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Dear Honors students,
I wanted to let you know about a great program for studying abroad
in an exciting, developing country: Indonesia. The program is run
by the United States - Indonesia Society (usindo.org), whose
mission is to expand understanding of Indonesia and to develop a
relationship between our two countries. The 2008 program begins in
early June and ends in mid-August.
You can find the specifics of the program here:
http://www.usindo.org/summerstudies/login.php (ignore the part
about having to be at least a college senior...)
I can tell you as an alumnus of the Summer Studies 2006 program
that I could not have had a better way to spend my summer. You can
apply as I did to obtain scholarships from USINDO and other
organizations to cover the $1500 program fee. The program is
actually worth about $6000, but is heavily subsidized by USINDO's
sponsors. The fee encompasses the roundtrip plane ticket (~$1600),
2.5 months of homestay with a Muslim or Christian family,
breakfast + dinner every day (my family gave me lunch too, but
meals are very cheap there), as well as a trip to Bali during my
year. Let me tell you: Bali was not bad. :)
You will pick up Bahasa Indonesia very quickly through 3 hours of
classes every day, followed by tutorial sessions with Indonesian
students who are also enrolled at your place of study, Universitas
Gadjah Mada. Personally, the program has been invaluable for me in
job opportunities in the region with law firms and NGOs, so I
highly recommend it. If you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact me at [log in to unmask] Professor Benjamin
Smith in our PoliSci dept has also worked with USINDO and its
summer program so he may have some perspective as well.
Sampai jumpa,
=/\=
--
Christian W. Waugh
"Risk... is our business!"
-Captain James T. Kirk
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