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This experience report can also be found on the ISO website.

I decided to go to Castellón about 3 months before I started. I came into contact with one of my professors. Fortunately, a student from Castellón was also visiting Oldenburg at the time. I was able to talk to her first and she gave me some tips and answered questions. Above all, she told me to learn as much Spanish as possible before I started. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that, so I travelled to Spain with only a good knowledge of English.

My flight took me from Hanover to Valencia, the nearest airport. And so there I was in Valencia. Unfortunately, it was so late when I arrived that I had to sleep in the nearest hotel. So I took a taxi to the airport hotel, where I spent my first night in Spain.

The next step was to get from the airport hotel, which was not directly at the airport, to the main railway station. Fortunately, there was an S-Bahn station right behind the hotel. So I called my friend in Castellón, who had already offered to let me stay with her family for the first few days. With the help of a nice Spaniard, I found my way to the main railway station and finally got on the right train to Castellón. The train journey took me through the Levantine surroundings of Valencia and Castellón. A beautiful, mountainous landscape with endless orange groves and many small towns along the way. Admittedly, the houses in such small towns always look a little unfinished and take some getting used to, but over time you become familiar with this southern, casual style.

When I arrived in Castellón, I met up with my friend, who picked me up at the train station by car. First of all, we drove a little through the city.

The city of Castellón has around 250,000 inhabitants, but in an area that is probably smaller than Oldenburg. This means it has a bit of a big city flair and the houses are built upwards, which looks really strange, as there are sometimes lower houses in between. But I quickly got used to it. The city has an old cathedral on the square in front of the "Mercado Central". The city centre is very cramped, but of course that also makes it quaint and appealing, with lots of shops and neon signs lined up close together.

However, my home for the first few days was not in the city but in a suburb, the city's harbour, El Grao. This is very typical for this region, the towns are about 5 km from the water and have their own little harbour suburb right by the sea.

I was given a very warm welcome and the hospitality in Spain is truly remarkable. Here I also learnt the first habits of the Spanish. Especially when it comes to eating, because you have to bring a lot of time with you. A proper lunch, usually around 2.00 pm, or dinner, around 9.00 pm, can easily take up to 2 hours.

In the first few days, we focussed on finding a flat for me. A university housing organisation, the so-called PIAC, published a list of private flats. Halls of residence were hardly affordable (well over €300 per month). So we checked many, many flats before we were finally successful on the fourth day of the search. At this point (early November), it was still a pleasant 25-30° and the sun was shining beautifully (although this was about to change).

My own flat was in the middle of the city centre. My landlord was a Spanish businessman, and two workers from Argentina also lived with me in the flat. Although my landlord also spoke English and German, he and my flatmates spoke almost exclusively Spanish with me from the very beginning, so I learnt Spanish faster than I would have dreamed possible, and I had bought a self-taught Spanish course to help me. The flat was relatively expensive in comparison (200€), some flats were available from 70€. However, I also had a full kitchen, washing machine, internet, two bathrooms and even a cleaning lady. Unfortunately, Spanish flats rarely have heating, including this one, which turned out to be a disadvantage during the winter.

Once I had largely moved into my flat, I went to university for the first time. I was in Castellón to do a chemistry lab practical in a working group run by a professor who was a friend of my professor in Germany.

So I didn't have any courses to attend, but more or less had to "work". I also didn't attend a language course, as I arrived in the middle of the semester. As it turned out, I learnt Spanish faster because everyone in the lab spoke good English and I picked up new words every day. In any case, the atmosphere in my working group was very good. It was a colourful bunch of doctors and chemists (e.g. from India and Morocco, as well as from many regions of Spain).

Incidentally, you shouldn't expect everyone in Spain to speak English - in fact, this is the exception rather than the rule, which is why it makes sense to know a few words beforehand.

Once I had settled into the city and university life, I set about making my first experiences with ERASMUS students. There are planned activities organised by the AEGEE office. These include, for example, meetings with other students or trips. For example, I went to Madrid with this organisation.

In general, you should take the time to travel (unfortunately, this was not possible for me). You should definitely go to Madrid and Barcelona, both beautiful cities.

Once you have made contact with some students, you can do a lot and go out in the evening. Castellón has lots of small bars (some of which are very hidden), as well as a few discos (especially in the "Lagasca").

My daily routine was mostly determined by working in the lab and in the evening I often met up with friends and ERASMUS students.

The university offered several shopping facilities (e.g. pharmacies, kiosk, etc.). The canteen was actually quite good throughout and there were often some typical dishes.

As far as food in general is concerned, the supermarkets are really great places to shop and the range of fresh meat and vegetables is really huge. But above all, you can buy excellent fish in this region of Spain. Every supermarket, no matter how small, has a fish counter. There are also greengrocers and a large market in the city. The cost of living hardly differs from that in Germany. However, flats are generally a little cheaper.

If you apply for the Auslandsbafög (as I did), you should definitely take a language course beforehand, otherwise you won't get any money beforehand. This means that I only received the money at the end of my stay, or back in Germany. This was due to the fact that my professor issued me with a signature for my Spanish language skills towards the end.

I learnt Spanish really quickly, an audiobook and simply listening and chatting will help you enormously, especially if, like me, you hardly had the opportunity to do a course. That's really not a bad thing. In hindsight, I'm not at all sad that I didn't do a course, as I probably learnt just as much during my time in the lab.

As a final tip, I should say that it's best to get used to the German hectic pace very quickly. In Spain, everything is a bit more relaxed. People don't mind if you are sometimes late. And it's also okay to start work a little later. However, this does not mean that Spaniards are lazy. If they start work late, they also finish late.

When it comes to nightlife, it should be mentioned that you should also take your time here. Most parties are only really good from 2.00 am onwards, and discos sometimes only open at 1.00 am and close at 9.00 am.

Business hours in Spain are also slightly different: usually from 9.30 am to 2.00 pm and from 5.00 pm to 9.00 pm. However, large supermarkets are open all day.

It might also be important to take an old mobile phone with you from Germany so that you only have to buy a new card in Spain, as the domestic mobile phone tariffs are quite good.

In conclusion, I can only recommend a stay abroad. I really enjoyed Spain in particular.