Ireland: A Place Full of Adventure and Surprises Past Review
By Heather N (Business Administration, Wartburg College) for
AIFS: Limerick - University of Limerick
I have expanded my horizons. I try and stay in touch with what's going on around the world rather than just the U.S.
Personal Information
| 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. |
Grades rely soley on midterm and final tests. Very stressful when it came time to these two tests which would determine my grade. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
AIFS was an excellent program. I'm very lucky to have chosen it. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my home, loved most of my housemates (exception to the crazy housemate who almost burned down our house cooking our food and punched a who through the glass wall), loved the location compared to the other villages on campus. |
| * Food: |
wish they had more fat free foods and wish the vegetables and fruits were cheaper but understandable with the way the economy is. Future students will come to realize that SuperMac's is a good fast food place and Spar sandwiches are very popular! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Traveled to London for the weekend, took a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Stone, stipend to stay in Dublin for 2 nights, went to the greyhound races. All this was provided by the AIFS program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Many people may have heard that Limerick is known as 'Stab City' but don't freak out. I never had any problems. You just need to be smart and travel with a group of friends at night. The city was dubbed that nickname years ago when two families had it out for each other. I'm not saying that you shouldn't lay down your guard though. It's just like any other city in America. |
| 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? | About 25euros average. Aldi's is fairly cheap for food and you just need to keep in mind the exchange rate when you shop and dine. I always had an idea of how many DOLLARS I was spending. That helped me stay on my budget. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | it costs 150euros to pay the immigration department and if you decide to take the bus into the city centre,rather than walk it adds up pretty quickly. The buses stop running to and from the city centre by 11:30 so after that you will need to grab a taxi. To reduce the price of this, go with a group of friends to share the cost. We filled up the taxi so we only had to pay 2.50euros tops. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
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? | Do it! You will not be disappointed. Those who aren't afraid to get wet |
