Ecir

Living in ECIR the first year of my course in Ann Arbor was truly an awesome experience. Located close to the business school and all other convenient party locations, this fully furnished house residence complex was a great decision! Right from the application phase, Jessica and Ecir had been nothing but accommodating and understanding of my limitations as an international student. My moving in, even though after office hours, was smooth and led itself to no issues what so ever. My one year there included super tasty community meals (nomnomnom), celebrating festivals of all cultures and faiths, fun trips, meeting and making friends with people from diverse nationalities and most of all getting to know the amazing and dedicated people behind what makes ECIR truly a pleasure — Jessica, Bruce, Stoney and Christine!

ECIR is an absolutely FANTASTIC place to live in Ann Arbor! When I was accepted to U-​M, I began apartment hunting from California (which made it incredibly difficult to secure housing, since I was working from a distance). The staff at ECIR handled everything in an incredibly professional manner, and were so accommodating to many of my needs and issues as they arose. And this place has a fantastic sense of community living — there are communal meals cooked, excursions to locales around Ann Arbor AND other places in Michigan all throughout the year, really awesome events where residents share stories and perform cool things, and just a general feeling of safety and support from all of the people who live and work there. I couldn’t imagine a better place to live during my two years in Ann Arbor, and I’m extremely grateful that I got the room that I did!

I studied in the University of Michigan for a 4 months exchange in 2014. Staying in the ECIR is one the most amazing experience I had. I had made many good friends in the ECIR. We are are like one big family as there will be regular community meals where the residents will cook their native meals. Everyone is welcome to join in the community meals. The volunteers of ECIR will invite the residents to their houses for meals during festive holidays and they make us all feel at home even though we are aware from our own families.

I have stayed in several different properties in Ann Arbor and ECIR is definitely one of the best communities that I’ve ever lived. It made feel like home as opposed to any other places. People here are so friendly and genuine. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get involved in an international community. You practically are making friends from all over the world.

Coming to the States for the first time, choosing a friendly community with diverse set of folks and having a fully-​equipped home were on the top of my priority list. I learned about ECIR from a friend and I instantly fell in love with the place. It not only checked these parameters but was super convenient in terms of location (important criteria during brutal Michigan winters). It is walking distance from the business school, the school of education and the school of public policy. Further, it is barely couple of blocks away from the frat house, pubs/​bars and restaurants where most parties happen (yet not at all noisy!)
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment which is clean, spacious and well-​furnished with latest equipments in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room. Besides, there is always Stoney (the go to guy) to help you with anything you may need.
In terms of the community, ECIR is awesome! I have made some great life long friends (outside my business school) from around the world over numerous meals, activities and games like Mafia. People here are non fussy, down to earth and very friendly. Festivals such as Chinese New Year, Graduation Prom, International Fair and Diwali are celebrated here. Also, I love the community meals that happen every week where you get to taste amazing international cuisines made by fellow residents (Yes, free food!). Jessica & team do a wonderful job of taking care of not only your daily needs but also organizing various fun events. (We are all Jessie Lovers here!).
Finally, this year Munger was clearly the hype but I decided to not follow the blind trend as ECIR is way more than just a community living. It takes a lot for any large building to be anything like ECIR, given the kind of people it attracts, the cute little personal community it is and various diverse events and activities it hosts for its residents and international students while also being an awesome housing.
I love ECIR, it is indeed the best thing that happened to me after Ross here. I would highly recommend to people considering living around Tappan, State, Packard, Hill, Church, Brown or Main St.

I had a fantastic time living at ECIR for more than a year when I was in Ann Arbor during my second year of business school. The place is neat, clean, and very well maintained and is close by to all the restaurants and pubs in South Campus (especially helpful during the lovely Michigan winters). It is also close (walking distance) from business school, school of education, school of public policy, etc.
Best of all, ECIR matches you with the roommates and it turns out to be a fantastic lasting friendship with people from a diverse background and nationalities. Further, Jessica and other ECIR staff organize a host of activities every week for the entire ECIR community where people come in and share a good meal, stories, and even make sports teams.
Overall, I had a ball while living at ECIR and would highly recommend it to anyone coming to spend spend sometime in Ann Arbor. A BIG THANK YOU! to Bruce and Jessica for all the efforts that they make to ensure ECIR is the home away from home for everyone in the community.

I have been living in ECIR for two years during my study in U of M. It is a great place not only provides you with comfortable living environment, but real global cultural experiences and most importantly, friendship. I got to know people coming from five continents, and enlarged my social circle outside of the school/​professional field I studied. Moreover, ECIR organized tons of fun events that we can take leadership and/​or make impact to the society. For instance, community meals– residents will volunteer to cook their signature dishes and invite all residents, friends, and neighbors to come tasting. We also went to New Orleans this spring, taking part in the St. Bernard Project helping the city to rebuild houses destroyed by hurricane Katrina. My former flatmate in ECIR often comes back volunteering and enjoying all the fun events together. I personally feel so grateful to have ECIR on my back– they took care of me when i was doing the eye surgery and I know in the future, wherever I go, I may find my ECIR alums!

It was my best decision and luck to stay at ECIR. If you want to experience intercultural community and truly friendship environment, I would definitely recommend to stay in this place. You could enjoy outgoing activities with friends. Most importantly, I really enjoyed cooking «Thai Food» for people and other cultural foods at the community meal.

Amazing atmosphere of international students, lots of fun activities and community meals. Lived there for 2 years and I had a great time.

Whether it is fostering a friendly and inviting atmosphere for a diverse group of residents, encouraging volunteerism, opening an intercultural dialogue or just feeding people delicious meals via their community meal program ECIR is an asset to the community.