Alnwick Fall program was an Eye Opener Past Review
By Alexandra R (Public Relations, St. Cloud State University) for
St. Cloud State University: Alnwick - St. Cloud in England
I learned a completely different culture. They taught me so much its going to be heard to name them all. But i do plan on going back
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. |
Pretty easy workload, there was just never enough to time get it all done. The days seemed shorter. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Everything was pretty much the same as over here. Some things were not as accessible there as they would be over here. Regarding the castle itself, I would recommend having internet use for MAC computers. There were not enough computers in the castle for people to use and one actually doesn't work. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
While not in the castle, we would usually stay in hostels or hotels. It was pretty easy to find somewhere to stay if we left the town we were staying in. Although I didn't stay with my host family, they were very welcoming to us and they were wonderful people to get to know. |
| * Food: |
Alnwick provides a lot of different restaurants, I didn't get to eat at all of them but I assume that they are all good. One thing I would recommend is if you don't feel like spending a lot of money I wouldn't go out to eat. Very expensive to eat there. Otherwise the food in the castle was pretty good, never really had a problem unless you consider not being served enough food a problem. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We went on plenty of different field trips that should me so many different parts of the country. One of my favorite things we did there was also getting to know the locals. They were so kind and I we all got really close to them. Besides that, we were offered to different breaks and we traveled on both of them. Getting around isn't bad at all. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Never really heard of any problems unless it involved something outside of Alnwick. If there was something wrong we would go to the clinic which was right down the road. I never went there but I heard that it was really speedy and that they didn't really tell you anything. |
| 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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Language
| 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?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Get to know the locals, be prepared to bring lots of money, be aware of time management, and take in every single breath. Time goes by so fast. |
