Stella fiedler

As christmas came closer, i got ready to go home and spent to weeks with my friends and family. I was really looking forward to this trip as I hadn’t seen a lot of them for months. Nevertheless I still felt a little bit sad. Barcelona became my second home much quicker than I imagined and I caught myself shedding a small tear while saying goodbye to my wonderful host mom.

But this break has given me a great time to reflect on my experience until now. I went to a country with zero knowledge of the Spanish or Catalan language exept for „hola“ and „adios“. Now I am officialy in the B1 course of my language school. I got through periods of homesickness and loneliness. I stood up for myself in situations where it was necessary. And I found the right balance of studying and enjoying time with friends. Reflecting on all of this I feel very proud of myself.

I realized that none of these successes would have been possible without the help of my extraordinary teachers. They not only supported me academically but also encouraged me throughout the last weeks. There was always someone to talk to or someone to give you a hug if you needed it. The school environment felt so different from my home country Germany as teachers are also seen as friends here. The German school system is quite competitive sometimes it was nice to see actual knowledge and not test scores be prioritized.

For now I will enjoy spending time with my family. I am already excited to return to Barcelona and continue my studies there.

Lots of love,

Stella