Student reports
Name: Enikő Szakos
Degree, grade: Osztatlan tanári szak, matematika-, angol nyelv és kultúra tanára
School year: 2018/19 II. semester
Sending University: University of Nyíregyháza
Destination country, city: Spain, Castellón de la Plana
Host institution: Universitat Jaume I
I’ve heard about Erasmus from my sister, she spent two semesters abroad, but that still wasn’t enough motivation. After I lived one summer in the USA, I had enough confidence to talk with the Erasmus students in my university; many of them because a good friend of mine. These experiences convinced me to apply for this program, even if I was a bit scared at the same time.
I would say I’m an open-minded person, but there were still walls what I wanted to destroy.
I wanted to meet new people from different countries and cultures to see different kind of views of life and to learn from them.
Furthermore, I expected to get more self-confident and I mean it in a different language. I wanted to be able to talk in a foreign language without any doubts.
And last but not least, I wanted to feel free and independent and get out of my previous everyday life and make life-long memories.
Was everything easy? Have you ever moved to a country without speaking their language? Of course, I assumed everyone speaks in English nowadays… but I was wrong. In Spain they are aware of the fact, that Spanish is a world-wide known language now, so they don’t feel the pressure to learn English. This is the hardest part, definitely, even if I try to learn it. It makes harder the everyday life. After 2 months I can understand when someone speaks in Spanish, but I can barely answer. And even if I learnt in my first/second week how to order a café con leche, sometimes I’m still nervous from they would ask back.
For me it was easy to get here because there is direct flight from Budapest to Valencia and from Valencia there are many trains to my city. (Okay, it wasn’t that easy, I remember to stuck in the subway in Valencia and couldn’t find the bus stop in my city to take me to my apartment. But I stayed calm and knew, it wasn’t the hardest situation I’ve been in.)
Surprisingly, from the middle of June there will be direct flight from Hungary to Castellón de la Plana. (wow!)
Here all the students live in shared flat with Spanish people or with order students. The campus is more than 500 euro and mostly just Spanish people live there. It’s also a bit separated from the center. However there are many foreign students, it’s easy to find a flat or a room. I pay 150 euro for a room in a 3-rooms apartment with Spanish people close to the center. With other costs it’s about 170-180/month. I’m totally pleased with this.
Castellón de la Plana is a pretty small city; I would say it’s the Spanish Nyíregyháza – just with double population and with an amazing beach.
The public transport is modern and easy-to-use, there are tram and many bus lines too. Castellón also has a clever bike system with many bike stations and you can borrow a bike (using a mobile app or a card) and leave it at any station what is close to your destination. The streets allow travelling by bike. All the options are affordable.
We have lots of restaurants and bars, clubs. Some clubs have discounts for Erasmus students 3 days a week. Furthermore – as I mentioned earlier – we have a long beach of the Mediterranean Sea what offers opportunity to spend your free time.
Spain is more expensive than Hungary, but my city is still cheaper than big cities as Madrid or Barcelona.
Luckily our ESN never lets us being bored. We have many programs – I could say we have something to do in every weekend and also many interesting events are during the week. We have day trips (Valencia, Morella, Benicassim, etc.) and longer ones too (Barcelona, Ibiza). They also organize picnics, karaoke, many workshops, sport events, etc. They make our life so much easier, help us anytime and keep in touch with us every day. We also have mentors from the university who we can ask for help with all of our problems.
Here are also many holidays and festivals during the year, so we have many options to have fun. Maybe the most important for us is the Magdalena, because it’s in Castellón and it lasts for 9 days. It starts in 23rd of March and ends in the end of the month. The school is closed during this week. It’s full of parades, concerts, fireworks and Mascletás.
The university is modern and well-equipped with good teachers and about 10 000 students. I do English studies here and have classes from all of the years. I should say the teachers are well prepared and experts of their fields. They make the topics and the classes colorful and interesting. The main difference here is that we have to do many group works: while the classes and out of the classroom too.
I can’t answer to the question “What was the best in Erasmus?” because I still have 4 months. But it’s definitely changing my life in a good way.
My new friends are the best things now in my life, I could never imagine having such wonderful friendships with people from all around the world.
Erasmus is an amazing adventure full of joy and challenges, but even the hard things teach and make you more and wiser. But to live in a different country also gives you a new knowledge about other cultures and the whole world opens for you. Moreover, “To have another language is to possess a second soul”.
