Galway, Ireland: Visit For the Great Craic Past Review
By becca m (english literature and art history, Western Washington University) for
USAC Ireland: Galway - Irish Literature, History, and Music
I fell in love with Ireland and I hope to go back as often as I can in the future!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Workload was a little heavy for how short the course was. Grading system was great, the professors were probably the best I've ever had. It was great to have the same professors teaching you and also doing all the extra stuff on the side along with you. We were all able to bond a lot and it was very helpful. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The host country program was fine, I can't think of any issues I had. I would say they exceeded any expectations that I had. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Food is expensive and I didn't find it that good unfortunately. It was hard to grocery shop because a lot of things at the store, I didn't know what they were or else I just didn't want to spend time in my apartment cooking when I could be out downtown having more fun eating out. So I ate out a lot and discovered several good restaurants, seafood places especially and all the food at the Saturday open air market was fantastic. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My favorite event from my study abroad was the day trip to the Aran Islands but really everything we did was so exciting and memorable I could list them all as my favorite! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
We had to be very careful about being anywhere alone at night, even on campus. Our apartments were right along a river and there were always strangers around so that was something we had to lookout for. A couple people had things stolen from them so I always kept a tight hold on my purse and belongings. One thing I really disliked was that my apartment was on the ground floor and my windows were single paned with no screen. I couldn't ever leave my window open which sucked. It seemed like everyone got sick at least once during the trip and even though I tried my hardest not too, I did get the flu for about 3 days and I couldn't find any medicine that would bring down my fever so I would suggest packing that with you ahead of time. |
| 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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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? | The type of person that should do this program is someone who loves to go out to pubs,do outdoor activities in the wind & rain, be able to read a lot and write essays,and take advantage of learning as much history about Ireland as possible! |
