Berlin Experience Past Review
By Matthew Kittredge (University of Hartford) - abroad from 08/14/2017 to 12/16/2017 with
CIEE: Berlin - Open Campus Program
Great courses, learned a lot of German, and did nice internship at a startup called Nok City. The internship was rather time intensive which affected travel plans, but was a great resume builder.
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Study trips and events often lacked organization. However, Berlin in particular is very easy to get around in, so It wasn't always a huge issue. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I stayed in the apartment option which for myself was in the Generator Hostel. Two people per room, shared bath and kitchen. Overall, much better accommodations than the dorms for the same price. Definitely try for these. Also Mitte is in my opinion a better district than Kreuzberg, but thats personal opinion. |
| * Food: |
You will find a lot less German food than you would expect and breakfast in Europe is nothing like the US. However, Berlin is a very international city, so there is a wide variety of food from all over the world. Plus you can't beat the cheap German beer! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
If you are looking for an authentic German experience, Berlin may not be the best place. It is an incredible city, but much more of a melting pot than some may know. This may be a good thing for others though, you can speak zero German and get along perfectly fine. Also, German university dorms are on the outskirts of the city. So you will have to try pretty hard to meet college aged Germans. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Never needed. |
| * Safety: |
Berlin can be dirty and sketchy like any city, but I don't think anyone in our program had an issue. We did have an incident in Hamburg where a girl got really drunk, wandered off alone, got lost, and was assaulted. Like any city (or anywhere really), going out with friends is always the best policy. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
An incredible experience overall, Berlin is an awesome city than is right in the center of Europe if you want to travel. I wish I had visited Southern Germany more but that was my mistake. My only real complain about Berlin is that by late October the weather is awful. Summer was great, but we had like two days of sun in November |
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) |
Its not Eastern Europe, but it is not terribly expensive either. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Maybe $50-$75 tops on necessary expenses |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Food in Germany is pretty cheap, a weeks groceries for me was usually 30-40 Euro cooking from scratch. Eating out can get expensive just like in the US, but it was pretty comparable. Make sure you have enough money to cover what your normal expenses would be in the US for four months. A lot of people were running low on money the last few months and weren't able to do a lot. Nothing ruins study abroad like running out of money due to poor planning. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Awesome but intense language program. 2.5 hours a day, Monday-Thursday sounds like a lot but there is only one other class per block. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Beginner II, but I hadn't used German in over 1.5 years |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | As stated before, almost no one in Berlin doesn't speak English, so it is very tempting to not try out your German for fear of embarrassment. In my experience, Germans are ecstatic if you even try, so just do your best and your learn a lot more than you think. I regret not speaking it more because spoken German is still by far weaker for me than reading or writing. |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | How much time the internship would end up requiring. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
