The Erasmus project was a great opportunity to get to know a new language, culture and new people. These are new experiences that have shaped me and have also made me much more linguistically safer. I am very grateful for that. Let's get to the cultural differences. The first is definitely the meal times. For example, people eat their dinner from 9 or 10 p.m., which is rather unusual for us in Germany. In addition, in my opinion, the people in Catalonia are much more open and communicative, which is very relaxed. – Amanda
In the week from the 20th of March to the 24th of March me as well as my german erasmus groupmates flew to spain. We stayed there in seperated families with our exchange students and did some activities, just like sports, and were able to get to know the spanish culture better. Of course we also got closer to each other and made great new friendships.
As I already mentioned, we did a lot of activities such as olympic sports, exploration tours, treasure hunts, compass and gps games, shopping and on the last day we had the chance to learn a little bit of catalan which I found a bit boring to be honest.
One of the aspects why I really enjoyed it there was the weather because it was so sunny and warm which I loved. Another point was the landscapes and beautiful views I got to see. Furthermore, if you asked me, the families were very kind and friendly They always wanted the best for you, especially that you have enough to eat. In addition, I can tell that the traditional food they made was very delicious but they always ate at 9 or 10 p.m. or something which is completely different in most of the germans households. I also realized that the greetings are different in Spain then in Germany because in Spain you give each other one kiss on each cheek and in Germany you just shake hands for example. Furthermore, one thing I did not know was the fact that the teachers were called by their first name which confused me a little bit at first.
Moreover, if you compare Spain to Germany, I would say the biggest differences are the weather, the kindness of people, the food, the punctuality and the greetings.
All in all, I really liked the trip to Spain and I felt very comfortable there. It was nice to get to know the spanish culture better and I am looking forward to stay in contact with our exchange students. – Nina
The first thing to say is that the exchange was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.
There were many differences between the Spanish culture and our German culture. The people there were much warmer and friendlier than we are used to. I was greeted with kisses and hugged and was treated like a daughter. They also wanted to pay for everything for us, which was a bit excessive. In Germany the people are more forbidding and stingy.
Life there is more relaxed, school (and the breaks) starts with music, punctuality is not as important as it is here. The student-teacher relationship is also very different there. They hug the teachers and address them by their first names. In addition, I had the feeling that the whole village walked to school together. We always had to wait for someone and it took us 20 minutes or more to get to school, which was actually 5 minutes long.
Another point is that they eat a lot. It feels like there is something to eat every hour. The breakfast makes you very full and then there is a second breakfast with a baguette 2 hours later, almost every child in the school eats a baguette. The baguette was delicious, better than bread or toast. Hot food is also served there several times a day. In general, they eat a lot of fast food there, no salad or vegetables. What I found very different was that they only ate dinner there around 9/10 p.m. That is not the time we are used to.
There are many differences between our cultures, but i like the spanish culture with the heartwarming people more than the german culture. – Celine
At first, I need to say that the exchange was a great experience and I had a lot of fun. However, there were definitely a few differences between the Spanish and German people and culture. One obvious thing was how Spanish greet and deal with each other. I wouldn’t say that they are more friendly but I think their „love language“ is much more physical and candid. Germans are more restrainend while, for example, their moms kissed us on our cheeks when we first met. This was at first to be honest a little bit surprising but also very sweet. Another thing I recognised was the difference between our foods. In my opinion spanish people eat more frequently and especially snacks. Moreover, I think their food is unhealthier than ours and it was common to eat ready-made meals. Whereas Germans eat more fruits and vegetables. Moreover, there were differences between our school lives. It seemed like the spanish students and teachers communicate on a more personal level than we do. For example, they call each other by their first name what would be very impolite in Germany. Additionally, every morning was playing music when the school started which is a motivating tradition. On the other hand, in Germany it is usual to go to the toilette whenever you need to. This was such a weird thing in Spain because the students can’t go during lessons and need to wait until a break starts because the restrooms are locked. This is definitely a thing I appreciate about Germany. Furthermore, the Germans seemed to be more excited about the great weather than spanish people are. Probably, they are used to sunny weather but for us it was welcomed change from rainy weather in Germany. But even though we often told them about our bad weather our exchange students were always very excited to visit our country. – Viktoria
