The Experiment in International Living Reviews

It was my first time leaving the United States this summer, and I can't express just how rewarding of an experience it was. I met incredible people and did incredible things in a different country, making connections with people from all over the U.S. and Argentina. One of my favorite moments was most definitely during the homestay: I had a 21-year-old host sister, Danna, who took me everywhere, (we became pretty darn close) she was super nice and wanted me to have the best time possible. One night we were out eating dinner with a bunch of her friends and one of her friends happened to be hosting someone from Germany at his house. So, try to imagine Danna, who speaks Spanish and a little English, the guy from Germany who speaks German, a little Spanish and little English, and me, who speaks English and a little Spanish, trying to have a conversation. It wasn't easy, but we managed to hold a decent conversation, mostly in English and me occasionally whipping out my phone to look up Spanish or English words in German on Google translate. At one point Danna asked him if he liked it there in Salta, and he just wasn't understanding the word "like"; he kept thinking she was asking how long he'd been there for. After about five minutes of Danna repeating her sentence slower and slower to him, and him answering it the same way, I decided to look up "to like" in German. I eagerly showed him my phone and he went, "Ahhhh, do I LIKE Salta!" and it was the most amazing feelings in the world when I finally got him to understand. I had a lot of moments like this, where the language barrier felt like it was keeping me from socializing and understanding other people, but this moment reminded me that the language barrier is also something you can bond over. I went into the program being extremely nervous about my Spanish but once I got there I realized how understanding people are, and you can almost always get your point across if you really try. That experience reminded me that a little trouble communicating is never a bad thing; but it does make for memorable moments! That dinner with my host sister and her friends was one of my favorite times in Argentina: everyone was so lively and loud, talking over each other and eating fried potatoes until late that night, I felt closer with everyone there even if I spoke one-worded Spanish sentences to them.

This summer I got to participate in a program to Argentina for one month. At first, I was very nervous about what lay ahead. The first couple days in Buenos Aires were a little awkward, but i also felt that the whole group was bonding, and I knew that I would be okay.
After the first two days in Buenos Aires, we moved on to Salta for our homestay. Arriving at the airport was scary, because as soon as we walked out to baggage claim I could see all of the families waiting for us. The first couple days of my homestay were an adjustment, but once I became accustomed to living in Argentina, and experiencing the daily life of an Argentine, I began to have fun. Each day brought something new to see and experience, and I loved it. About halfway through I felt very close with my homestay family, and I also felt like I had some really good friends in my group as well. Leaving Salta was very hard, but I plan to keep in touch with the friends I made there.
We moved on to Chicoana, and there we completed the majority of our community service. Out community service was at a local school, most of it involving painting. I found it very fun and rewarding to give back to the kids. After we finished the community service we went camping in the mountains. Not only was the camping fun, but the horseback riding up into the mountains was beautiful as well.
The last leg of our trip was a few days back in Buenos Aires, creating a full circle effect. Although our time there was brief, the whole group became even closer, and we all had a really hard time saying goodbye. This month was one of the best of my life, and it is an experience I will never forget.

This summer, I was able to explore the beautiful country of Argentina, with unfamiliar faces that quickly turned into family. The program revolved around the theme of community service and the great outdoors, so we did activities such as painting at a local church and elementary school, water rafting, horseback riding, and camping. From the day the group met at Miami International Airport, we were all challenged in some way, whether it was the language barrier we would soon run into, fitting in, or being away from home, however, the most challenging part had to be the home stay portion of the program. For myself, it took a couple of days to be able to embrace the opportunity of staying with a host family, but my host family and I both put in the effort needed to make the home stay portion a learning experience for the both of us. Looking back at my time in Argentina, I have noticed a great change in my abilities to open up and embrace the awkwardness and the unknown. I have grown so much as a team member and an individual, all thanks to the members of my group, my two group leaders, and The Experiment. This summer has been an amazing, life changing experience, I will never forget.

The nation is beautiful and it provides many great experiences. (Safari, abseiling and exploring Cape Town.) However, I was not in love with the program. I signed up thinking I would gain a lot of independence and my leaders were competent. Both were false. We were traveling with a family the whole time. Although they were nice, it made the trip seem pretty fake. It also made it harder to bond as a group with more people in the mix. We were only allowed to be in groups of three when exploring. This was beyond frustrating and made it harder to get immersed in the culture. Our instructors were very unreasonable with this rule. We couldn't even go across the block or walk to the ATM without being in groups of three. I understand that South Africa is not known for being safe and why they wouldn't want us walking around in Cape Town all alone but I thought they could have been much more reasonable with that rule. I felt very safe in South Africa and I am a white person. I was also disappointed with the food on this trip. Although I had a lot of great South African food (especially on the homestay), they could have taken us to more rustic places to eat instead of South African fast food restaurants. We also barely ever talked about the "big picture" for the trip. I wish we would have talked about Nelson Mandela, Multiculturalism and its effects on South Africa, Sustainability, etc. more but we only talked about it probably about 1-3 times. Everything else, the safari, homestay, Drakensberg, Grahamstown, etc. was awesome. Bottom line is: go to South Africa and do everything you can there but try going with another program if you can.

The Experiment in International Living did well planning this program, incorporating fun activities, and making sure participants were safe. Argentina is the most enjoyable place that I have visited in Latin America, and while I was on this trip I felt that I really experienced the culture of a variety of populations: the urban metropolis of Buenos Aires, the medium-sized city of Salta, the small town of Cafayate as well as other villages and farms.

I have participated on similar three- and four-week trips to Latin America in the past, and I believe that there are two things that set this program apart from the rest. First, this program is not meant for learning a lot of Spanish, so don’t choose it as a substitute for a Spanish class. The lessons that they have are helpful refreshers, but the focus of your time is cultural immersion. Second, the coordinators an excellent job with the homestay. This two-week experience with a family in Salta was undoubtedly the highlight of my trip. What makes this homestay different than others is the fact that each participant is matched with a different family and gets more time to spend with them than most programs schedule in. While being alone with a family is intimidating at first, it really enhances the connections that you make with your family and ensures that you practice your Spanish. From regular card games to extended family barbecues, my homestay made me feel that I was truly part of a family.

All in all, this was a worthwhile experience for me. I hope that you consider it and best of luck with your application!

(Also, apply for a scholarship if you feel that you need it—don’t let the cost intimidate you!)

My favorite memory of my China experience is when my group in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. We were playing a very intense game of Mafia that came to an abrupt end when we collectively decided to participate in one of the many bonfires that always took place during the night time. There was dancing, singing, and a lot of loud traditional Mongolian/Chinese music being played. I found the fact that there were no "real" bathrooms or showers but there was a top-notch stereo system with music that came from an exquisite Mac computer very interesting. We wanted to see if we could play some American music. Naturally because I was the only North American in that moment who was there and could somewhat speak Chinese, I was forced to communicate with the leaders of the activity. Thankfully, I stumbled upon a man who spoke enough of both English and Chinese to help me translate. It just so happened that their technology and a borrowed Beats headphones cord worked with another borrowed iPhone. So we were all really scared and nervous, being in such a different world, essentially asking to do something never done before, temporarily pausing a very long-standing tradition. As we were standing, all of a sudden we heard "YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!", and we sporadically yet simultaneously freaked out while also making our way to the bonfire. We surrounded the fire, which was located in the middle of all these strangers, and began dancing like we were getting a million bucks the next day. That, is a memory that will last my all of my days.

Overall Experience: Okay. I am half- Korean and expected to experience better food than in the States, learn some Korean, make some Korean friends, and really gain independence and explore South Korea. However, the food was okay (we went to the cheapest places for the budget - disappointing especially if you are paying the full price), we only had one Korean class that basically told us the translations of phrases rather than teaching us how to form and understand basic sentences and tenses, I made about two Korean friends and that was only because I met them by chance and outside of the program, and no one was allowed to walk a block alone despite how safe Korea is (being from NYC). When I was with my mom's family in Korea, the Korean group leader called me every hour because she didn't "find being with my blood-related family" safe enough without checking in. The plus of the program was that I experienced some new things (Buddhist temple, I can only think of about one) and made more friends (but they were all from the group). Do not go on this program if you want to be more independent and explore on your own, meet Korean people and truly experience the culture (not have a tourist experience), and learn the language; Instead, I would suggest doing a university program on the Korean language.
Academics: The Academics were boring and remedial. We had two full days in a classroom while in Seoul; something we could have done online before the program in order to avoid wasting such precious time. We learned about the definition of "peace" and "social justice" for an hour each day. Let this sink in-- a full hour for a simple definition we learn in elementary or middle school. Then the speakers were all one-sided; the program did not provide two perspectives (very anti-America). Furthermore, as previously mentioned, we did the Korean class for half an hour and only learned phrases to memorize. I had thought I would learn Korean from speaking with Koreans and taking actual lessons on grammar and structure and verbs, etc. but all I spoke was English and only know a few new words.
Living Situation: The living situations were not bad; the hostel was modern and clean. The Center for Reunification was nice (dorm-style) and the Buddhist temple as well. The stay in Gwanju was interesting (traditional house). However, the hostel only had 2 bathrooms for around 20 of us, the Center of Reunification was filled with bugs and we were not allowed outside after dark "because of wild animals" although in a lit, building-filled complex (I live in Westchester; we have coyotes here and we still go out after dark), the Buddhist temple monk controlled every aspect of our lives (we had no freedom), and the traditional house in Gwanju had all the girls in one room (about 17 of us) and only one bathroom for the twenty of us. I was sick during the latter half of the trip and couldn't sleep when the rest of the people came back from restaurant and turned the lights on, stepped on me (we were sleeping on mats on the floor), and talked very loudly.
Cultural Immersion: Very little cultural immersion. I guess my anyeong-haseyo skills have been refined and I now know mashi-seyo. However, I didn't learn really any of the language, the food was blah, and I interacted with very few Koreans besides the group leaders.
Health & Safety: Very safe if you want to be prevented from walking to the cafe next door or the laundromat down the street. However, I got food poisoning and suffered for the majority of the trip (not very safe as we should be eating at clean places not just the cheapest ones).
Program Administration: Ok. The American group leaders were very nice but one main Korean group leader was very controlling. She had everything planned out, we could make no choices (restaurants, going out), and had very little freedom (she barely let me visit my blood-related family).
Social Life: Only could go out some nights in groups of 3+ and had very early curfew. Didn't meet any Koreans, only fellow group members.

One moment during the trip, a random native resident respectfully approached me. He could tell that I wasn't from his country and began to ask questions about where I'm from and similar and different it is from South Africa. It was a new experience being face to face with someone from a different country while listening to his opinions of America and also being interested enough to listen to my personal compared to his.

Dear Readers,
E.I.L. is a wonderful organization that has afforded me wonderful opportunities from which I have extracted endless lessons and experiences. Going to China was a desire of mine, and this summer I was able to entertain that desire in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, The Great Wall of China-you name it. In addition to fantastic sights, I indulged in Chinese immersion through language, food, culture, and community. I will never take for granted the trip to Asia that has forever changed my life, and I hope many people in the future will be able to say that as well.

Yours Truly,
A Content Experimentor

I spent a whole 4 weeks in China during the summer of 2015. It is and will be the most memorable time of my life! I've never had so much fun or smiled so much. The trip taught me how to come out of my shell (I am usually really shy, but that changed after hanging out with so many nice, outgoing people), and to go with the flow. On the trip, the scenery was beautiful, the information we learned was very eye-opening and interesting, the food was really delicious, and the people who lived in China (as well as the other students on the trip with me) were so nice! In fact, my favorite memory of China was when one of my friends and I just started to play Chinese checkers in one of the stores. Instead of telling us to get out or buy something, the store owner showed us how to make better moves since she had been playing for such a long time. She was so happy to have made our day, that I felt extremely bad afterwards for not being able to buy something there (I had no money on me at the time). All in all, if you're looking for a mind-blowing experience, got to China!