Mi Experiencia Erasmus en Alemania

Today, February 24th, I am writing my last Erasmus blog entry while I am on the plane back to Spain. As you may have noticed, I have decided to name this entry day 0 instead of day 35 because today is not only the end of our stay in Germany, but also the beginning of our stay in Spain with our host sisters, or rather with our friends, because we have not only created a very good friendship among us, but we have also decided not to lose contact when we are no longer together. Erasmus has been one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time. And not only because it has helped me learn English or become independent, but it has also shown me that I will always have a place in Germany. One of the things I am most grateful for to the program is for forcing me to meet someone who has become very special to me. Elisa and I have created a very special friendship that I never would have thought could happen. Despite everything, with a feeling of ambiguity between happiness and sa...

On February 19th, I woke up feeling sad because I knew my time in Germany was coming to an end. Over the following days, we packed our suitcases to return to Spain. Wednesday was a very special day because it was Elisa's birthday. We celebrated at her house and played foosball together. The next day, we received our Erasmus certificate at the school, and some teachers bid us farewell. Finally, on Friday, we said goodbye to all our classmates and friends we had made during that month, and Clara, Helen, Elisa, and I went to Munich to do our last shopping. When we got home, we finished packing our bags, and my family gave me an album of all the photos taken of me in Germany so that I would always remember them.

During the following days, we were hanging out with Clara's friends. On Saturday, we decided to go to Gilching to watch a movie in German. Despite not understanding anything from the movie, I had a great time. Later, we decided to go to a McDonald's where we played a game in which we had to guess the word we had on our heads with only yes or no questions. The next day, we woke up to a surprise. The neighbor's cat had sneaked into our house and was in our room. We played with him all morning and made pancakes. By the end of the day, we were a little sad because the next day we were going back to school.

On February 13th, we decided to meet up with Elisa and Helen because we hadn't seen each other for a long time. So, we changed and went shopping with them and a few other friends in Munich. Since it was carnival time, all the streets were filled with people dressed up, dancing, and singing. I had a great time because it reminded me a lot of the carnivals in Logroño. After finishing shopping, we went back home to rest. The next day, I met up with Elisa at Herrsching’s lake. We took a walk and caught up on what we had been doing during our vacations. Later on, we went to buy some food and prepared a snack. In the evening, we decided to go back home and continue enjoying what was left of our vacations because Elisa and I wouldn't see each other again until the following Monday.

On February 11th, we woke up to some amazing news. We were going sledding in the snow! We all dressed in our snow gear and headed towards the Andes. There, we walked for a while until we reached a very steep slope behind us where we could enjoy the sledding experience. We slid down and had a great time. We spent the whole morning doing the same thing, but we never got tired of it. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. As soon as we got back home, we went straight to bed. The next day, we started packing up all our things, loaded them into the car, and headed towards Germany to go back home. Before arriving, we stopped at an Italian restaurant and had a delicious pizza. It was an incredible experience to visit a new country like Italy.

The next day, Friday morning, I was feeling unwell and decided not to go to school. However, in the afternoon I started feeling better and began to pack my suitcase. Once finished, we gathered everything and my family and I set off towards Italy. The following week was the start of the carnival holidays, which is why we had decided to rent a house for four days in the South Tyrol, in the Alps. Upon arrival, we unpacked and settled into our new home. The next day, we had breakfast to gather our strength and the whole family went hiking. The views were incredible. At that moment, I realized that my vacation in Italy would be unforgettable.

On February 8th, we had our third and final excursion in Germany with the school. Unlike the other days, we weren't very happy because it was our last day with the Spaniards from Cartagena. In the morning, we went to the old town of Munich where we had a guided tour that explained the city's history to us. When it ended, we had free time to explore the city on our own. Elisa and I decided to have lunch at McDonald's and later buy some small gifts for our families in Spain. After we finished, we rejoined the rest of the group and headed to the Museum of Man and Nature where we learned a lot of things and participated in a workshop about sustainable development goals. After the excursion ended, we decided to go with the Spaniards to the shopping center to spend the little time they had left with them. At the end of the day, we said goodbye feeling a bit sad but also happy because we had formed some very good friendships.

On February 7th, we had our second excursion. Just like the first one, it was really cool. In the morning, we went to the Dachau concentration camp. It was an incredible visit because we learned a lot about Germany's history during World War II. However, it was a bit unpleasant to know that we were in the same place where many people had suffered less than 100 years ago. After finishing the visit, we went to Munich to the Olympic Park and the BMW museum. Elisa and I decided to thoroughly explore the BMW museum and discovered really cool cars that we had never seen before. It was an amazing day!

On February 6th was an incredible day. We had our first excursion! We woke up very early but excited because we were going with the rest of the Spaniards from the exchange program in Cartagena. The purpose of the excursion was to visit one of the most important castles in Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle. As soon as we arrived, we were amazed at how beautiful it was. We went to a bridge that offered stunning views of the castle. Later, we reached the castle and were able to enjoy a guided tour inside. It was impressive! We became very good friends with the Spaniards and had a great time.

In the following days, I was doing my usual routine, going to school in the mornings and doing homework in the afternoons, playing cards, and spending time with my rabbits. My host family taught me how to play poker, and now I'm very good at it. On February 2nd, I went to a party at someone's house, and at night we stayed over at a friend of Clara's. The next day, Elisa and I met up with some Spaniards who had come from Cartagena for an exchange program with the Germans from our class. We celebrated it at a house and had a great time. The following days we stayed at home doing our homework.