Week 5 (actually week 10)

Week 5...or 10

It's been a while since I wrote my last blog! 5 weeks to be precise. I've been very busy with my Spanish course for the last three weeks, so I did not really have a lot of time to write my blog or do any other activities.

The Spanish class included pretty much all the Spanish grammar and some vocabulary that is useful in every-day situations. It was a small group of about 16 students and it gave me the feeling of being in an IBMS classroom because there were about 10 nationalities (if not more) in one class! The classes were held in a Fire Fighter museum, located next to the new fire brigade building.

After the three weeks of intensive Spanish class I am both happy and sad that I do no longer have class. There were a lot of kind people in the class.

(We were required to wave during the picture, sorry for that)

It took me almost 2 months before I had my first 'tapas' experience! Francesca (second from the left), an American girl that was also in the Spanish course) knew a tapas bar in the city where they have 1€ tapas on certain days of the week. For those that are not familiar with tapas; they are (usually) small snacks on a piece of bread. They can contain potato, fish, any kind of meat or vegetables.

The tapas are all presented behind little, glass doors. The customers can take a plate and pick their own tapas. All the tapas contain a little, wooden stick which you put on the side of your plate. At the end of the evening you take all the sticks and your drinks and pay for them at the bar.

I will try to update my blog more regularly! There will be a tour through my university, through the city, and other interesting stories.

Interesting fact #whatever: In Spain, it is common to wear a plastic glove when picking vegetables in the supermarkets. Pollution on one hand, but on the other hand a smart method to lower the chances of getting the flu or someone's booger on your banana.

Week 4

Week 4

This past week was all about Pilar (and a little bit about our new gym)

Pilar is a festival in the Aragon region (in which Zaragoza is located) that is celebrated in honor of the patron saint of Zaragoza. It includes a lot of concerts, street performances, traditional activities and other fun things. For the students, this basically means that we do not have any university obligations and therefore are able to honor this saint guy by going out four days in a row.

And that’s what we did. We went to two concerts of typical Spanish bands. At both venues, there were also other tents with DJs playing different styles of music. I have to admit that I am not very fond of the Spanish music.

On Friday evening, we noticed a message in the Zaragoza Erasmus Facebook group of some Italian students from Lleida (between Zaragoza and Barcelona) asking for a place to stay. We sent them a message telling them they were welcome to stay at our place! That evening we went out till 06:00 (which was, in hindsight, not a smart thing to do) and the next day we went to the city to meet up with the Italians. Alice, Laura, Sara and Francesco joined us during a Zaragoza city tour organized by Erasmus for students from Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and other cities in Spain. That evening the Italians cooked pasta for us and we played some traditional board drinking games. A few hours later, we went to the city to go out at a small club and the pub street. I had döner kebab, which was nice.

The next day, the Italians left early because they had to take the bus back to Lleida. 

It was a great experience and I was surprised by the fact that we were the only ones that had sent them a message. I encourage other students to open your house to people from other countries/cities, because it was a great experience! Also, we will be visiting them in Lleida very soon!

Pasta, Italian pasta (does Italian thing with hand)

What follows are some pictures from our lovely gym. It's not perfect, but it's something! We have to be a bit creative with our exercises, but it feels good to be working out after some time off.

Tandem area - For real, the cross-trainers are so close to each other that you can hold hands

This area is actually just for illustration purposes. We don't do cross-fit, and neither should you. (if you ain't a girl)

Week 3

Week 3

We had three awesome days in Valencia. After a 4 hour bus trip (during which the bus driver was lost for a few minutes) we finally arrived at the bus station in Valencia where a friend of Rigbert (Carlo) welcomed us. Maria and Clara (Spanish students that visited us in The Netherlands for an exchange semester) welcomed us in the house of Maria’s aunt. Rigbert went to Carlo’s house and I had dinner with Maria, Clara and their friends. I experienced the nightlife in Valencia and the next day we had lunch together. Unfortunately, we already had to say goodbye after lunch, because Rigbert, Carlo and I went to see the football game between Valencia and Atlético Madrid; which was spectacularly won by 3-1 in favour of Valencia.

Valencia is a great city and unfortunately we only had one weekend to visit it. I will definitely visit it again!

Also, we have finally found a gym that ‘accepts’ me. All the other gyms in Zaragoza require a passport number, and I only have an ID card. The only downside of this ‘acceptance’ is that the gym is similar to a ghetto, compared to all the other gyms we have visited. (pictures will follow once I feel confident enough to bring my phone  with me to the gym)

Week 2

Week 2

FINALLY! We have moved into our apartment (pictures below). It took the owner some time to fix everything, and there are still some things that need our attention. However, it feels good to finally have a place to call (temporary) home.

Apart from the new apartment, we did not really experience any interesting things this week. The temperatures dropped 10 degrees over the weekend and are now more comfortable.

During the past week, I have selected the 'definitive' subjects that I will follow during my exchange semester:

Dirección Financiera
Mercado Financiero
Macro Economics 1
Organization & Internal Management
Financial Accounting

The first two subjects are completely taught in Spanish and the other three in English. Naturally, the first two are pretty difficult to follow for a Spanish amateur like me, but it really improves my Spanish.

Living room - the couch has been moved towards the wall and the table towards the window to make place for an extra 'couch' that happens to look exactly like a 1 person bed

Hallway 

Bedroom 1 - Rigbert will stay here for the first half-semester. After that, we will (probably) switch rooms because this one has a desk.

Bedroom 2 - I will stay here. The bed on the right has been moved to the living room.

Bathroom - Toiletpaper for the next 5 years, a 'shower' without a curtain and an ass cleaning device

Kitchen - The kitchen, including a bike that we can use (if we carry it 4 floors down) and a guy from the Dutch Antilles that fixes stuff.

Awkward fact: Some of the local hombres (all of them, actually) wear extremely short pants.

Schedule for next week:
- Find a gym where I don't need to enroll with a passport
- Trip to Valencia (probably)
- Fun stuff

Week 1

Week 1

The first week of my Erasmus semester was filled with activities. Due to the fact that there is so much to talk about and it is currently 33°C, I will only give a brief summary.

We stayed at the hostel for about 4 nights, after which we moved in with our Erasmus buddy. Rigbert and I take turns in sleeping on the floor or the couch, as there are only 2 rooms in this apartment. We have visited a lot of flats and rooms in the past 2 weeks, but unfortunately most of them turned out to be either too far from the campus, or had another negative aspect. Luckily, the apartment next to that of our buddy is empty and available for us to rent! (to be continued)

The university is very big and has several faculties in Zaragoza. Our study (Economics) is situated in ‘Gran Via’, which is very close to the city centre. The building is that of a typical university and it takes some time before you get used to the facilities. Everything is a bit out-dated, but still very functional! We have chosen five subjects (5 x 6 = 30 European Credits) that are taught in Spanish and English. Each class takes 2 hours, and we usually only have 2 classes per day which, with some creative scheduling, gives us the opportunity to do a lot of sightseeing.  

Zaragoza is a beautiful city, located central between Bilbao, Barcelona, and Madrid. Unlike those other cities, Zaragoza is less commercially oriented and therefore the perfect place to learn Spanish and experience the real Spanish culture.

Fun fact: Pictures in Spain for official documents are photo-shopped. I received my pictures with a tan and clearer eyes!

Basilica del Pilar - Huge church with a very nice in/outside. It is definitely worth the time to walk around/through it 

Hostel - This was our room at the hostel. Not very luxurious, but for €17,50 a night (pp) it was perfect!

Kebab in Zaragoza is very tasty. If you sit down in the 'restaurant' you get a glass with icecubes with your meal

Frozen Yoghurt - Need I say more?

American Style diner with Rock&Roll music and a very nice interior.

Arrival

Arrival

After a 2 hour flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona, we (Rigbert, my co-student) have finally arrived in Spain! A wall of hot air kicks us in the face as soon as we walk out of the airport. Lucky for me, Rigbert was born in the Dutch Antilles and therefore speaks Spanish. Our first stop is Barcelona Sants, a train station that functions as a hub to other, larger train stations. From Sants, we board the train in the direction of Zaragoza. We deliberately did not go for the ICE (faster & more comfortable) because this is a very expensive method of traveling. After 5 hours of agony without any water or food, we finally arrived in Zaragoza, where we were laughed at by my buddy (Myriam). We were immediately known as ‘those two Dutch guys that sat in a train for 5 hours’. Little do they know that we saw a lot of interesting things! We traveled south alongside the Mediterranean sea for about 2 hours and after that we went west from village to village.

After collecting a personal travel card (for the tram), we went straight to the hostel that day. Once we tossed our bags in the room, the Burger King was the only sound option for dinner. 

Introduction

Introduction

Hello there! My name is Jos Zoet and I study IBMS (International Business and Management Studies) at Stenden University. My initial plan for the required semester abroad was an internship at a challenging company; unfortunately this was not possible. My second choice was an exchange semester in Spain as I wanted to improve my Spanish language skills. After a meeting with the internationalization department at Stenden University, I was advised to go to Zaragoza (Spain).

I’m writing this blog to inform others about my experience (and whether I’m still alive) and as a way to reflect on my exchange semester. I encourage all students to take the leap and go for a semester abroad, as it allows you to meet a lot of new, interesting people!