Studying at IE University in Madrid, Spain

Hola !

Since I started my degree in 2017 I knew I wanted to go on Exchange. It was the one thing I’d constantly talk about with friends and family.

Now that I’m here I never want to go back.

Madrid is everything I’ve ever wanted from a city. The Spaniards wake up late, have naps during the day and stay out until the early hours of the morning. While I’m yet to have a good proper Spanish meal I can confirm that the ramen and noodles here are as cheap and as good as they are back home.

I’m staying in a student residence 5 minutes’ walk from my university that’s run by an external company because IE university does not have student accommodation. The accommodation itself is nice, it’s a long room with all the essentials for the low price of 400aud a week :O. No but seriously, staying with other students is amazing and you hardly spend any time alone in your room so no matter where you go try to avoid feeling bad about prices because the memories you’ll make are well worth it.

University orientation begins next week so I have no comments on that except that I’m so keen to meet all the other exchange students.

Anyone that plans on going on exchange to a country where they speak another language. !!!D O W N L O A D   D U O L I N G O NOW!!!!

I started practicing Spanish casually 6 months ago and it has been invaluable. Being able to ask basic questions when in need and understanding conversations has been amazing and if I could go back I would have practiced more and earlier than I did.

While I left Australia around 2 months ago and traveled all over Europe starting in Turkey, followed by Hungary, Greece, The Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany and then finally Spain I don’t recommend it. I booked my initial flight to Turkey very far in advance (before confirmation that I was going on exchange) and it made the weeks before I left incredibly stressful because I didn’t have enough time to apply for my visa and caused a number of other issues. Save travelling for just before, during and after exchange to make your life as easy and relaxed as possible.

Before I go, I’d just like to say that these past few months have been some of the best in my life and I will always be grateful to the people who helped make it so amazing. Thank you to UTS for the experience, you’re the best !!

Erol Aziz Candan
Bachelor of IT
IE University 
Spain

For more information about the UTS Global Exchange program please visit: www.global-exchange.uts.edu.au