Back in Germany

It's over! Since the night of May 20th to May 21st, I'm back home in Germany. Initially a strange feeling, I quickly got used to everything again and I'm really happy to be back here. Nevertheless, the semester abroad was a unique experience that I am very grateful for.

In the last few days, I spent time in my favorite places in the city and, of course, with the dear people I met there. Saying goodbye to everyone was definitely sad, as well as the very last walk through the city. But it was clear that this day would come, and once all the suitcases were packed, I was only looking forward to being home. The return journey went smoothly, from the taxi ride to the airport to checking in my luggage (fortunately no excess baggage, a miracle!) to arriving in my own bed, thanks to my dear parents and Matthias who picked me up.

Now it's time to draw a small conclusion about my stay in Madrid. So that it's not completely boring, I thought I'd do it in the style of 'what will I miss and what won't I miss'.

I will miss:

- 100 Montaditos

- the day and weekend trips with my friends

- the abundant availability of freshly squeezed orange juice

- the many parks (and palm trees!)

- the Gran Vía

- the difficult choice between all the bars and restaurants

- the cultural offerings

- the metro connections

- the beautiful Spanish language

I will not miss:

- the fact that the weather in Madrid and in western Germany is completely the same in winter and spring

- the bad mood of Spaniards when you don't speak Spanish

- also the poor English of Spaniards

- the unreliability

- the chlorinated tap water

- the lectures and the university system in general

I don't think you can feel better about a semester abroad than I am right now. I don't miss the time terribly, nor do I regret it. On the contrary, I am very happy to have made the decision FOR Spain last summer. However, I am coping well with the end of this chapter and am now looking forward to what comes next.

Thank you for reading! :-)