Living in London: challenges and rewards in academics, and in big-city living Past Review

By Kane D (English, Grinnell College) for

Grinnell College: London - Grinnell in London

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I gained experience in things from traveling, cooking for myself, and cleaning a flat, to Renaissance art, history of London, and Irish Literature. I will be more prepared to live alone in a city now.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The workload was a lot less than it is at Grinnell in Iowa. This was appropriate, because living alone in another country was very hard in itself. I thought the teaching methods worked well, and field trips really enhanced the learning experience.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	More emotional support would have helped in this situation-in terms of living with people, and living independently. However, this may have just applied to me. Apart from that, everything ran quite smoothly, and was fun and enlightening.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	Good housing, right next to a park and a prominent tourist attraction. The walk to the teaching site was quite long, though, so that became a bit tedious.
* Food:	Shopped for and cooked our own food, which was a great experience.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	There was plenty of free time to plan our own trips. Personally, it would have been nice to have some help with planning these. However, overall, the travel was great.
* Safety:	I think we got plenty of safety advice - London especially can be a dangerous place, in terms of traffic and criminal activities. So, the preparation was beneficial.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes