremely centrally located, was a bit sketchy, as the entrance to the physical apartment section was off of an underground public cut-through through the city block. This is not a very general representation of most kids' apartments, which were nice and safe.

Czech food itself is good, although very heavy and tough to eat on a regular basis. Prague as a city has really great food. There are plenty of little Italian restaurants, American hang outs such as one of our favorite spots "Jama," and other little cafes that are not to miss. Everything from sushi restaurants to coffee shops are easy to find on websites like TripAdvisor.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Overall great time. The CERGE program organizes a few day trips, like to the Christmas markets in Dresden Germany or to a wine tasting in Czech farmland. Also, not to be missed is the Prague nightlife scene. While it is more than just this, the going-out culture in Prague is very fun and definitely a highlight.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Prague is a really safe city. Although it has all the regular dangers of a big European city, I generally felt safe and luckily health problems were not much of an issue for us.

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

Czech was an interesting language to take. While it is not very relevant after Prague, I thoroughly enjoyed the class. Making the effort to speak Czech was not only fun, it was well-respected by locals. I think that having a prior background in a foreign language (I have taken Spanish for the last 10 years) helps a lot in terms of understanding how to construct a foreign language. While Czechs loved the fact that we tried to speak Czech with them, most people in downtown Prague had a relatively solid grasp on English.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

• Classes were interesting, Challenging but not too demanding.
• Program very involved/eager to help out.
• Fun out of school activities. Also centrally located throughout Europe.

• Bit more background on housing (although we booked ahead of time).