Past Review
By Mary Catherine L (Communication and Media Studies., University of Arkansas - Fayetteville) for
USAC Spain: San Sebastián - Spanish Language, Basque, Psychology, and European Studies
I was excited to expand my world by experiencing ways to connect what I’ve learned thus far in the classroom with what I will learn in a different part of the world. There were some challenges and barriers to overcome but I learned that you have to face them with eagerness so that I could discover new ways to communicate. I am certain this was a valuable component in my journey towards a well-rounded education as well as preparation for life beyond graduation.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2010 |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The course was very intensive and challenging, the students were able to get out of the experience as much as they wanted to try. I was lucky because I had a wonderful teacher who really spoke to me and was very relaxed and understanding. I know that there was one other teacher that my friends had that was more stricked and maybe not as engaging. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were always available and reliable. When it came to the living situations, they were close with the landlords and had good communication, but not able to really change anything. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with two other American girls in an apartment in a nice location. Some of my friends had much nicer apartments, and I wondered how they made the decision to put people in certain places because most of the apartments seemed like the rent was more or less the same. <br /><br /> I was not very satisfied with the landlord. He was a nice old man, but he didn't speak a lick of english which made it somewhat difficult to communicate at first. He was ALWAYS ringing our doorbell and snooping around which I was not happy with. When I chose to live in an apartment, the price on the USAC website stated a flat number and had no mention of utilities. Our utility bill was ridiculous and I ended up having to pay WAY much more for rent than I had anticipated. At the end of the semester the landlord said that our carpet was dirty and had some stains on it (I would consider this normal wear and tear from living there for 5 months) and he told us that he was going to take money from our deposit if we didn't take it to a carpet cleaner. The cost of cleaning the carpet was 120 euros which I had to split two ways with one of my roomates because our other roomate had already moved out by this time. On top of that, there was another large utility fee that was taken from our 318 euro deposit on the day we moved out. |
| * Food: |
I enjoyed being able to make my own food and spend my money the way I wanted to. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
There are certain bars that are for erasmus kids that the Americans just totally tood over. I hated going to the bars where all the Americans were, but that was where all the drink specials usually were. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
Everyone had a cold towards the beginning of the semester. I guess it just went around to all the students because everybody had a nasy cough for a while. I always felt safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
Finances
|
* 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) |
|
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I'm really frugal with my money so I tried to spend 10 - 15 euros for cooking at home. In addition to that, I usually bought beer at the grocery store and tried to avoid paying so much for drinks at the bars. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Make sure to factor in how much you are paying for your rent. I had to go to the ATM each week to take out over 300 euros, and the ATM fee plus the exchange rate really added up. I would recommend opening a local bank account and putting all your money in that right when you get here. |
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? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Having not had much spanish before I began the program, there was a lot of information to retain since the class covered so much. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | You will definitely get out of it whatever you want to put into it. If you put yourself out there and open up your mind, you will learn not only about a different culture and way of life, but you will also learn many things about yourself. I have found that there are always many aspects in our lives that we can constantly be developing and it is important to see the endless possibilities. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Track I |
| Course Department: | Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III |
| Instructor: | Paco |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Very fast paced and intensive. We learned almost every verb tense in the language in one full semester which at times was somewhat overwhelming. Paco was one of the best teachers I have had because of his ability to connect with the students and understand what each individual needed to work on. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No, I was contacted immediately after the course had ended that my transcript had been received by the Study Abroad office at the University of Arkansas. |
