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!