Bread, microbuses, spanish and chilenismos Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The classes were not difficult in almost any aspect, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because I wanted to travel and see the country. The professors and staff were very kind and helpful, but after a while I was not very engaged in the classwork.

On-site administration of your program

All of the staff and professors that I worked with were very kind and knowledgeable and helpful. I couldn't have asked for better help.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I had a very good time getting to know my host family but we didn't do a whole lot of things together outside of the house. Also, I was out of the house often with friends so we didn't interact a whole lot most of the time, but they were very kind to me and always helped me if I needed it.

I love empanadas now, but overall I can't say that the Chilean food was the best part of my experience there. There was a lot of bread with every meal which I wasn't my favorite but the meals that my host family prepared were usually very good.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I feel like a got a pretty good idea of what it was like to be chilean and for the most part I could navigate around the cities relatively incognito and confidently so I felt pretty good about my integration into the culture.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

At the beginning of the semester I had a problem with a little bit of tonsillitis but as soon as I voiced my concern I was able to get an appointment with a health professional to get it checked out. Soon after I received the proper medication and didn't have any other problems.

I never personally had any problems with safety. All of the stories I heard about unsafe situations happened to people I knew or other students I had heard about. Really its the same advice as anywhere though. Just make sure you're with friends if its at night in the city. That about covers safety.

I loved the experience i had but if i could do it again i would like to experience a difference latin american culture.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Living with a host family I could certainly have a majority of meals at home at no extra cost, but going out to the city at night did start to get more expensive over time. The real cost came around any time I went on a trip. It was almost more difficult while traveling.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

During my classes at the university the encouragement was good, but I was annoyed that the university kept all of the foreign exchange student classes completely isolated from the regular students and the other classes in the university. Also, the university accepted mostly american students from what i could tell so that after class was over almost everybody spoke english anyway.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students

• Being able to practice my Spanish so much
• The friends I made
• The beautiful natural landscapes of Chile

• The integration of foreign and local spanish classes
• I had hoped that there would be fewer americans in the program, but at this university it was the majority
• Just have a better idea of what the classes would be before i chose them. I went in kind of blind and ended up taking two classes that weren't particularly interesting or useful to me.