The first one was saying “Hoi” as a greeting. As I first came with my family some days before the semester started, I was misunderstanding it. Instead I was understanding “Hey” and saying back so. But as those days were passing, it was myself who experienced that in fact it was “Hoi”. As a cultural practice I really like it and while I was getting use to it and saying it back, a smile completely changed my face. It is something really warm to have and do in between people even if we don’t know each other. I was also practicing that when I went back to Spain for Christmas holidays.
Another cultural difference that caught my attention was the admiration people have for the Prince and you can easily see him doing normal life not only in the castle. In Spain, it is really difficult to see the Royal Family in the streets and even talk to them since they have bodyguards who don’t let that happen.
Furthermore, life here is very peaceful and calm in comparison to Spain. For example, in Spain there is traffic wherever you go and here it is really difficult to find it. As I got use to it during the semester, going back home for Christmas and seeing that stressful life really caught me by surprise.
As I also stayed in the dormitory I also experienced some cultural differences with the people there. I think everyone of us learnt something about the others, apart from food. As a curiosity we tried once to do animal noises and depending on the country those noises were changing and were surprisingly different.
Looking back, I have really noticed a change in me. I found that I can be easily independent and I also started to spend time with myself, which I didn’t use to do it before and it is really peaceful. Of course I also had “bad days” and felt “home-sick”, but I kept reminding myself that everything of this is worth it for the future. In this months I think I discovered much more myself and now I am more sure of the next steps in life.
In general, my exchange semester was an incredible experience. I learnt a lot about life, other cultures and the most important for me was to learn and see what was I able to.