Brussels: Enjoy Yourself Past Review
By Eric D (Business, Trinity University) for
Vesalius College: Brussels - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
This was the best summer of my life. I learned a lot about myself, about other people. Experienced several different cultures that I didn't think I would get to do at this point in my life.
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The length of classes were very different overseas. I had two 4 hour classes and a class on one day per week for 8 hours. It was difficult to adjust to sitting in the same room for an extended period of time, but we did get breaks throughout the period. In my 8 hour art history class, we had a morning lecture period and then went on "field trips" to different art museums so it was good to get out of the classroom. The workload was a little lighter than my home university, and the teaching methods were fairly similar-mostly lecture based power point presentations. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The ISA Belgium crew were absolutely fantastic. Sabine and Christophe made sure everyone felt welcome and involved at all times. They arranged several excursions for our group of about 26 students to get us to see different areas of Belgium and give us something to do when we were not in class. They are very approachable/knowledgeable and helpful in understanding cultural differences, recommending cool places to visit or good places to eat. Sabine and Christophe really made a huge difference in my study abroad expereince. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with a German woman who worked for the European Commission, in a nice/relaxed area of Brussels. The neighborhood was extremely safe, I walked everyday to class (about a 30 min walk). I was about 15 minutes away from the nearest metro station and that was about a 15 min metro ride to downtown Brussels. My host family experience was very pleasant. |
| * Food: |
For the most part she was a very good cook, I enjoyed trying new things, there are a lot of good places to eat in Brussels-many of the names are escaping me now, however. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
There were concert festivals in Brussels, like I previously mentioned excursions arranged by our program kept us busy, and many of the students in my program hung out at night and would go out to bars/clubs/casinos so there was always something to do. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I don't really remember any health concerns, but safety was always stressed. The most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings-a lot of the negative stuff you all get warned about before going to Europe (pick-pockets etc.) are rare occurrences, and if you just always know what is going on around you then you will most likely not run into any problems. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent a ton of money, mostly at bars-that can get very expensive-very fun but very expensive. I pretty much broke even at the casino, but I did spend quite a bit of money on food and bars and other expenses-probably over $1400 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Keep track of what you spend and adjust accordingly. If you wish to drink, you will probably start buying 3 euro bottles of wine instead of beer-that being said try as many of the beers as you can, nothing like them in the US. |
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 did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | You'll get out of it what you put into it |
