¡ Hola, guapa! ¿Qué pasa?

Posted on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 16:06 | by The Insider

I am sure that there will be other stories about many parties that you can experience during an exchange or all the travelling that you can do. During my stay in Madrid, I also did my share of crazy partying Spanish-style as well as explored the country and beyond. There is basically no academic side in an exchange semester, at least not in the Mediterranean region (although I have to admit that, as I’m writing this, my mind is preoccupied with 5 rather difficult exams that I have to take in a very short period of time).

Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that an exchange semester is one long holiday; it can also be an investment in your personal development, if you choose it to be such. For me, it was the language. With a thought that every educated person should speak at least two foreign languages fluently, I decided that Spanish is the way to go. Besides that my German skills never got past the basic level after many years of lazy studying. I barely spoke Spanish when I came here, and I’m leaving with a decent conversational Spanish in my command. The language is easy and the locals know no other way to communicate (a big no-no to English!). There are some courses taught in English at the university, but if you want a wider choice, you need to take classes in Spanish. These and many other reasons create a “greenhouse effect” for learning the language without having to spend much time on cramming grammar books. Be aware that being an Erasmus student is a big barrier to enjoy that favorable environment, since you normally make friends with other Erasmus people and therefore use English to socialize. But that’s okay. My head nearly exploded when I once found myself in an only-Spanish environment for a whole day!

Apart from that, there’s a cultural experience. In Spain, you start out being amazed by the climate, relaxed lifestyle and friendliness and openness of people. The initial amazement fades away very quickly as you get frustrated by all the bureaucracy, inefficiency, and laziness that this seemingly developed country exhibits. You might even start being jealous of the laid-back Spanish lifestyle and think how unlucky you are that back in the Baltics you have to work your ass off to achieve the same level of wealth. I went through all of these mixed feelings, but in the end I entered the “acceptance” stage where I stopped thinking that “the lazy southerners don’t deserve all of this”. I finally saw that they’re not as inefficient as it seems, and that we, deadline-oriented SSE Riga people, tend to measure efficiency in some weird, distorted way.

Turns out, there are many different ways to be happy. Just think outside the box - that’s what Spain taught me!