Huelva #7 – General summary (ENG)

Hi!

Here I am again and this time with a general summary. I didn't want to do it in the monthly blogs, because otherwise it might get messy. So here is a separate blog where I will cover things per topic!

Courses: The courses I chose were:

- Spanish language course
I thought that this course was not extremely difficult. It was more like a refresher course for me. Since I had been in Berlin for half a year and only spoke English and German there, my Spanish had worsened. Through this language course, I think that I had refreshed my Spanish. Sometimes it was hard for me to understand the professor’s Spanish because she was tended to speak very quickly and sometimes she spoke Andalusian instead of Spanish. But otherwise it was fine. We were tested 5 times. A listening test, a reading test, a writing test, an oral and an extra reading test about a book with about 70 pages. Everything was multiple choice. And you also had to attend at least 80% of the lessons.

- Marketing II (in Spanish)
I found this course difficult and not difficult. The tricky part about this course was that it was taught in Spanish (it was compulsory for me that I took at least one course in Spanish on behalf of my school). The teacher was very nice and took into account that I was an Erasmus student. The themes that we discussed, corresponded to themes that I had in the Netherlands. I was tested in different ways. I had to be at least 80% present for this course, this was included in the final grade. In addition, I had to make an essay (4 times) about the 4 themes of the course and I also had to give a presentation (4 times) about the 4 themes based on a previously assigned company. And at the end of the course I had an exam with about 10 open questions. It was especially very theoretical, and it was easy to pass. With only the PowerPoints that were on Moodle, it was easy to do. The only tricky thing, I thought, was that I was translating more than actually studying the material.

- Introduction to micro and macroeconomics
This course was split into two parts, micro and macroeconomics. The first part was microeconomics and I thought that this course was not difficult. The only thing that was a disadvantage was that the teacher spoke poor English and you had to listen really carefully and really pay attention to understand what he was saying. It was also very nice that he discussed all exercises with us and wrote it down completely on the blackboard. The exam consisted of 6 exercises and that was the whole exam (not very theoretical).
After, we got macroeconomics. I thought that this course was more difficult. The teacher went quickly through the material and when she was finished teaching, she immediately left the classroom. She also didn't discuss the exercises with us, which made it a bit more difficult. The exam consisted of 25 multiple choice questions and those was very theoretical. With this course you could not only study the PowerPoints and her notes, you really had to use the book to study.
You could take both exams 3 times and this was my only course where you didn't have to attend for an attendance list.

- Financial Markets II
I thought that this course was very difficult, because it was not like any course that I have ever had in the Netherlands. There were all new topics and terms that I had never heard of. Fortunately, I had this course together with Hanna and Marta and they helped me a lot with understanding this course. The teacher was a nice man who always tried to explain as well as possible and to give practical examples. Still, I thought it was a difficult course. I also had to attend at least 80% of this course, this was included in the final grade. Besides, we had to give a presentation and write an essay about a subject we chose ourselves (I had to do this in a group). And we had a final exam. This exam consisted of a theory part, where we had to answer 15 or 20 multiple choice questions. Next, we got a practical part, where we had to make 2 or 3 exercises.

- Planning and Strategic Control
I really enjoyed this course and it was similar to the marketing courses that I had in the Netherlands! The teacher was also a very nice man and he spoke English very well. He taught us through PowerPoints and after each theme we did a self-knowledge test (via Kahoot). He also arranged guest speakers at times and he often gave examples based on his own experiences. Occasionally we could make an extra assignment about a certain topic during a theme for bonus points on our exam. Furthermore, we had to make an final essay at the end of the course. There were some approved examples of former students on Moodle and you could use them to make a good essay yourself. The extra assignments, attendance (you had to be at least 80% of the lessons present), the essay and the exam together formed the final mark. The exam consisted of about 10 open questions about the theory.

I enjoyed seeing and noticing that the difference between the international students was quite large. We all had different methods and interpretation on how to make an assignment. In my English classes there were people who had just started their second year of their university or students like me, who were already in their final year. Some students had almost never given a presentation or talked in front of a class, while this is very normal for me, since I must present very often for my studies.

Housing: I found it difficult to find a house. A friend of mine told me about a site where houses and flats are offered and that was "idealista". This is where I found my home. However, I will now advise against this website. It is more convenient to do it through "Housing Huelva". This tool is for and by students from Huelva and you often end up in good flats in the center of the city and with other students. I ended up in a house 30 minutes from the city center and with some older people (up to 40 years old) who were already working. This created sometimes slight conflicts of interest. The main tenant was sometimes unable to place herself in Camilla’s and my shoes.

Prices vary a lot. In the center you pay between € 150 and € 300. I myself paid € 310 all-inclusive and joint costs for, for example, toilet paper and detergent. Moreover, I lived in a house (bungalow) and not in a flat. Pay attention when looking at the advertisements of the houses whether the price is inclusive or whether you still have to pay for water and electricity.

Huelva is generally a safe city. I never felt unsafe for a moment.

There are different neighborhoods. You have La Merced and Plaza de las Monjas, which is the center of Huelva. Here are also the most clubs, shops, bars and restaurants. This is the southwest of the city and here is also La Merced University (for economics, tourism and business courses). I myself lived near Parque Moret, a large park in the middle of the city. There is not much to do here. The only advantage is that you live in the middle of the two big campuses of the Universidad de Huelva. In the north of the city is the big campus, El Carmen. All other courses are given here (not tourism, marketing and business). I could be at La Merced by bike in 5-10 minutes and at El Carmen in 10-15 minutes. There are also buses that go to both campuses. But because I had a bicycle, I almost never went by bus. The only means of transport in the city is the bus. There is a train station, so you can go to other cities such as Seville. There is also another bus station with which you can also go to Seville or Lisbon or other major cities, or to the beach (Punta Umbría) or to other villages in the province of Huelva (for example Niebla).

Cultural differences: What immediately struck me about the Spaniards is their lifestyle. It is very different than in the Netherlands. For example, lunch and dinner. At home I always eat between 12 and 1 lunch and I always eat between 5 and 6 dinner (which is early). In Spain (and especially in the south of Spain) it was normal to have lunch between 2 and 3 and to have dinner around 9 in the evening. The same goes for restaurants, the restaurants only opened their kitchens at 21:30. This was a lot of getting used to for me. I tried to adapt to this by having lunch between 13:30 or 14:30 and by having dinner between 19:00 and 20:00. They also stay awake longer in the evenings. Almost all my housemates went to bed around 23:00 and sometimes even later.

Also, siesta is really a thing in the south of Spain. One roommate of mine really went to bed from 14:00 to 17:00 to sleep. Most shops are closed, especially the small stores. This does not occur in the Netherlands.

All shops are closed on Sundays. There are some bars and restaurants open. But all supermarkets are closed.

In the beginning I thought that meetings were difficult. For Spaniards it is very normal to greet each other with two kisses on the cheek. To me this was unnatural, when I see someone for the first time, I shake hands with them. This was unusual in the beginning. And of course, you have to keep in mind that they do two kisses instead of three.

Spaniards are very loud. Emotionally, they do not care that they live with more people, for example. My housemates often left their doors open and began to sing loudly or play the guitar. Also, one of my housemates never used earplugs and the volume of her cellphone was always at 100 and it didn't matter to her that I was sitting opposite of her in the kitchen.

As a pedestrian, the Spaniards walk the other way around. Normally I would walk to the right on the sidewalk. Spaniards don't do this, they walk left (on both sides of the road). And if you walk straight to them, they will not move for you.

Cost of living: I think that living in Spain is not very expensive. The groceries are a bit cheaper than in the Netherlands, especially the fruits. But otherwise I have not really discovered major differences. The nightlife in Huelva was also not very expensive. A beer often costs € 1, just like shots and wine. You often paid € 2 for mixed drinks.

And because my rent was all-inclusive, I am not sure what the costs of electricity, water and wifi were.

Normal shopping was also not very expensive. There are many Asian shops that, for example, sell notebooks, pens and locks for bicycles. Go there, they are not expensive. It is not always of good quality, but that is not necessary for some things.

The city buses are a bit pricey. If you would always go by bus, I recommend taking a discount bus ticket, but because I had a bicycle, I didn't have to. If you occasionally go by bus, there is also another bus ticket (I had that). Then a bus ride does not cost € 1.15 but something of € 0.80.

Restaurants are also not too expensive here. You can already eat out (for example tapas) for a maximum of € 15 per person (food plus 1 or 2 drinks). It depends on where you eat and what you take.

Food: The typical food in Huelva is of course tapas. They are also very famous for their fish. I am not a fish eater myself, but they eat a lot of squid, shrimp and other fish here. They are also known for their ham. In addition, most Spanish strawberries are produced in Huelva and unfortunately, I was not in the right season in Huelva to taste the strawberries.

Language: Spanish and Andalusian are spoken in Huelva. Andalusian is a dialect and almost everyone in Huelva speaks it. It is very fast and the letters and the last parts of words are swallowed (so you don’t understand them very well). Almost nobody in Huelva speaks English, which on the one hand is quite annoying.

Because I first went to Berlin for six months for my internship, I felt that my Spanish had worsened a lot. Because before my internship, my level of Spanish was pretty good, and I think I was at B1 level. Now I am at A2 level. If I could have done it the other way around (first studying in Spain and then doing an internship in Germany) I would certainly have done that, and I would recommend that to other students. Spanish is not easy to pick up, because you have to keep practicing.

These are my experiences and any tips! I hope it helps you!