Interkultur

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Hannah's parents – 2022


Beginning 2021 our then 15-year-old daughter Hannah asked us the question, whether we plan on going abroad in the coming years 11. The high school class would agree. Not an easy decision in the middle of the Corona crisis. At first Hannah really wanted to 1 Year (!) to Australia, which was out of the question for us as parents of a 16 year old.

Finally she found a very interesting alternative on the Internet: the organization “Interculture”. We emailed Carson Bohlmann from InterKultur and a flurry of events began from there, always prompt and very friendly contact. We felt very well advised and looked after by the organization in advance. Of course there was a lot to do. Visit to the doctor for a certificate, that Hannah could travel. A conversation with Hannah's school principal. Various documents, that had to be filled out. But everything is doable .

Video calls also took place a few months before departure and everything could be sorted out “face-to-face”., what was important to us.

3-4 Months before departure, we also received photos and a kind of CV of all members of the host family in Dos Hermanas by email / Sevilla. Everything went like clockwork and the excitement slowly grew. The day of departure was not far away.

Through this, that Hannah had already been vaccinated twice at this point, There were no problems at all in this regard.

The 12.09.2021 then it was time: We drove Hannah to the airport in Frankfurt with a 23kg suitcase and hand luggage. The adventure could begin.

One more thing: It wasn't easy for us as parents. The first 1-2 Weeks especially. But from then on it just got better and better: We kept in touch with our daughter almost every day through regular phone calls and WhatsApps, which was really good.

Unfortunately, school didn't start as planned 15.09. but a week later. But Interkultur was not responsible for this. There were probably reasons from the school, why lessons didn't start immediately. But after a week everything went like clockwork and a routine set in. The lessons were daily from 8.15 until 14.45 Clock.

There were student meetings, which is a trimester or. spent a whole school year in Andalusia and developed strong friendships, which continue to this day.

Hannah – 2022


The 12.09.2021 I got on the plane, which took me to my host family, which I previously only knew from a few messages and pictures, should bring. When I arrived in Seville, my host family was waiting for me, as well as Angela from Interkultur and we made our way to my home for the next ones 3 months. The biggest change for me was definitely the daily routine, That's almost never the case in my family 15 Noon, or before 22 was eaten in the evening.

But you get used to that pretty quickly and after there were some problems with my place at school at first, which the Interkultur team took care of directly, My first day of school came. The fear, not to meet anyone, was actually for no reason and so I was immediately surrounded by my entire class during my first break. A closer group of friends quickly formed, with which I also now, back in Germany, still in contact.

School days in Spain are in 2 divided into three-hour blocks, so that you can do it every day until about 15 o'clock school has. I was incredibly lucky with all of my teachers and were generally allowed to use Google Translate in class and in work. I am also, although I only for 3 Was in Spain for months, joined a sports club right from the start, which I can only recommend to everyone, On the one hand, Spaniards don't really do anything in the afternoon and on the other hand, you can get to know a lot more people this way.

Overall, during my time in Spain I also did a lot with other exchange students from other countries, which was incredibly interesting and resulted in equally close friendships (A vacation to Spain next summer is being planned :D). By the way, the end result wasn't meeting new friends, Saying goodbye to Germany or being homesick is the biggest problem, but again from all the people, that have grown so dear to your heart, to say goodbye.

All in all, I can only thank Interkultur, because they gave me a well-organized and unique time in Spain!

Stephanie H. – 2012


The beginning of my long journey dates back a long time. Because I decided to do it very late, wanting to do an exchange year, I couldn't waste any time finding the right exchange organization. Since there are more than... 70 Exchange organizations only exist for Spain, I set off, to ask my friends for advice. Many people have advised me about interculture, because it only happens very rarely, that you change family, because the people there try very hard to bring every single student to the right host family. And that was actually the most important thing to me - that I was in mine 5 I'll feel comfortable there for months. As already mentioned, I was very late and that's why I was a bit scared, that no family would be free anymore. But completely unexpectedly I got a call from Ishmael, who told me, Something would come up. As I said, I received my host family details before Christmas. I was terribly excited, because I knew almost no Spanish and was worried no one would understand me. But as it turned out later, this fear was unfounded.

When I am 21. January 2012 one 05:00 In the morning I began my journey into the unknown, I was very nervous. Saying goodbye to my family was very difficult and I thought to myself: “I wish I had stayed at home.” However, I met many nice Spaniards on this trip, who were also able to take away my fear and nervousness about something. When I arrived in Alicante, my host family and my supervisor Reyes were waiting for me. Thank God my host cousin was also there and she speaks good English, so I was able to at least have a little chat with them. When I got home, I was immediately allowed to call my parents in Austria, We went shopping and had a “typical” meal together, “Spanish dinner”.. I have to be honest, that I was a bit homesick and worried on the first evening here 5 Having to spend months. However, my family did so many things with me, that I didn't even have time to think about home. J That helped me a lot. On my first weekend we went to Barcelona, where I met all the other exchange students and was able to make friends.

The next few weeks flew by, I went to school, met a lot of new people, who also helped me with my Spanish and I quickly settled into everyday life. Because of the cultural difference between my small village in Austria and a Spanish “city”. 18.000 population, however, was already large, I have to admit, that it wasn't always easy for me. The Spanish's sense of humor was also new to me. Sometimes they criticized me harshly, However, they didn't mean anything bad. I probably took it too much to heart and that's why we had a bit of an argument from time to time. But that's exactly what made me the way I am now. I tried to adapt, but also to remain as I am. For my host family it was of course also a difficult situation to have someone in the house, to care for him, having to share everything,... My father was also my music teacher and sometimes that didn't really make the whole situation any easier. It is quite difficult to separate private from academic matters, but I think my host father and I, we handled it well.

I learned a lot, got relatively good grades and my Spanish got a lot better in no time. I bought little grammar books and asked my parents, if I wanted to know something and the language was actually pretty easy for me considering, that at the beginning I just said “hola!”, "how are you",...that was a huge step forward for me personally. At least I could ask for less than 3 For months now I only needed to talk and speak in Spanish (fast) no more English translations. My friend Ellen also gave me, which also comes from Austria, Living in town with me and staying here for a year was very helpful. Not just with language, even when I had problems. Sometimes in exceptional situations she couldn't help me either, and thank God I could always turn to Ishmael, who immediately stood by me and helped me. I am very grateful for that.

I can say fundamentally, that each individual will definitely have different experiences and experiences, But basically everyone is the same. I didn't have any problems with eating, nor with the temperament of the people. I just found it funny sometimes, when they joke with each other and talk VERY loudly and to strangers it just looks like they're about to kill each other... hahaThe only thing, What caused me problems was the heat, which I'm just not used to. That was pretty hard at times.

It was very difficult for me to say goodbye, I had to say goodbye to all my friends and relatives for three days and that was very tiring, but I know, that I will come back. These five months have changed my view of foreign cultures and I am incredibly happy, to have dared to do that and also grateful, that my family(n) made this possible for me. I'm coming back to Spain very soon and will see all my friends and family again. I'm quite sure of that!

Martina's mother – 2014


When my daughter Martina came for the first time in the summer 2010 expressed the wish, wanting to spend a semester in Spain, I was surprised. She, who is so closely connected to her family and friends and only 15 years old? So I proposed to her, to collect information material and arrange everything for a stay, with the ulterior motive, that with this work she would probably lose interest in it….

I was skeptical and Martina's father was against staying in Spain. But Martina stubbornly stuck to her wish. She looked for an organization on the Internet and found “Interkultur” with which she communicated intensively. I had never heard of interculture before and so I had great concerns. But Martina clarified, If you go to Spain then only with interculture!

I felt, Martina was serious, and that seemed unreal to me. Questions after questions popped up in my mind and made me uneasy: How will she get to Spain alone? She will live with a nice host family? How will she be received at school?? Does she get along with the Spanish mentality and Spanish food?? what is, when she gets sick? Will it get lost somewhere??

This was followed by a meeting with Mr. Carson Bohlmann in Vienna, a long telephone conversation with Mr. Ismael Nieto, both employees of Interkultur, and a conversation with the Spanish embassy in Vienna, which dispelled my doubts, and from that point on I also supported Martina's wish.

The last days before departure in January 2011 I was under electricity. We really thought of everything, Travel insurance, Party favors, Take winter clothes with you, yes or no? Booked the flight correctly? Let's reach Vienna Schwechat Airport in time , if there is a snow chaos here? Mr. Ismael Nieto answered again and again, professionally and practically immediately my emails, always patiently addressed my concerns and solved all problems. The day before departure was bad, when Martina said goodbye to her best friend crying, so that I feared, Something like that would also happen to us at the airport when saying goodbye.

But despite the tension, we got through it well. Then came the fear, she will arrive safely at her host family??? But Martina relieved us of this worry with a short text message, everything was fine. We had agreed at home, that she can contact us at any time, However, we would show little initiative on our part to make contact, especially at the beginning, so that she can settle in to her new surroundings in peace. Of course that was extremely difficult for me, but I felt, that this is best for us. After a few days it became clear to me, that Martina is having a hard time dealing with the many new impressions in her new surroundings, that rained down on them. I encouraged her, that everyone in her situation goes through this, she should continue to keep in touch with her host family.

She tried. We skyped, she told me, she would be fine, but I felt, that it wasn't really like that. My whole family encouraged her and made her feel good, she would do well and settle in well.

Martina – 2014


The 15. It started in January. I was very excited and curious about the next ones 6 months. The day before I had to say goodbye to all my friends, which was really difficult, because I knew, that it would be very hard without her for such a long time.

Now I was standing there at the airport with my family, and we got to passport control, where I had to say goodbye to them. I had been putting off this moment all along, because I knew, that this was one of the hardest ever.

Of course I was terribly tense and thought to myself, “Why would I do something like that?? How do I suddenly come up with the idea?, to leave home for six months? Am I mature enough?, to do it alone, to go to Spain, without even knowing anyone there?

Suddenly I became very skeptical and didn't know what to do, But this nervousness actually went away very quickly on the plane, because I was lucky enough to get to know a very well-known Austrian athlete and that distracted me from the pain of saying goodbye.

Arrived in Barcelona, I didn't know where to go at first, because the airport was very big. So I just followed the crowd, and that was good, because I received my suitcase very quickly and then immediately found an Interkultur employee, who picked me up. He took me to the train station and I waited for the train to Alicante. While waiting, the usual questions came up again, because I felt alone despite the many people in the station. After about an hour and a half of waiting, I was able to get on the train. But what was completely strange to me at the train station, war, that they even checked luggage here like at the airport, Of course I didn't know anything like that, because I only ever took the train in Austria.

During the 4-hour train ride I was already thinking about my host family, It will probably be living with a family that is initially a stranger for six months? I was worried too, whether my Spanish was good enough, to be able to communicate with the Spanish and make friends. When I arrived, I was greeted at the train station by my host family and my supervisor. After it was very late in the evening and I left very tired and exhausted, I then fell asleep very soon, Of course I still wrote to my family in Austria, that I was fine.

After a while I got used to Spanish life, because lifestyles have a lot of differences. It took me a while, to process the farewell to my confidants from Austria and it was particularly difficult at the beginning, not to be homesick. This came about, that I didn't feel comfortable in my host family and after a few weeks I decided I wanted to, to move to another family. Luckily that happened very quickly, and just two days later I was staying with another host family, who I had already known from school. From that point on I just enjoyed every moment in Spain. I got to know a lot of people very quickly, not just exchange students, but also, which was very important to me, many Spaniards, because I came too, to learn Spanish well. We do things very often, even if they have to study for school, and also went here and there in Alicante.

Every day was just uniquely great and I miss my time in Spain very much. I am still in contact with my Spanish friends and also with the other exchange students and I am sure of that, that I will be going back to Alicante very soon, to visit my friends and host family. I can recommend an exchange year to every young person, Because an opportunity like this doesn't come along very often in life and you should definitely take advantage of it. Because even if it is very difficult at the beginning, It gets better and better every day and you can fully enjoy Spain.

Katharina – 2010


About a year before my exchange in Spain, I started thinking about where I should go. All my friends have decided to go to English-speaking countries, but I really wanted to go to Spain, because I just love the country. (Besides, I had been learning since back then 2 years of Spanish in school) When it came to my city's decision, I got a few opinions from people, which almost everyone told me, that they would go to Andalusia, because you can experience the typical Spanish culture up close there. I also really wanted to go to a city and not a small village.

So I asked around and finally came across Seville. Since I wasn't sure whether I would like it there, I signed up for two months. The last few weeks before my departure flew by and I became more and more nervous, but I was really looking forward to it.

When the day came and I got on the plane, I first realized what I was actually doing and how crazy the whole thing was, but this feeling soon turned into great anticipation. When I landed in Barcelona, Ismael met me at the airport and took me to the accommodation for the upcoming preparation weekend. There I met many other girls and boys, who did the same thing as me and we were able to talk about our fears and doubts. The weekend in Barcelona was short, but still very funny and I learned a lot about Spanish life and the Spaniards, which was quite helpful to me in the coming months.

On Sunday the time had come and we had to say goodbye to some of our acquaintances’ separate, because we are in groups, took different trains to our respective cities. Arrived in Seville, My host family was already waiting for me, who welcomed me incredibly warmly and took me to my new home’ drove. The family was really nice and helpful and helped me a lot with my language problems. My room was also great and I lived in the middle of the city, just five minutes from my school.

My school was generally really great! Of course you can use the Spanish school system, do not compare with that from Austria or Germany, because in Spain there is total frontal teaching, but you get used to it over time. Both the students and the teachers were all so incredibly kind and helped me with everything from day one. Although it was a bit difficult at the beginning because of the language, I found a connection straight away. (Which is pretty easy for Spaniards, because they are a very open people) My friends invited me to everything and took me everywhere, so that I was able to experience and learn a lot about the city.

By the way, Seville is a wonderful city! It is one of the most beautiful cities, I have ever seen and I can only recommend everyone to go there. For me the size of the city was perfect, not too big and not too small. The old town in particular is incredibly beautiful and you can reach all the important places in the center on foot and there are also good bus connections to all parts of the city. Semana Santa was particularly impressive for me(Holy Week) and the April Fair. These two festivals take place every spring and are particularly famous in Seville (Anyone who goes to Seville, I recommend being there for these festivals, because these are unforgettable experiences) One of the most important things in Spain is, that you are open! At school, with friends, with your family…talk as much as possible and don't withdraw! You'll see, that the Spaniards are so warm, are open and helpful and it won't be a problem at all, to integrate you. It's always a little difficult in the first few weeks, because you have to get used to everything and you only know a few people. Which I did too (and what I advise everyone) is, in all activities, that are offered to you, to take part. No matter whether at a celebration, for shopping, a trip or something else, you definitely have to go! Because things like this can help so much to strengthen friendships and relationships. I often had absolutely no desire for anything, But I took part and was so happy afterwards, that I had done it. In addition, the Spaniards also notice this, that you make an effort and enjoy doing things with them. Already after the first few weeks, I was sure then, that I would like to stay longer than two months, so I extended it to four months. (In the end I didn't want to leave at all) Unfortunately, these four months passed very quickly and my departure was already slowly approaching. The last few days my parents came to Seville to visit and got to know my new “home” for themselves. They were also fascinated by the city and the culture and understood me well, that I would have preferred to stay there.

The last day at school and with my family was the worst! Saying goodbye was incredibly difficult for me and there were many tears, but I knew that I would visit her again soon. In conclusion I can say, that my stay in Seville, It was one of the best decisions of my life so far and I don't regret it in any way.

I have learned so much and am proud of myself, what I have accomplished! Not just linguistically, but also personally and culturally, this trip gave me a lot and I can only recommend it to everyone out there, to do something like that.

I know exactly how difficult the decision is and how great the fear often is, but at the end of your journey you will look back and remember, that it was all for nothing else. All love, Kathi

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