From a Bank Clerk to an Educator : Jule's Internship Journey in Barcelona

Jule is 24 years old, a trained banker and lives in Stuttgart. She is hesitant about her career choices and thinks about a career change because she is very interested in the social sector. In order to test whether the job as a teacher would be something for her, she had decided to do an internship in a kindergarten. Moreover, to escape the cold winter in Germany she knew that she wanted to go to Spain. Since she fell in love with Barcelona during a visit she really wanted to try out living in this city. Therefore she decided to do a 12 weeks internship in Barcelona plus an additional 2 weeks in the end to enjoy the good weather and everything else Barcelona has to offer.

Getting a room was very easy for Jule: she just commented on a Facebook post and that's how she got in contact with her future flatmate. She really likes living in her shared flat as she gets along very well with all of her 4 flatmates. “My room is very big and I even have a small balcony!”, Jule tells me. But what she likes most about her flat is the location: “I’m living in the neighborhood of Raval, exactly between the Ramblas and the MACBA. There’s always something going on in this part of the city and everything is super close.”

Jule completed her internship at a bilingual kindergarten right in the middle of Barcelona. She was mainly responsible for the afternoon care of the 3- to 5-year-olds. “At first I only worked part-time but I enjoyed it so much that I talked to the manager and offered to sometimes work full days.”

All in all, she loved the atmosphere at the kindergarten since they have a great ratio of staff and children which allows her to spend time with each child individually. The daily schedule was very organized and well structured, which is very important for the children. In addition to pedagogical and educational activities, she also spends time playing and being active with the children.

On a daily basis, she usually took the kids to the park or the playground or played with them on the kindergarten’s own rooftop terrace.

Jule's conclusion: “It really was an extraordinary experience. The working atmosphere was just great and I got along very well with my colleagues! We also met up outside of work.”

“I absolutely love living in Barcelona. The city is so alive and there are so many things to do every day, especially in the evenings.” Her favorite bar is the "First Bar" close to the Ramblas. According to Jule, they serve the best cocktails in town. She really enjoyed spending her time in cafés like the Brunch and Cake, Federal Café, Juice House or in Tropico: “It’s one of my insider tips since it is rather hidden. That’s why a lot of tourists don’t find it that easily.” Besides that, she liked spending time at the beach, in Ciutadella Park or sitting in the sun in front of the MACBA drinking coffee.

Even though she was a little homesick in the beginning, she got over it very fast as she found friends during the first intern meeting with whom she spent most of her weekends. “I was always so busy that there simply hasn't been time to feel homesick!”