Hi everyone,

I spent the last few months living in Valencia and studying at 2DayLanguages. For my studies I had to do an internship, which I had the fortunate opportunity of being able to do at 2DayLanguages. This means that starting in January and until the end of June, I both worked and studied at 2DayLanguages. I had ‘General Spanish’ classes four hours a day, starting at the A1 level.

albufera

Valencia is a great, beautiful city. Even before the plane touched down at the airport, I had a chance to see that from the sky. I come from the Netherlands and seeing the clean, long beach filled me with joy. I was more than excited to be able to spend the spring and a greater part of summer in this beautiful town.

peñiscola

Sadly, I greatly underestimated the heat of Valencia. In my mind I had painted a picture of ever sunny skies and a thermometer that would not reach below 20 degrees Celsius. Boy, was I wrong. Of course, Valencia is a city with an amazing climate and apparently has only 60 rainy days a year, but in January it can be cold. I, with my very optimistic point of view, basically only brought t-shirts, bikini’s and no jacket. Let me tell you, the first few weeks I was really, really cold. Especially in my apartment, which did not have any central heating and somehow never got touched by any sunrays (now, in summer, this is very fortunate for me).

morocco

The first week I bought a jacket and I found a blanket that I carried anywhere with me around my apartment and that made it doable (take something at least a little warm. Layers are great).

Except from that little part, I loved Valencia, Spain, and everything to do with it. Valencia is, as I already said, so beautiful. I’ve been to Madrid before and while I was living in Valencia also took a trip to Barcelona, but in my opinion, Valencia is indeed the prettiest. It has wide open streets with palm trees and benches, there is a lot of green and the buildings are high, ornate and can be found in many colors – pretty much anything except the boring grey drab that can be found in other cities.

cuenca

I did more trips while I was living in Valencia, as Valencia is located fortunately. Ibiza is close by, as is Mallorca. I, however, decided to go to different locations than those two; I visited Cuenca, Peñiscola, Barcelona and Morocco. I also went bungee jumping and before I will go back to the Netherlands at the end of the month, I will go scuba diving in Jávea and will go on a trip to Andalucía. It is a good example of how easy it is to reach different areas of Spain. It also shows how diverse this country is and how many different things can be done here.

barcelona

The fact that I had the ability to study at 2DayLanguages was also great. I studied Spanish at school before, but it is a whole different experience than learning from original Spanish speaking people in a Spanish environment and having the opportunity to do so on a daily basis. I started at the A1 level in February together with Tanja, a woman from Ukraine. I had great teachers and the lessons were extremely fun. The explanations were clear, the exercises fun, and the information useful… It is hard to describe a feeling or an atmosphere and it is therefore hard to describe how my classes made me feel. It is something you need to experience for yourself. All I can say is that I loved every class and that I’ve never felt uncomfortable, not even for a minute. And wow, let’s not forget about all the things I’ve learned. At the start, even asking for a bag at the supermarket was difficult for me, now I can tell someone an elaborate story and converse rather easily. No, it’s not perfect – but that is why I want to continue with lessons via Skype once I move back to the Netherlands.

It won’t be long until I am moving back and I’m going to miss both the city and the school immensely. The weekends at the beach, partying with my friends in one of the many great nightclubs, walking through the bustling city center, learning Spanish, making new friends and doing things I’ve never done before (and somethings I will never do again, such as bungee jumping. Way too scary!)… I’ve loved every second of being in Valencia and I’m going to miss it enormously. Time to come back again next summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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