Exactly one year ago I was still living in Spain, to be specific a coast town called GandĆa, which is close to ValĆØncia. The reason I was living here was because I chose to study a semester abroad; something which more and more students choose to do nowadays. It is quite the experience; packing your bags for a few months, saying goodbye to your friends and family and all your familiar places, to go somewhere totally new. However, not as a tourist, but as a student. A resident. In this case I chose to exchange my 'home university' NHTV, University of Applied Sciences for the Universitat PolitĆØcnica de ValĆØncia, Campus de GandĆa.
Universitat PolitĆØcnica de ValĆØncia
![The University]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2ae41a_bf98eb4b646a447a9b758add1a963dc8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_110,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/2ae41a_bf98eb4b646a447a9b758add1a963dc8~mv2.jpg)
Of course, there are a lot of things that should be arranged before moving to a new country. For starters: a place to sleep. Fortunately, the apartment buildings in GandĆa were in abundance and not too expensive. So after a search through the internet I found an apartment building, across the long sandy beach of GandĆa and walking distance from the University. For me as a Dutch student, I also had to arrange my Erasmus scholarship and my study finances through the government. When this was all set, I was finally ready to begin my journey.
The view from the apartment building: Calle Atlantic, GandĆa
August 2015 I left my hometown Eindhoven to get in the plane heading for ValĆØncia airport. Only two hours later, but in a totally new place I began my adventure as an Erasmus-student. The reason that I already began in August was because I chose to do the language course for two weeks, before the 'real' lessons would start in September. I only had some basic knowledge of Spanish and so this few weeks were intense, (maybe that is why it is called 'intense language course') but very instructive.
After the intense language course was over, the 'real' lessons began. I chose the following courses: Ecotourism, Coastal Tourism Management, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, Intercultural Communication and Spanish B1 lessons. In the beginning I had to get used to the Spanish way of life, as in Spain the lessons were mostly in the evening (17.00-21.00) while in the Netherlands they are during the day. Of course, also the siesta is something you have to consider when living in Spain: everything closes between 14.00 and 17.00. Next to the time differences, there are of course also cultural differences between the Netherlands and Spain. I experienced a different mentality than I was used to in the Netherlands, as some would say the Spanish have a more 'tranquilo mentality'. In other words, time management isn't that important and something that can be done today, also can be done tomorrow. This was shown for example by the duration of more than one month to install Wi-Fi in my apartment. You might say the Spanish have an easier way of life in that way. However, also in Spain deadlines are known and of course I still had to hand in my assignments on time.
Months flew by, doing a lot of fun stuff like visiting Valencia and going on field trips to Benidorm and Alicante, and before I knew it it was already almost Christmas. Time to go home again and re-unite with my family and friends in the Netherlands.
I could say that I really learned a lot during my stay abroad. Not only the tourist-subjects but especially how it is to live in another country, that has another culture and speaks a different language. Also the Erasmus students in my class were all from different countries all over the world. This led to a multi-cultural experience where I, myself as a multi-cultural mishmash, learned a lot and had a great time doing so.
Currently, I am in a different multi-cultural setting, as now I am studying in my own country, but with other exchange students from all different countries. Once again, I am learning how to deal with cultural differences and experiencing different perspectives on things you would not either consider before getting to know these people from different cultures.
I am very curious about how this year will develop and I truly hope my classmates will have the same great experience that I had while being an exchange student!
Janine Liolios
