Our school hosted two Spanish students from a picturesque seaside town of Cádiz for two months from 27th September to 16th November 2023. The students came to the Czech Republic within the Erasmus+ project. Together with the two students, we have also had the pleasure of welcoming two Spanish teachers, Francisco Butrón Prida and Lorenzo Gómez Valero, who accompanied their students on the way to and from our country. The Spanish students, Andrea Bouza Collantes and Carmen Orellana Amaya, stayed in two Czech families (Macounovi and Štěpánovi) and attended most lessons with 6. A8 class. In return, two Czech students will be travelling to Cádiz with the Erasmus+ programme for two months in the spring of 2024. What did the Czech hosting students and the two Spanish students think about the mobility and the experience itself?
Introduction by Romana Vančáková
Amálie Štěpánová on Andrea’s stay
Being a host family for Andrea was one of the best experiences in my life. Not only she was very chill and we got along well, but she also laughed at my jokes so I can confidently say that I really enjoyed spending time with her. It was a great chance to improve our English, not only for me and her but also for my parents. We agreed on the fact that our speaking skills got so much better!
We, especially my dad, also enjoyed showing Andrea our beautiful country. We took her to many, many trips, for example to Sněžka, Prague, Velká Deštná, hockey matches or castles. Autumn in Czech Republic is usually windy, rainy and foggy, but I think she enjoyed the trips even though the weather wasn’t always the best. The main highlight was definitely ice skating; both Carmen and Andrea fell in love with this amazing sport!
Although Czech cuisine is very different from the Spanish one, Andrea adapted well and enjoyed most of the meals my parents cooked. I believe řízek was definitely one of the best meals she ever tasted in her life.
This project was amazing opportunity to improve language skills or learn how to communicate, but it wasn’t just about that. We got so many beautiful memories that I will never forget, learned a lot about Spain and their culture and made amazing friendships that may last a long time. Now, at the end of her stay, all I feel is sadness, but I am super excited for next year and my stay in Spain when I will see her again!
Written by Amálie Štěpánová
Andrea on her stay in Amálie’s family
Being an exchange student in the Czech Republic has been one of the best decisions of my life.
It really has been a great opportunity to improve my English. But that is not the reason why it has been a great experience. Before arriving, I thought that the Czech people were very serious and even unfriendly, that is what almost everyone thinks in Spain, but I immediately saw that this is not the case, the most of the people are lovely. Also, I immediately got along great with Amalie so I have been able to enjoy my time here. I liked being able to see the differences between how education is organized in Spain and in the Czech Republic and also see how different our meals are, trying food had never tried before and enjoying most of them. Being able to live these weeks with Amalie and her family has been really amazing. They have taught me a lot about this country and have taken me on many, many trips and excursions that I have greatly enjoyed. Thanks to this project I have met great people, I have learned a lot about another culture and lifestyle different from mine and I have memories that last forever.
Written by Andrea Bouza Collantes
Karla on Carmen’s stay
Before I met Carmen, I was really scared what these two months will look like. Spending time with my family (especially my brothers) can be really hard, so I´m happy that Carmen is still alive and that she enjoyed her days in our family. Every day we went to school and most lessons Carmen had self-study, so I met her only in a few classes (English, Spanish, PE…). In the afternoons we always went for walks, drank coffee, had clubs or just hung out with friends. I think that I can say that my friends really love Carmen and (I hope) Carmen really loves them. On weekends we went on trips to show Carmen and Andrea our country and culture. I enjoyed all trips, it was always amazing. My favourite weekend was when me and my friends prepared a birthday-party for Carmen. We played Laser game, ate lots of food (donuts, cake, chips…), did ice-skating, had a lot of fun and then visited Prague. I found a great fried who I will always have in my life and I´m so excited to see Carmen again in Spain.
Carmen on her stay at Karla’s family
Every week day started at 7:00 a.m. to go to school.
Andrea and I had our own timetable for school, for doing homework from Spain and going to a few classes with Karla and Amálie. The self-study office was perfect. We had everything we needed; Wi-Fi, computers, plugs…
When the school day was over, we would go to the canteen and there we’d eat lunch.
After that, depending on the day of the week we did different activities, Karla took me to her club to talk about our week, or maybe we went to her art club or for a walk… Every day was different but super funny.
On weekends we were always doing amazing trips, and most of them were hiking trips. I enjoyed it very much despite being exhausted.
Other than that, the people in the Czech Republic were so kind, every single person that I had met, were all super gentle and nice. I have met the friends of Karla and Amálie, and all of them were so kind to me and Andrea.
The family was very kind too, her parents were so pleasant and her brothers were so funny. They were always trying to make me happy by watching films in the evening, playing cards and board games or doing some arts and crafts.
The house was perfect, I had everything I needed, my room was so great, I had all the space I needed, all was perfect.
I enjoyed it so much and I hope that when Karla arrives here, I can return to her all of the things that she gave to me.
„Financováno Evropskou unií. Vyjádřené názory a stanoviska představují názory a stanoviska autorů a nemusí nutně odrážet názory a stanoviska Evropské unie nebo Domu zahraniční spolupráce. Evropská unie ani poskytovatel grantu za ně nenesou odpovědnost.“