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Testimonial ++ Internship ++ Barcelona
Derek's Successful Internship to Barcelona: The Journey
Derek had been trying to find himself a good internship in Barcelona, but we all know it's not that easy. After he contacted StudentsGoAbroad regarding his wish, he was immediately ready to go to Barcelona and was more than satisfied with his decision.
The Preparation
I registered at Studentsgoabroad due to the reason that I needed to do a semester and an internship abroad for my study ‘International Industrial Engineering’ at the University of Applied Sciences Stralsund.
While I did my semester abroad from August 2015 until January 2016 in Brazil, I was trying to find an internship in Europe in order to widen my horizon and gain new experiences. As finding an internship abroad was really difficult, I consulted the team of Studentsgoabroad and they immediately had a great offer for an internship with relation to my specification in Barcelona.
As the company and the internship activities met my internship requirements and Barcelona was really interesting for me, as I also have not been there before, I did not think about it too long and registered binding for an internship in this city. I kept my preparations for this adventure within a limit: Booking the flight, packing the suitcase, planning one week for orientation and discovering the city and then I could almost start. The one thing that was a bit more difficult to plan before the start was organizing accommodation. This is what the next part is about.
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Accommodation, No Problem!
Finding accommodation in Barcelona is similar to what I am used to from other bigger cities: There are various platforms on the internet that one can use for help.
I mainly focused on the websites idealista.com and Facebook. It was not too easy to organize a room for five months from Germany without having the possibility to check personally. Thus, I opted for subletting for my first month and then try to organize a solution for the coming four months in Barcelona.
Via the Facebook group ‘Barcelona Rentals: Find or post rooms, accommodation, and housing’, I met Jose who wanted to do a language course in Berlin in March and rented his room for 4 weeks. After a Skype talk, everything was settled and I had my first room in Barcelona. I shared the house with an English and a French girl and one Spanish guy. Searching for new accommodation in Barcelona was then much easier but not always stressfree.
I have seen some rooms after work and often received a rejection. The biggest problem was my almost non-existing Spanish skills as well as the short time during which I wanted to rent the room.
In the end, however, I found a room via Facebook which I shared with a Polish and a German guy and an Ecuadorian girl. It was a nice housing and a great community and I am still in contact with my roommates from both accommodations.
The central location of the apartment close to the metro station ‘Verdaguer’ also allowed me to walk to work which saved a lot of money and 'metro sweat'.
"Whatever you want to do, you can find everything here! Whether you want to go to the beach, party, music, young people, a place of retreat, good food, culture, history or astonishing landscapes, everything is directly right on your doorstep.."
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My Internship Host Company
I did my internship from the 14th of March until the 15th of July. It was a small company with 5 employees including two interns.
With my tasks, I got acquainted quite easy so that my workdays were sometimes more, sometimes less interesting.
My bosses and colleagues were all friendly and spoke perfect English. However, I did not really like the work climate as there was only a bit or no communication and everyone was staring silently on their desktop. If someone had a question or needed support, one could of course always ask the colleagues. Taking self-initiative was really an advantage.
All in all, I would say that I learned a lot from the internship in a professional, but also in a personal way.
At Last, Barcelona
I can only describe Barcelona with one word: Amazing!
Whatever you want to do, you can find everything here! Whether you want to go to the beach, party, music, young people, a place of retreat, good food, culture, history or astonishing landscapes, everything is directly right on your doorstep.
Due to the many possibilities and the vibrant life in Barcelona, one has the feeling to be in a big city but on the other hand you, the city is really compact and the simple structure of the city gives one a feeling of coziness. Really unique!
I usually spent the day after work and also the weekends with activities which I always looked forward to. Often I spent time at the beach or in a parc or doing sports - inside, as well as outside -, watched series with my roommates while having a tasty beer or was in one of the countless bars. There was something to do every day.
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I don’t know any city that is more attractive for young people than Barcelona. Except from the view of salaries.
Due to many people visiting me, I also saw the many sights of the city: Parc Güell, Sagrada Familia, the boardwalk, the inner city with El Gotic and much more. All in all, I had an unforgettable time in Barcelona and am sure that I want to come back often. I can only recommend this experience. Thanks again to the team of Studentsgoabroad that made this experience possible.
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