It is all over....#reallifestarts NOW!

Hello everyone, we apologize for simply disappearing in June, but we finished exams, we enjoyed the last days in Zaragoza and Spain and then head back to Germany for some time with our family. Marie had a short break and went straight into her internship in Amsterdam, Dawe had a little longer holiday and is now working in Hamburg. We just wanted to say that we had an incredible time in Zaragoza and we want to thank all our friends for the unique time, which will be in our hearts forever.
There are not enough words to describe the experience we had and we still miss it every day.

Special message to this man from Marie: Dawe, you are the best cousin I could ever ask for! I don't know what I would have done the past months without you and your positive energy. We share the best memories and I know we can't live in one city now, but I hope one day again. Thank you for being always there for me, listening to my mood swings and still making me smile. Thank you for going to Mc Donalds with me when I needed it the most, looking after me when I was really sick and making me soup. Thank you for being my wing man when I didn't need it haha and thank you for going shopping with me. There is no other guy like you, and nobody can replace you. You are in my heart forever, te quiero mucho.

Advice!

Before we go.......Quick advice to everyone!

Especially when you are a girl and you want to come to Zaragoza, bring all your make-up, lotion, shampoo things that you usually use. It turns out that everything is relatively cheap in Spain except for all these things you can find in your toilet bag...

Same goes for the boys! Dawe had to go to several barber shops in order to get his 'special' styling gel.. and also paid un huevo (check the previous posts if you don't know what that means ;)).

Burger King is better than Mc Donalds!

When you manage to have a terrace in Spain, enjoy the warm nights outside. Lay outside at night if you can, take in the sound of the people speaking and the smell of Spanish food. The warm air and the light breeze around you.


                                      ENJOY EVERY SINGLE DAY!

No more university in Spain!

We had our last day of university on the 29th of May, the following week the first exams began and we were busy studying. In total we had 4 exams and we already know we have passed one! Happy times. In between the study sessions, we took the time to enjoy the last weeks in Zaragoza. Marie went on some exploring tours with her roommates, we had churros early in the morning, visited some of the beautiful churches and in general had a good look around the barrios of the city. 

BUT MOST OF THE DAYS LOOKED LIKE THIS................... 

Experiencing business life

Three weeks ago, Marie got invited to go to Germany for two internship interviews in Frankfurt. She got to experience the life that many business people deal with every day. In total I was gone for 4 days, as I had to stay one night at the beginning and one night at the end in Barcelona, as my flight was so early or late that I could not get a train or a bus back to Zaragoza. However, with this flight I was able to use all day in Frankfurt, which was the most important aspects. After a night of not sleeping, I left on a Tuesday morning at 7am for Germany. I was rather excited to be back in my home country after 4 months, even if it was only for 48 hours. I arrived at 9.30 am in Frankfurt and made my way to the city center. Too nervous to eat, I found a café where I had some coffee, water and Wifi. In general, if you ever have an interview, it is important to ask if you need to prepare or bring anything. Also, make sure you have suitable clothes, prepare yourself meaning read about the company and prepare some simple questions. Most importantly, smile and be yourself, don't be the position they want to fill, be the person they want to hire! Luckily, a very good friend of mine lives in Frankfurt and I could stay with her for the night. THANK YOU LINDA!!! you are the best. She made me some typical German food, which was suuuuuuuper delicious and I loved it. It was nice to catch up with her and seeing Frankfurt for the first time. The following day I had another interview in the morning before I left again for Spain.

One week later, I went to Düsseldorf, this time I was only gone for three days in total and only one day in Germany. Fortunately, my mother came to see me, so I was able to spend the day with her, which I was very happy about, as I had not seen her since January. She picked up me from the airport in the morning, took my suitcase (I already took lots of things home, which I didn't need anymore in Spain). The interview only went for 45 minutes, so we enjoyed all day in Düsseldorf with some family. The following morning I flew back to Barcelona, where I met a friend from Leeuwarden. Lynn has done her exchange in Barcelona, we met up a couple of times and she even came to Zaragoza. Thus, it was nice to see her and combine business with leisure. Overall, it really felt like being on a business trip, having meetings and places to be, traveling with a small suitcase and looking all nice. In the end, I got to see a little bit more of Barcelona and we spend the day enjoying the sun. In the evening, I returned to Zaragoza, where my flatmates where already waiting for me. Funny enough it did feel like coming home and it feels even more funny that we have to leave soon....

Lynn and me! :)

London

The last week Dawe took a short trip to London, as the flights are usually quite inexpensive from Zaragoza. It was fun, although he spent only two days there (not counting the arrival and departure). As he doesn't want to bore you with all the details, he will only write some aspects that you will need to consider when you want to go there - and, of course, show you some pictures ;)

General advices:

• The airport (speaking about Stansted) is huuuuge. It takes a lot of time to go to your gate; take this definitely into account when you are departing from London. Moreover, it takes around 2 hours from there to go to the city centre of London - no matter if going by train or bus, it's basically the same.
• London is really, really expensive. Additionally, be advised that you have to pay for almost everything extra if you are staying in, for instance, a hostel. This includes also 'commodities', such as wi-fi... even though the web page states "our rooms have wi-fi" - yeah, sure, if you pay for it. Furthermore, it will cost you around 20 Pounds (yes, Pounds, not Euros) to eat out. In Chinatown you can get food cheaper, for instance, buffets from 10 Pounds but if you want to go to a 'real' restaurant, I guess it will be easily over 100. If you don't have that much money, you will only eat in fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Subway... I even saw a 'Five Guys' (I thought those ones only exist in America?)
• If you do not want to run the entire day through the city and getting tired, you will want to take the subway. You can easily get an 'Oyster Card', which you can top up. At the end of your stay, you can return it and the remaining money on the card will be refunded. However, it is complicated to understand how it works and where you can change the subway. This results in the fact that you will usually have to ask locals for directions. 
• The same goes for the city. With its many small avenues and streets, you will be in need of a map. But be aware that not all streets are incorporated into the maps and often details are being left out. Unfortunately, you can't get those ones at the airport but every tourist information centre has it. We got our from some girls I approached (if, by any chance in the world, one of the girls is reading my blog.. BIG THANKS to you! You saved our lives!)
• London has many things to offer and it is way too much to see in a few days. Hence, I would recommend to, first, plan everything beforehand what you want to visit and, secondly, to try to stay as long as possible - or as long as you can afford it ;) For instance, we wanted to visit four museums and many other things but we simply ran out of time.
• The weather is... let's put it this way, different from the climate in Zaragoza or Spain in general. Consequently, you will need a jacket. In my case, I was welcomed by rain... typical for England.
• If you are low on budget, I assume you'll book a hostel. Maybe you should consider not to go for the cheapest one, as I am sure that it won't provide any quality in terms of accommodation.
• Different districts, different people. Camden town is fun to see the market there, but you do not want to spend the night there. In the city centre, you will see a lot of rich people, cars that cost way beyond €100,000 and, of course, many tourists from all over the places.
• However, no matter where you go, you will encounter many coffee shops. Recapping, I think every corner has a Starbucks!

Regarding the pictures you are about to witness, I will just pick some random ones, as we made over 500... would take days to upload all of them ;)

Street artist

London weather ;)

Big Ben by night

London Eye

Food from Chinatown

Yeah, pretty common to see such cars in London, especially by night...

... but also throughout the day

You will DEFINITELY need that!

Calling home ;)

The street artist from above.. I really laughed out loud during his show. Also wanted to upload parts of it but somehow Blogger doesn't want to allow me to upload videos..

Sometimes you just need some time to relax and enjoy the view

An M&M's store

National British Museum... I think we spent there over four hours. Originally we thought to visit four museums but in the end we had only time for two.

Serious relationships and ERASMUS

Continuing the topic of the previous post, we also want to share some thoughts on being in a relationship while going on exchange. Again, this might sound harsh but it is just the things we observed during our stay. It is neither negative nor positive; it is just the way it is.

While being here, we've seen it all. People who are finding new partners and going into a relationship are the rarest thing you will witness during your stay. We guess, it's because of the fact that this is a very loose moment in your life; of course, you will make friends from all over the world but there lies already the problem. It's easy to fall in love here but it is way too difficult to plan something serious. Imagine, you are dating someone and it starts to get serious. But in a few months you are about to leave this country and maybe you'll go back to your home country, maybe you will end up somewhere in the world you don't have a clue about now - and your significant other follows a similar path. In the end, it is common that you will hook up with people from different nationalities, having almost no common ground except for your timely limited stay in this country. The only kind of relationships we can think about that will last are the ones with locals, as at least one of you will know where they will stay the next year(s).

However, most of the time you will encounter people breaking up. We've heard of way too many couples that aren't together anymore. There was one guy, thinking of marrying his girlfriend.. until the point she went also on exchange and broke up with him to gain experience and 'live her life'. Moreover, we think that it is definitely due to the fact that we are currently in a moment of our life, where it is difficult to maintain long-term relationships and even more difficult to have a long-distance relationship.

And then, of course, there are the ones who will stay in their relationships. There will always be some exceptions and they end up being happily together after their Erasmus semester; but most of those ones have also a downside: unfaithfulness. For instance, there is this one girl from another country and her boyfriend is also on exchange in a different Spanish city, not too far from Zaragoza. However, every time we see her in the club, she's with a different guy. Hence, we would just like to prepare you for those circumstances and mention that you should be aware of such things if you plan to keep on going with your relationship. Picking up the example from above, most of the people here just want to enjoy life. Additionally, it is tempting for many people; how big are the chances that your other half will find out? For them, it's about gathering experience, living a good life and being in the moment without thinking too much or about the consequences.

All we can say is whatever you choose for yourself, it will be alright. We are not fond of this unfaithfulness, but we want to prepare you. Life goes on and you are living this life to learn from it.

Out of sight, out of mind....

This is our blog, our story. We can share good experiences, but of course we can also share bad experiences. When you go overseas it is important to have a thick skin, you will be alone, thus you need to be independent and mature enough to deal with the new situation. The beginning is always the hardest, you do not know anyone and your friends and family are miles away. Nowadays, people move several times from place to place. People come and go in your life and don't try to hold on to people who do not want to be in your life. It is essential to move on, not only physically but also with your mind.

While we have been in Spain, we have realised, who good friends are and who we can rely on during times of need. Many people want to know how you are, but only a handful of persons actually care. And from many people you never hear a word again; everyone wanted to visit and come over, but in the end nobody turns up. People are fake, they pretend to be someone they are not. Hence, do not be disappointed in the end if people turn out to be different than you expected and some things change in your life. And you can be sure, there will be changes! We are really tired of fake people and especially of the ones who think they are something better.

You realise you can only rely on yourself and your family; these are the most essential aspects in your life. Your family is always there for you and will support you no matter what. Keep the people close who love you the most and actually care. 

We do not want to be negative, but we just want to speak the truth and what we have experienced over the past months. Remember nobody is ever too busy, if they care they will take the time!

Now, we are approaching the point of time again where we need to leave this "home" and find a new place for us, new apartment, new friends, new surroundings and everything starts from zero again. This is life and it might go on for a while, but we are happy to have each other and our families, as they have been the best!