Katholische Universität San Antonio de Murcia, Spanien

I was just checking out the latest flight offers, when an "Expedia" advertisement popped up - "Travel yourself interesting". The ad shows impressions of other countries, in this case pigs swimming in the sea in the Bahamas. In the Spanish region Murcia there are no swimming pigs, but a lot of culture, Spanish passion and exuberance.

For me, a semester abroad is much more than the simple study contents and definitely is a necessary experience, which kick us students out of our comfort zone in order to gain experience in a foreign country.

Almost everybody thinks of sun, palm trees and good food when you mention Spain. Of course I feel the same way, but I the small difference is that I will start my semester abroad in this country...studying between palm trees and in bright sunshine…there are certainly worse places than Murcia, in the southeast of Spain.

Almost exactly one year ago I sent my application to "moveonline" and was very happy when I received the feedback that I was allowed to study in Murcia.

But if you think that you can sit back and wait for the semester abroad to start, you are a wrong. Now the ton of preparations for the semester abroad are beginning, but also the list of things you have to do and complete while your still in Germany is getting bigger and bigger... Letting my room in Würzburg, finding a new room in Murcia, brushing up my Spanish skills, filling in the Learning Agreement, booking my flight and so on. At that point I was very happy to have chosen a partner university of our FHWS, as a large part of the organisation and planning had already been taken over by the International Office in Würzburg.

Fortunately it (nowadays) is quite uncomplicated to study in a European country like Spain - no money exchange, no roaming fees, in most cases another health insurance is not needed and also Erasmus+ (a biiiiiiiig plus ;) This made my preparations incredibly easier, which was good because my last exam in Germany is just a few days before I start my studies at UCAM in Spain.

I'm soo excited to see what will lie ahead of me in Spain...now that my departure is coming so close, I watch videos about Murcia and the university every evening. My partner university is UCAM (Universidad Católica de Murcia). A university with about 15,500 students, 300 of them Erasmus students from all over the world, which is located in an old monastery. The building and the campus already look fascinating on the pictures and I can hardly wait to see it all in real life.

Another good news is that all the courses I was supposed to take in the fourth semester in Würzburg will also be offered at the University of Murcia. The courses there are almost identical to our courses at the FHWS and the credit points are also the same (or even more). It would be great, of course, if I could take the same courses during my semester abroad, as I thus won't lose any time.

Since I have been speaking Spanish for some years now, it is also possible for me to take the courses in Spanish but also in English.

Now that a few weeks have passed, I have received a confirmation for my room in Murcia. At first I thought that I would have to rent an Airbnb apartment for the first few days and then look around for a room, but then by chance I found a suitable apartment through a Facebook group in Murcia. There are 3 other Erasmus students living in my apartment and I am already in contact with them.

Now that all points of the to-do list have been ticked off, all I have to do is pack my suitcase (it's hard to believe that I'll soon be packing my entire wardrobe into one suitcase!!!), throw my farewell party and enjoy the boundless anticipation of España. Only one thing is for sure...What I will miss the most besides my family, friends and Würzburg... dark bread and Spätzle!!!