Valdivia, Chile - The Best Semester of my Life Past Review
By Anne F (Spanish, Cultural Anthropology, Western Washington University) for
Universidad Austral: Valdivia - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
My Spanish improved so much. I learned a lot about myself, Chilean culture, and how the United States has influenced the rest of the world and how the rest of the world views the United States. I can't wait to return to Chile and South America.
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. |
Academically, this was a very relaxed semester in comparison to my home university. Our work was graded very kindly with the most emphasis on the accuracy of our Spanish. Professors were very in touch with our program and would not assign us homework on weekends when we had an excursion. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
There is a great support system in Valdivia for this program. Everyone is very intelligent and knowledgeable, and my expectations were exceeded. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I filled out an extensive questionnaire and was assigned an absolutely wonderful host family, based on my preferences. Their house was in a very safe neighborhood, a 15 minute walk from downtown Valdivia and a 20 minute walk from the university. |
| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian in the United States, but I decided not to be a vegetarian in Chile in order to fully experience the culture and not have to deal with being a vegetarian in a country where hardly anyone is a vegetarian. I'm happy I made that decision because meat in Chile is absolutely delicious and very prevalent, but other people in my program were able to eat vegetarian without too many problems. Overall, lunch is the huge meal of the day and Chileans eat a lot of bread, meat and seafood. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Our program organized 3 great excursions. On one excursion we visited a Mapuche (indigenous) community. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Valdivia is very safe, but like all cities it's best to be in a group at night instead of alone. I never had health problems, but we had access to our university's health center. I didn't get any vaccinations beforehand because I was up to date on my vaccinations and there are no prevalent health issues in Chile. |
| 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
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
You can't function in this program unless you're an intermediate Spanish speaker. All the classes are in Spanish and I spoke only Spanish with my Chilean host family, in class, and downtown. |
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? | This program is great! You live with a family so you're really integrated into the culture. You will speak Spanish all the time and all classes are in Spanish, so you'll improve a lot. The program itself is a little cheaper than many, which was great because you can use the money saved to do a lot of your own traveling. Classes are Monday-Thursday, so you always have long weekends, and there are lots of days off and a week off throughout the weekend! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
History of Chile |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Ricardo Molina |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Great professor who teaches in an interactive and interesting way. We went on a field trip to the remains of a castle which was really cool. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No, I was in contact with my adviser at my home university and we figured out the equivalents so that I would know which classes to register upon my return. |
