Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? I enjoy having a kitchen to cook in and the responsibility of renting an apartment. I enjoyed having a housemate but I am also willing to live alone.

Personal comments:
I was lucky to have a great housemate and the apartment was just right for a year abroad. The location was not in the center of Heidelberg, but the commute was not difficult and the location lowered the price.

Describe host city: Student life dominates the city

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
The student cafes in Marstall were well-priced and allowed me to intereact with other university students as well as people from the community. Sonderbar and ReichsApfel on Unterstrasse and Karl on Lauerstrasse were always fun in the evenings. My favorite restaurant was a little Biergarten, Sudpfanne on Leyergasse in the Alt Stadt. Heidelberg Herbst and the Weihnachtsmarkt in December were wonderful events to take part in.

Course recommendations:
The German university system is very different from the US system, especially in the professor-student relationship, and the work load (it was much lighter during my year in Germany). Within the German as a Foreign Language Department there were few classes that were more appropriate for short-term students, whose German was not at the fluency level. Also there was only a small number of computers with internet access available to students who did not have internet in their apartments.

Personal comments:
Perhaps more intergration or at least interaction between foreign students and German students and a more focused program for short-time students (those students only there for a semester or a year).

Language of instruction: German

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
St. Mary's Scholarship

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
At home housing is on campus and many of the expenses (telephone, and food) are included in the general room and board payment, which overall was a bit less then paying separately for everything in Germany. With travel, I do not travel much during the semester, however while I was in Europe I wanted to take advantage of quicker travel (shorter distances and more developed public transportation systems) in order to see as much as I could. Finally, at home I pay with the Dollar, which was (and still is)doing a bit poorly compared to the Euro so my expenses were a bit higher due to that factor.

Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone: was more expensive than at home.

Housing: was the same price as at home.

Food: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
How quickly the time would pass.

In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.