Study

Short introduction of myself
I am Paulien Beek and I am an Industrial Engineering & Management since 2012. I finished my bachelors within three years and didn’t want to start my masters immediately. I looked at different things I could do and eventually choose to do an extracurricular semester for my masters in Barcelona.

Practical Information
I started my semester abroad in september 2015 at the faculty ETSEIB of UPC in Barcelona. Since I didn’t do any mandatory courses, I could just pick from all the courses offered by ETSEIB. At the beginning, I had some trouble, because some of the courses that were in the catalogue I got, didn’t exist anymore or were thought in Spanish. Eventually, I did Financial Management, Renewable Energy, Bioplastics and Polymer Nanotechnology. Besides these courses, I did a language course three mornings in the week. This could be easily combined, since all university lectures were in the afternoon.

Preparation
There was not much preparation needed. After fixing everything with UPC and Erasmus, which is all guided by our exchange office, I booked a cheap ticket. I also arranged a room in advance, but I knew a lot of people who just fixed it upon arrival. The living expenses can be compared to those in Groningen, maybe a bit higher.  I would recommend to buy a bike or join the Bici (public bike membership), because Barcelona has a lot of biking lanes and is safe for bikers and it’s one of the fastest ways of getting around whilst enjoying the city.

City/Student Life
Besides the general ESN group of Barcelona, each university (Barcelona has 4) and within that each faculty, has their own ESN group. This is introduced in the introduction week of the faculty and in this way, you immediately meet a lot of fellow exchange students. They organize a lot of things to get to know Barcelona and make new friends. ESN also organizes trips to other parts of Spain that you can join, or you can easily organize it yourself by public transport or airplane. Keep in mind though, that Spain is very big, so don’t mistake on the distances. Moreover, think about that you’ll probably get a lot of visits from family and friends during your exchange, so once you have a weekend without plans, it’s quite nice to stay in Barca and enjoy all the non-touristic things with your new friends.

Although Barcelona is not far away, the culture is already quite different. A lot of the stereotypes are true. A lot of attention is paid to food, the city is still very lively in the evening and teachers and students all come too late. It takes a bit of time getting used to this, certainly if you’re punctual like me. In Barcelona you can eat all-day and there are so many amazing little restaurants and specialties. Going out for diner is a lot cheaper than here, which is awesome. Barcelona is a city with good weather and a beach, which gives living there a vacation feeling, I could lie on the beach until the end of October! I liked how diverse the city is with all the different areas, that museums are for free on Sunday and the amount of restaurants and terraces. What I disliked was that a lot of lectures lasted 3 hours, which was too long. Also all the errors in the course catalogue were a bit frustrating, but eventually everything worked out fine.

Looking Back
I could really recommend going to Barcelona for your exchange. Although it is not that far away, the culture is already very different and not a lot of people from Groningen go there, which makes it totally different from your life here. Barcelona is a wonderful city for all your interests: shopping, art, food, parks, the beach and going out. The whole experience was certainly worth the extra half year of studying. I learned to adapt more easily to odd habits and people from different cultures. I still sometimes speak to my friends from there, but of course not as intense as in Barcelona, since we are all back and busy with our own lives. The university was quite easy, so if you are purely looking for a study challenge, it would not be the best place for you. However, if you want to combine your study with discovering a big city and doing lots of social things, Barcelona is the place for you!

Contact information:
Name: Paulien Beek
Telephone: +31 6 13 41 20 43
Mail: apbeek@hotmail.com
If you are thinking of going on exchange abroad (to Barcelona) and you have any questions regarding my experience, don’t hesitate to contact me. I am more than willing to answer all your questions via mail, telephone or in person!