My third week in Spain

¡Hola a todos!

This time I will share with you my experiences of my third week in Spain, the moment that my classes started.

This third week was so nice, I thought it could only get worse afterwards, but by now I know that this is just how my weeks look like here on exchange! Let’s give you a chronological description, while leaving the study-related things for the next paragraph. During the weekend I enjoyed some drinks on a terrace together with two other girls on Plaza Mayor. It was very nice, the parasols even sprayed a little water, which was really refreshing. Afterwards, we visited Mercado San Miguel. On Saturday night we went to the cinema. The movie was awful, but we had great fun! On Sunday we visited El Rastro, one of the biggest markets of Spain. I bought a nice poster there, to decorate my room with. When I was almost back home, I came across something really fun! I just had to cross the Gran Vía, but….that was not possible! The last stage of the Vuelta a España was there! I am a real fan of sports, so this was a nice surprise for me. As you can understand, I had a good afternoon ;) From Monday till Friday I had to follow some lectures of course, but besides that I also went to the gym a few times, I ate delicious yoghurt ice creams with my flatmates, I met three new flatmates, I ate tapas, I went to an Erasmus party, etc. 

VIII

Hej Everyone!

I thought I would describe a day in my life here in Stockholm. This way it will be clearer what a day of an exchange student looks like. I´ve picked a random date before I knew what that day was going to bring, so it might be not the most interesting story to be told. However, it will be an honest way of showing the exchange life.

Well, on the 13^th of October I got up around 09:00 to get ready to work on an assignment at the university. The courses usually are in the afternoon or at least at 13:00, so getting up really early is not necessary. I met my international marketing group at the university to work on the group assignment, where we have to do a cultural analysis on Hong Kong in this case. We discussed the main points and divided the work. After this we went to have a quick lunch at one of the many cafeterias at the campus, around 11:30. Since there are some Swedes in my group, it is fun to actually hang out with the real inhabitants here. They tend to know which places to go a little better than us exchange students!

Pictures speak more than a 1000 words!

Ãs Promised! No words just pictures, of the life of travel, birthdays, rugby and partying!

Toronto: SCHULICH & Travel & Sports & Multiculti

Hey future exchangers,

My original plan was to blog 4 times a month... The fact that this is only the 2nd time that i write a blog signals that time is a very scarce resource here. It's hard to manage a life of a schulich school of business student, travelling exchange student, and sporter. ;-D though.. Its LOTS OF FUN and i really enjoy life here. I would like to inform you shortly about how life is here by pointing out the main things i think would be valuable for you.

Start of Fall Semester

Dear blog-readers,

The Fall Semester started in Seattle: the lectures started, the beautiful UW campus is crowded because of all the students and it is real Seattle-weather: sun, rain and wind at the same time! 

Vamos a la Playa ohohohoho

Madrid, what a city! It really starts to feel like home. Every time the university is finished it really feels like going home; something I did not expect in the beginning. It is how it is supposed to be.

Like every week there are some classes to attend. Sounds kinda boring, but they are actually getting better and better. Making homework is not always something I am looking forward to, but with this method totally different from the one at Tilburg University, you do understand the subject matter more quickly. I can so far only conclude that this only means that I have a real Christmas holiday. The first 3 days of the week went by very quickly.

On Icelandic Politics

Dear readers,

Today I would like to share something on Icelandic politics.

Now I can be either very short or very extensive on this;

In short; it's ridiculous.

[Those who went for this option can stop reading now...]

Travelling!

Life in Turku is in many aspects much different from my life in Tilburg. Not only because of the (relatively small) culture differences but most of all because of all the activities I have. Compared to Tilburg I have a lot of time left. On exchange there are no obligations except for passing exams to get credits. Here I’m for example not in any committees, boards or sports associations and I don’t have to spend time on family (only the couple of hours that I skype with them). This means that I have a lot of time left to do other things. For example on travelling and there is a lot to do and to see in and around Finland.

Holland in da house

Hello blog readers,

Last weekend I went to Valencia, we came home at 01.30 so the Monday after I couldn’t go out of my bed. I made my homework for that week and rest a bit in the morning. Jasper went to the airport to pick up Xander a friend of him who I know as well. That night they came eating with me so I made some delicious tapas.

Tuesday we had classes and Xander came for dinner again. Wednesday we always have one class. That night we went to the parque de la Montana with our friends to have dinner end enjoy the sunset. It was a very nice evening. I still like the fact that so many people hang out in the parks at night. People from the age of 8 who belong in bed in the Netherlands at 21.00 pm and also a lot of people from the age of 80 who are outside the whole day long, while in the Netherlands a lot of them hang out inside their houses. It is so cute to see an old couple in the metro who help each other to go in. I guess people live longer because they are so often outside. I think I am going to miss my dinners in the parks when I am back in the Netherlands.

Things are heating up

Things are heating up, in two ways. First off, we found out the dorm has floor heating. This is quite nice in winter I suppose, but due to the fact that they simply turned it on throughout the building without an option to turn it off is a bit less pleasant. Second, midterms are coming up: I’ll have two next week and one in the week afterwards. Besides that, I’ve made some decisions regarding my future in the last week.

My birthday, Yogyakarta and Bali

Long time ago, so enough to tell!! This story is going to be a long one, so be prepared! The semester in Singapore is already halfway gone!!! How crazy, my last final is in one and a half month! In the middle of the semester we had a recess week, one week without lectures. This doesn't mean holiday for Singaporeans, because of course, busy busy busy and looooots of work. For exchange students..... YES it does mean holiday!!!! The week before recess week already felt like holiday as it was the week of my birthday. I've been looking forward to my birthday every year again for a long time, nowadays I can get a normal sleep, but when I was young it was even hard to fall a sleep ;). Well, how to celebrate your birthday 13 000 km away from home? 

Happy Budapest!

Call the Washington Post! Send an email to The Guardian! Send smoke signals to NRC Next! The biggest news of the past weeks is.. that I turned 21 =D

I am probably the only one (besides the Americans here) that is that excited about this news, but still.. worth mentioning! Especially, because a lot of the events I will be telling you about in this blog are related to this. Happy birthday to me =)

Erasmus life in Athens!

Hey everyone !

So far I've only written about the Greek culture and the economic crisis. Now, let's talk about the fun part! The Erasmus life!

The ESN in Athens is very active and they rea

lly try to get all Erasmus students together. Just after my arrival was the introduction week. There were 2 activities each day, a cultural activity in the noon and a party in the night. I Think that approximately 75 Erasmus students atte

nded the introduction week. Also after the intro week they organized parties at least twice a week and the other days you just organize parties yourselves w

ith the friends you made during the intro week. Yes, the first weeks of your exchange are more like a holiday than an exchange :p. But you'll have to learn to drink ouzo ( if you never drank it before )because the prices of the alcohol you're used to drink are probably more expensive here than in Holland.

MYKONOOOOOOOS !

Beautiful Edinburgh!

Here it is! My second blog and as promised I will tell you about my trip to the AMAZING city Edinburgh and the start of my classes.



The first two weeks here in Glasgow felt like an incredible vacation, meeting new people, partying all the time and shop till you drop. However, all of that came to an end when my classes started… Just kidding!