Difficult Transition/Homesickness+Encyclopedia of memories=Do it again! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I thought the level of instruction was pretty good. The instructor had for second-level French us do a few 1-page writings about our own personal life which helped my writing skills. Many small group interactions were planned for us to practice our speaking and listening skills. Audio devices were used to supplement the listening exercises. I remember that these were to help us in correctly identifying the correct meaning of what was said (ie tu te brosse vs. t t'est brosse). The homework load was pretty small. The course lasted from 9am-12pm M-F so you really had all day to do that assignment. I also took a survey of art class that was really more aimed for 3rd level students but I could understand it just the same as they did. The guy was pretty laid back and spoke really quick; he took us to a few places to help us discover the art of buildings and things so it was pretty cool. The school itself (like the building) actually seemed quite dilapidated. Everything was like really old and it had a musty smell to it. Some of the adjacent buildings (science building you wont go in), it looked like something out of Detroit. It just looks like there is no funding for the university.

On-site administration of your program

I thought the organization of the program was handled very well. The excursion field trips were also dealt with very well. I thought that they (Robin and Robina) did an excellent job. PS Robin gave me his ticket to board the train heading out to the airport so that saved me a great deal of time and $15 :D....if he's reading this, THANK YOU!! I still highly appreciate the move.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I have some good fond memories of being with the family and learning a few new words. I didn't really get to hang out with anyone because the two sons were only there from noon until about 1-2pm ish and the mother worked until 8pm each day at her business below the apartment (cool, huh!). The bed service was excellent as they had a maid that cleaned everything and so everything remained in very nice condition. The appliances were also of high quality. I wasn't completely prepared for the dining and daily routine regimen though as below mentioned.....

I didn't get to enjoy the pleasantry value of having my daily food diet. I found it difficult preparing my cereal for each day and in obtaining a PB sandwich (thats primarily what I ate). I did get to eat with the family for a better meal with.... wait, lol only the french term is sticking...haricots verts....petit pois....okay green beans and peas...and i had some of the famous pyranees cheese which was really good. I was also satisfied with the meat selection (chicken if i recall correctly). I couldn't feel obligated to pursue putting out additional expense in money and time to prepare a good meal (meat and veggies).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I often went to the local mall (leclairs?) and some of the other places. When I was feeling up for it, I enjoyed my time heading downtown for some REAL excitement walking around the shops and all. The bad part was that everything was closed at like 6pm (8pm mall) so I didn't have an opportune chance to really take everything in as I wanted. The variety of places to be was quite limited as it was pretty narrow between the close mall and the far away (the whole city) shopping area. Additionally, I felt like I got left out in being a part of the city life as I suspected many of the other students partied and dug themselves a little more deeper into the roots of the nightlife. One thing that bummed me out was that I never got to interact and hang out with some of the local people. When I did go to the bar for a soccer game (some of the American kids were there), I diverged from them for a better seating view of the game upstairs. I wanted to talk with some of the natives but they just weren't so amiable to strike up a conversation.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I thought the city was pretty safe, especially during the day. I will say that I tried to go out for an excursion later at night to find some new places (because I new the mall and downtown shopping areas were closed), and that got pretty scary because I was feeling like I could've easily gotten lost and the place felt a little too foreign and dark to be there alone. So don't go out searching at night unless you find it by day and know your way around by then.

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

I know that my french skills got better after taking the classes and I still remember some of the neat vocabulary from my main french class and definitely a lot from the survey of art class.

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