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Day 1: 29/11/2023
I got up at 6, and had got ready before checking all my things. Once I knew that I wasn't forgetting anything at home, I went to take the bus. After meeting Roser and Rosa on the bus, we all got to the airport. Then we did the check-in and passed some controls in order to get on the plane. Our flight was not direct to Hannover, so we had to make a stopover in Munich.
Finally, we arrived in Hannover at 5 p.m. and since the trains got cancelled, we all drove home in the same car, which was a little uncomfortable because we had almost no space. The moment I arrived to what it was going to be my new home for the next three weeks, the host family showed me the flat. It has a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. I found it huge, especially my bedroom because it has a lot of space and a big window through which I can see the snowy street. Actually, they have another flat in three floors above, so I'm living alone downstairs. The only difference between the two flats, it's that the one that is upstairs has two more bedrooms.
When we are having breakfast, lunch or dinner, they come down. I reckon that is perfect for me because I like to have my own space in the morning and at night. But the family, it's still so nice and kind to me. The father is really fun, and he is always helping me with my German. The mother is so charming, and since she is an English teacher, she translates me some words to English when I'm talking with her husband, and I'm not understanding something. The brother is so fun and nice as well, although I didn't talk with him so much. And Antonia, my partner, she is amazing, and gives me such a good vibe. We talked a lot and shared some experiences.
Then we finished the first day by having dinner in a pizzeria. I had a margarita pizza with fresh tomato slices. Anyway, we shared our pizzas, so the three of us could
I have been feeling quite nervous during the whole day, but I'm so excited about the next weeks as well.
Today I woke up at half past six, and after getting ready for the school, we have taken the bikes to attend the lessons. When we arrived, they explained to us how all is going to work and showed us the school building, and I was surprised about how big it was. It is organized in sections. The building is divided in the sections A, B, C, and D. And the classrooms can be founded by looking at the number. The first number shows the floor, and the others it's to identify the classroom.
Our schedule was a little boring today because all we have done is help for 4 hours in the Spanish lessons. First we helped the little kids, the ones that are between 10 and 11 years old, and during the next two hours we were with those who are a year older. They are all so respectful with the teachers, and most of the time they keep silence in class. That shocked me because unfortunately in Spain it's not the same.
Another good point is that all the teachers tried to involve us in their lessons, so we didn't get bored all the time. For example, in one of the periods, we have started by doing a presentation about our school, our city, and the Erasmus project.
After school, we rode our bikes back home, and we got there at lunchtime. I wasn't starving, so I have just fried an egg and toasted myself some bread. Then we have taken a quick rest, and afterwards we have caught the train to a Christmas market. My expectations were really high, but when I arrived there it was even better than I imagined. My Christmas mood showed up quickly and I felt really excited. The place was plenty of Christmas stalls where you could order hot chocolate with cream, crêpes, pastries, mulled Wein, or 'Kinderpunsch', which is the same as mulled Wein but without alcohol, so it tastes like a sweet tea. I have tried there for the first time the 'Schmalzkuchen' and it was delicious. They are small baked pastries with some powdered sugar sprinkled on the top, they have reminded me of little pillows. Besides food, you could also buy souvenirs or some hand-made jewellery and winter accessories.
It was gorgeous to see, because the square was full decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments.
Later on, I have joined Antonia's volleyball training and I have met some girls of her team, although they were all older than me. They train every week in a school gym, which isn't actually really spacious.
I have enjoyed that time with them and felt included in their group as if I were just another player. It was good that I knew how to play volleyball and some moves and rules, because that have made it more interesting and amusing. When we have finished, we have got back home again.
At the end of the day, we had soup for dinner, and I have talked to the family about how was the day, and they asked me some personal questions as well. Then we went to sleep.
Day 3: 1/12/2023
When I got up this morning at 6, I took a shower and then, after dressing up and combing myself, I took some fruit for breakfast. Today we haven't ridden our bike because Antonia wanted to show me how to get to school by train. That is just in case one day she is feeling sick, or she has to be later there, and then I need to make it by myself.
When we arrived at the school, we first had a Spanish lesson with the 12th graders, who are all over 17 years old. There were only two people, a boy and a girl. Both of them were really nice, and the girl surprised me because she knew so much Spanish. During those two hours, Roser and I presented a presentation about our school, our educational system, about where we come from, and the Erasmus project. And when we were finished and already answered their questions, we started talking with the teacher about gender violence and some other current topics in Spain.
The rest of the day we just did 4 hours English lesson. The first two hours were again with the 12th graders. I found that one fascinating, because I noticed all the people had such a great level of English, and they showed interest in the lesson, which was really different from the lessons in Spain that I'm used to. Furthermore, their sessions weren't just about copying some things from the digital board, but about to practice the speaking part. We all discussed if our profiles should be anonymous on social media and why. Everyone had their own opinion and arguments, so it has become very entertaining. The teacher has been very involved with the class as well.
The next two hours, and the lasts ones, got a bit boring. They were with a lower grade, and we didn't do anything during that lesson, because the teacher only checked the homework and then they started talking. I didn't like the teacher because his attitude was stressful, and it seemed like if he didn't want to do his job. Since we were bored, Roser and I have started to talk to a girl who was sitting next to us. Her name is Lena, and she was extremely nice with us, and we became friends with her. We have talked for some minutes with her about our impressions of the school and the people, and then she started asking us personal questions to know each other.
When the school day was finished, we drove home again by train. When we arrived, I had lunch with Antonia, because her family had already eaten. We had something called Falafel Role. I think is a popular food from Morocco. It was okay, but I wouldn't eat it again to be honest. After that, Roser and I have planned to go to a café with our partners, but they couldn't come at the end, so we both went alone. It was a little challenging for me because I needed to catch three different trains to arrive there, but everything went well. I ordered a 'Klassik Käsekuchen' (classic cheesecake) and a cappuccino at the café, and I don't think I have ever tried something as delicious as it was, especially the cheesecake. I can't even find the right words to describe how great it was. Roser ordered a piece of brownie and an orange juice. It was incredible as well. I have felt proud of myself because I could order all in German.
I found the café really cosy and pretty, and the people were not too loud because some of them were studying there.
After finishing tasting that delight, we left the café and went to a supermarket to buy some basic things we needed. Then we caught the train back home, and since the next day we were travelling together to Hamburg, Roser came to my house to have dinner and sleep there. In our way home, we started a snow fight. It was surprising for me that we didn't get lost in the city and was actually really easy to find out where were we.
When we got home, we have explained to the family what did we do in the afternoon and how was it while we were having dinner. I really loved the dinner because they had cooked some pasta with spinach sauce and fresh tomatoes, and it tasted incredible too. Besides the family from my partner, there was also a friend of her. Her name was Henrieke and she was so friendly.
After eating all together, we played a boardgame called 'Heimlich & Co'. I tried to play it after they explained to us the rules, but I found it quite complicated. I couldn't figure out what was I supposed to do, so I tried my best, but I didn't win.
Then Henrieke went back to her house, and the three of us, Antonia, Roser and I, stayed at my bedroom talking for an hour, until we thought it was too late to be awake.
At the end of the day, we left our backpacks ready for tomorrow, before we prepared ourselves to go to sleep.
Day 4: 2/12/2023
Since I know that today we were travelling to Hamburg, I woke up in a very good mood. I was really excited about it, because I have never been to Hamburg before and a lot of people had told me that it was an amazing and beautiful city. We had set the alarm at 6, but yesterday we stayed up too late, and we were so tired that we fell asleep unintentionally, so we actually got up at 6.20. We tried to hurry because we didn't want to miss the train, otherwise we would have to wait two hours for the next one, but we didn't have enough time to have breakfast, so we skipped it.
Roser's parter, Jula, wasn't coming with us because she got Covid-19 and wasn't feeling okay, but Antonia went with us.
First, we got the subway to go to the main station of Hannover. There we caught another train to go from Hannover to Hamburg. It was a two hours long trip, so we used that time to continue sleeping and rest a little. The sight from the window of the train was spectacular and wonderful, it was snowing a lot, so all we could see was a white landscape. When we arrived to Hamburg, we were feeling hungry, so we bought a typical Hamburg pastry. It's called 'Franzbrötchen' and I tried one with jam and white chocolate and another one with dark chocolate. I don't know how to describe, but all I can say it's that it is sweet, and its flavour reminded me of something I had eaten before, but I couldn't figure out what it was.
After having that little snack, we caught another train to the centre of Hamburg. The first building we could see was the 'Elbphilharmonie', which is a very popular concert hall in the 'HafenCity' quarter of Hamburg. We took a lot of pictures there, and then we played a little with the snow and made a little snowman also with it. Later on, we walked around to see the city, and then we bought a ticket to go up to the top of the 'St. Nicholai Church'. We got up almost 80 meters high, and we could see all the city of Hamburg from the top. The weather barely let us see anything, but it was still cool to be able to admire part of the whited city. The next activity Antonia had planned was to go to the Church's museum, where we could read and hear the history of the building, and what happened there during the war. It was interesting and sad for me to read about that period and to see the pictures, but also a little difficult to understand because most of the information was in German. At the end of the museum route, there was a Christmas tree where you could write a wish and hang it on it. I won't say what did I write, just in case it doesn't come true.
Afterwards, we just continued walking around, although it was actually freezing. We took a walk around the bridges above the waterways, and it reminded me a bit of when I visited Venice. When we were starting to feel hungry, we stopped in a restaurant. I was glad that it was warmer inside, so luckily we could warm up a little. The three of us ordered a hamburger with French fries, and it was fantastic. It was a little expensive, so we afford it with the Erasmus money. Then we left the place and went to a Christmas market. I have to say that although this one was also impressive, I liked the one in Hannover more. There I tried the 'Kakao mit Sahne' (hot chocolate with cream) and I also asked for a crêpe with sugar. Both were amazing, but what I liked the most was that I could keep the cup as a memory.
Then, we went shopping, especially looking for a jumper for Roser, but we couldn't find anything, so we decided to come back to Hannover. We were exhausted because we had walked too much, so we took the opportunity to sleep on the return trip.
When we arrived at 7 p.m., we met Rosa, our headmistress, at the main station. We said goodbye to her because she is leaving tomorrow in the morning, and then we got home.
Jula was still feeling sick, so Roser stayed at my host home again. We were so wearied, that we fell asleep without having dinner.
I truly loved Hamburg, I reckon it's my favourite German city at the moment.
Day 5: 3/12/2023
When I woke up this morning at 8, Roser was still sleeping, so I decided to take a shower, and then I put my hair up in two braids. That's when I received Rosa's phone call, saying that she had mistakenly kept a very important document from Roser.
Rosa was afraid of Roser needing that paper during the days she's staying in Hannover, and since she was leaving today to Spain, she left it at the hotel reception. Some hours later, Roser and I drove there with the train. When we got off the train, we walked a couple of minutes to the hotel, and we saw such beautiful buildings.
We picked up the paper, and then I tried to hurry up because my partner was waiting for me in Amanda's house, a Brazilian friend of her. After trying to figure out how could I get there, I found out where I had to go some minutes later.
Since I was late, they had already started making the biscuit dough when I arrived. That's when I met Amanda, the Brazilian girl, and a Mexican friend of her, Carolina.
It was actually a really easy biscuit recipe, all we necessitated was butter, sugar, flour, and an egg. Once the dough was ready, we spread the dough on the table and used baking metal moulds to make the different forms of the cookies. When we were baking the first tray of biscuits, we realized that there were few biscuits, so we mixed again the ingredients and made another biscuit dough. We repeated the process and finally baked all of them. When the biscuits were still hot, we tried to melt some white chocolate to spread it on the top, but it was difficult to melt, and it became kind of a hard paste. We wanted to fix it with some milk and it turned out great. We added on a few drops of edible colouring, and we made some purple and pink biscuits.
We finished the plan by cleaning and tiding up the kitchen and later on, we ate some cookies with a tee, while we were still talking.
I didn't completely enjoy those hours with them, actually, because I didn't find the two girls really friendly, and they had spent all the time with their phones and only talking about boys they knew. So I find that time a little annoying and boring as well.
By 5 p.m. Antonia and I had to left and go back home because she had to study for a chemistry exam, and I needed to write the diary and to study for an oral German exam I will have on Wednesday.
We took the train again, and when we arrived we started doing our homework, while Gerald, her father, was making the dinner. He cooked a super delicious pumpkin purée, and although I'm not a big fan of most vegetables, I loved it.
For dessert, we had a piece of 'Lebkuchen', a typical Christmas sweet from Germany. It tasted delicious. In the evening, I talked with my family about how my day was, and I tried to explain some parts in German to them.
Before going to sleep, I brushed my teeth and did the daily stuff, and my day ended with me speaking with some of my Spanish friends.
Day 6: 4/12/2023
Today I hadn't heard my alarm and I woke up really late, like at 7 a.m. I had only like 15 minutes to get ready for school. I left the house almost at 7.20, but luckily I could catch the train on time. Today I was going by myself to school, because Antonia was supposed to go later than me, but anyway she didn't go to school because she was feeling bad. As it was my first day making to school alone, it felt like an adventure for me. When I arrived at the school, I met Roser at the entrance, and then we had to go to the teacher's room to ask if our Spanish lesson got cancelled because nobody was at the class. A really nice teacher confirmed us that the teacher wasn't coming, so Roser and I went to the nearest supermarket to buy some breakfast. I had bought a croissant and a cold cappuccino, and I ate it at the school, while we were waiting to the next lesson and continue writing our diaries.
At this point, I started to think about how much I had stressed myself in the morning for nothing. Because I thought I was being late, and then I actually could have had two more free hours if someone had let us know. But I didn't want it to ruin my day, so I just stopped thinking about it. In the next two hours, we just stayed in the class while our German classmates were taking the chemistry exam.
Afterwards, we tried our first drama lesson. To be honest, I don't think drama is my subject. We did a couple activities to learn how to be more expressive and practice our body expression. And the last activity was about coordinating ourselves with the group. I didn't like it at all, what is more, if I could change and choose another subject I would. I would even rather to do physics or chemistry, even though I don't know anything about them.
And don't get me wrong, the teacher, and the people there were nice and friendlies, and I was also with Roser there, which was actually good, it's just that I'm not really into it.
I was glad when that hour came to an end, and right next I had a Spanish lesson on the 11th grade. This one got a little better, but all I did was present again the presentation about our school in Spain, and then, they corrected the homework.
Later on, we started the 1 hour and a half long sport lesson. Roser and I were expecting to do something exciting because the first day the teacher told us we will probably do Pilates on that lesson, but instead of that, we had to do Tai chi. It was quite boring because I'm used to doing more active activities on P.E. but anyway, all the class was laughing because the exercises were funny. Roser and I too, and we had so much fun, actually. On the second part of the sports lesson, we did like some kind of meditation. We couldn't even understand the instructions they were giving, so we just copied the other people when they were inhaling and exhaling.
When the lesson had finished, the train took me home, but I took the wrong one. So I ended up somewhere in Hannover. I started feeling a little overwhelmed because I was lost, it was getting dark, and I was alone. But luckily, after some minutes, I realized how to get myself home, and I was glad I could make it at the end.
Since Antonia had to study, and I had to study as well, I stayed home all afternoon.
All I've done was try to finish the homework for Spain, and preparing myself for the oral German exam I'm taking on Wednesday, until the dinner time came. We had pesto pasta. It was my first time eating that, because I usually sauce my pasta with carbonara or tomato sauce, but I loved it, so I'm actually taking that dinner idea for when I'm in Spain as well.
Before sleeping, I stayed a moment in front of the window, looking at the snow as it was falling down. It was beautiful because it was snowing more than the last days.
So my day wasn't that interesting in general, but I wouldn't say it was a bad day for me, neither. Because I'm still enjoying my time here and just the fact that I have the opportunity to be here it's enough to be grateful and happy about it.
Day 7: 5/12/2023
My day started at 6 a.m, when I woke up, took a shower, dressed up, made myself something for breakfast, and then took all my things to school. Today I've taken again the train alone to school. To get there, I always have to take two different trains, and today I've got a little distracted, and I've taken the wrong second one. That stressed me a little because I didn't want to be late. But at the end I could figure out how to fix my mistake, and although I didn't arrive as early as I wanted too, I was still on time so it was fine.
When we arrived, the class was closed again, and after asking a teacher, he told us that the lesson got cancelled again. After noticing that it was the second day in a row that I had rushed up in the morning for nothing, it made me a bit mad inside. But anyway, the good part is that I could have 2 hours for myself and I used that time to continue the diary and studying.
Afterwards, we looked at our schedule and it said we had a Music lesson. It was our first try here in Germany. They were taking a quick test, and we tried to do it too, but since we are not doing that subject in Spain, we didn't know barely anything about it. So after trying our best, we gave it to the teacher and then started doing homework. I found the lesson a little boring because my knowledge about music it's really low. But it was great because you could easily say that the people there, were actually interested in the lesson, and they were enjoying it.
Next came a 2 hours long German lesson. It was our first one as well since we are here. The first minutes, the teacher came up to us, and we held a little conversation in German, which made me actually happy and proud of myself, because I could manage it quite good. Then they started the lesson, and since we stopped understanding what they were saying, we started to write the diary instead.
The train took me home after our school day was over. There I have had lunch, and then I rested a little and studied for the German exam.
Later on, I left by 4 p.m. and went again by train to Jula's house, Roser's partner. I arrived there around 30 minutes later. It was the first time going there, and I had some problems at the station where I transferred trains. I got lost for a moment, but luckily it was fine at the end.
At Jula's house, the tree of us backed German typical biscuits. We started by making the dough and stretched it on the table, then cut it off in many forms, and finally put the biscuits on an oven plate to bake them.
While they were baking in the oven, we made another kind of biscuits, so we repeated all the process. But instead of stretching the dough and cut it into forms, we had to roll it and try to make like little half moons.
When both were already baked, we have decorated the first ones with a glaze, and the second ones sprinkled with icing sugar.
I found that time really fun and relaxing, and after spending all the afternoon on making the biscuits, I have eaten some of them, and they were delicious and perfectly sweet.
It was getting dark and late, so I decided to go back home. I brought some biscuits with me to give them to Antonia so she could try them, because she had to study today and had no time to come with us.
Since I wasn't starving, I have had a small bowl of pumpkin purée for dinner. Although it had been cooked two days ago, it still tasted amazing.
Right after the dinner, I went to sleep, but not before brushing my teeth and getting ready for it.
I haven't done too many things today, so my day was more like a chilling day, but it was still great. It's fine to me that sometimes we have rest days like this one, in place of stressing ourselves about seeing all the city's attractions and doing a lot of activities. I reckon, we should take it easy.
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