Alba was on exchange in Spain

My name is Alba, I am 16 years old and I am from Sweden. I spent 10 months in Seville, Spain, a city I had never heard of before, but which quickly became my absolute favourite city in the whole world.

Spain was the perfect country

I've always loved travelling and learning about new cultures, so going on an exchange year was something I decided on early. At first, I chose between many different countries, but in the end I decided that Spain, more specifically Andalusia, was the perfect country for me. I wanted to learn Spanish and found Spain and Andalusia to have a very interesting culture. I am very happy with my choice!

A new language

Moving to a country where you don't speak the language is a big challenge. Especially because neither my host family nor anyone else from the small village I lived in knew any English. I had to try to survive on the little Spanish I had learnt on ‘Duolingo’ in the months before I left. But already in the first weeks I learnt more than I had thought and after that it went fast. Without realising it, you learn new words and phrases every day. Suddenly I went from barely understanding anything to understanding almost everything in just four months!

My family was really amazing!

I think the host family you get during your exchange year sets the tone for the whole year. My family consisted of my mum, dad, a brother one year older and a sister one year younger. My family was truly amazing! They were so welcoming and throughout the year they did everything they could to make me feel at home. When I was sick, they took care of me, they took me on trips and even organised a surprise party for my birthday! Without them, my exchange year would not have been as good as it actually was and I will never be able to thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to become part of their family. My host family was not only my family for the ten months I spent in Spain, they will always be my second family and I am eternally grateful that I was placed with them.

Feria de Sevilla - the best days of the year

I have so many amazing memories from Seville, it's hard to pick just one favourite memory. But if I really had to choose one, I would say that Feria de Sevilla was the best days of the year. I had, together with some other friends of mine, bought a flamenco dress (in the picture it's me in the purple dress) and we really got to experience true Andalusian culture. During the days I tried new traditional food, looked at everyone's beautiful dresses and, perhaps most fun of all, rode lots of roller coasters!

The best year of my life

Being on an exchange year will always consist of highs and lows, of course it's not easy to live a completely new life in a completely different country. But the good really outweighs the bad and I would have done my exchange year any day of the week. The year I spent in Spain was absolutely the best year of my life. I met so many new people, got to know a whole new culture and, best of all, I can now boast that I am fluent in Spanish :)

Find out more

• Read more student stories from Spain
• Read more about a high school exchange in Spain
• See all our high school exchange destinations