Nice: A Gateway to Europe Past Review
By Monique G (English Lit, SUNY - College at Oswego) for
SUNY Oswego: Nice - IPAG, École Supérieure de Commerce
Living in France and traveling throughout Europe will be an experience that I will never forget. Although there were some downsides to the program, the friends that I made and the experiences that I had were well worth it. Furthermore, Nice is the most beautiful place I have ever been, and for that I will always be thankful to have studied abroad there.
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. |
It's all very different than America. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I thought they would be much more helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
After I found my apartment, I was very satisfied. It was in the very center of the city, and it came fully furnished. |
| * Food: |
Bread, cheese, and wine are the staples of cheap eating in France, and luckily, they are heavenly. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I love to travel, so I seized the opportunity of three-day weekends and the ability to skip a few classes during the week to go to ten countries in five months. I loved every minute of exploring different countries. Hands down, the accessibility to the great cities of the world - Rome, London, and Paris - was the best part of studying abroad. I learned so much more from my side trips than I ever did in the IPAG classroom. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
As previously mentioned, the worst part of being in Nice was the unwanted attention that I received from men. Genuinely, I thought on several occasions that the possibility of being raped in Nice is a fifty fold higher than it is in America. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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 20 Euro on groceries, 10 Euro between restaurants and bars, and anywhere between 15-100 on traveling. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I did not experience any unanticipated expenses. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Intermediate One |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I practiced French the most in French class. Yes I did speak French everyday at grocers, restaurants, pleasantries with roommates etc. Most people did speak English, however. |
| 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?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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