Castellón, España - October 3, 2004
A lot of things have happened since last time I posted. The Austrian program finished. The last two weeks consisted of a Cyberdemocracy course. It was great working on the computers and studying aspects related to it. Since that time I was also briefly able to visit Zurich, Switzerland and Milan, Italy for a few days. But at this time I am now back in Castellon, Spain and have begun the third and final semester in this Master´s Program.
I spent the first week living with a few other students before I found my own flat off campus. Now I am roommates with two guys from my same program, one of the two guys was also in the Innsbruck, Austria program. The apartment is great, I have a room with a small balcony. Its a bit unusual though, as the windows are quite large, and right across the street is a huge apartment building as well with many big windows and balconies. So there is this feeling of being on display all the time. Its interesting though, as so many people living so close together in this way.
This time around in Spain feels so different being off-campus. I really have a different sense of the people and the country - and I quite like it. Last time in Castellon, I lived on-campus, and my sense of the place was extremely limited. Now I can see how many fiestas, families, and just constant life goes around here all the time. People stay up all night doing things, sleep during siestas in the day, and just really live life to the fullest. I quite like it.
We also started our introduction courses to the semester and to the program. There are, of course, many new students. However, at the same time, there are many here from the past as well. There are about 5-6 of us who were also studying in Castellon last Spring. There are also 4 of us who were studying in Innsbruck, Austria this last Summer. So I feel like I know quite a few people from quite a few places, plus all the new ones just coming in now.
We also already finished one week of classes. There are 11 more weeks left. I also bought an airline ticket back to Michigan for after the program - late December. I have this sense of feeling that this time is going to be over before I know it, and suddenly I will be back in Michigan thinking of the next part of my life.
Funny being in Castellon again though. My room in this apartment costs me 120 euros a month. Its just about nothing! One of my roommates got a job teaching English 9 hours a week, which will pay him about 1000 euros a month. I was just thinking how easy it would be to live in a place like this longterm if you were so determined. An interesting idea. But for me, I see myself doing something different, but cant help but think of things like that.
Next Journal (six months later) in Seoul, Korea:
April 7, 2005
You can email me at:
Wintermoon2@yahoo.com