First time out of the United States

Buenas Trades (Good afternoon)

This is Matthew Walter from UW-Platteville blogging for my first time ever. Not only is it my first time blogging but the topic I will be blogging about consist of my first time out of the United States. I have always knew I have wanted to travel the world but never really knew when or where I was going to travel. Well in September of 2022 I began the long but easy process of applying to Study Abroad. Looking through all the programs that Platteville offered the one that caught my eye was the SAIIE program in Seville (Sevilla), Spain. I was most interested in this program because of all the different things they offer from schooling to extracurricular activities. After months of filling out the UW-Platteville abroad application and emailing the directors of the SAIIE program, February 12th finally arrived and my life was about to change forever. I was about to go into the brand new environment of Spain without knowing any of the native language, Spanish, all by myself. 

My trip consisted of leaving from Chicago and flying to Madrid.  From there I caught a connecting flight to Seville. This process was super easy and harmless as I have flown many times, but being tall made the 8 hour and 10 minutes flight from Chicago a bit uncomfortable. Once I landed in Madrid I experienced my first new experience, which was going through customs. I had no idea what I was doing, and hardly knew any Spanish, so I just followed the huge crowd. But on my way to customs I was very fortunate to find another student studying in Seville named Noah ---, and by coincidence he was my roommate for my homestay in Seville. So we were able to connect and begin to get to know each other right away, which was super helpful.  We were able to help each other get through the Madrid and Seville airport. Once we arrived in Seville, we were welcomed by Stuart Chirpes, and then sent on our way facing many new first in a whole different world than the United States. Throughout my first couple days I have had the opportunity to explore the beautiful city of Seville and begin my studies through SAIIE and EUSA international.

                       

Over the course of my study abroad I will be blogging every 2-4 days discussing many topics of my interest throughout my time in Seville. Somethings I will cover will be similarities and differences I have notice between Seville and United States, what it is like to work Spain, what school is like in Spain, many challenges I have faced, what it is like to live with a host family, what it is like to play soccer in Spain, and last I will talk a little about how awesome the SAIIE team is as well as the other students studying in the program.


Feel free to stop by for my next blog.

Adios (goodbye)


Comments

  1. SAIIE15 February 2023 at 06:55

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  2. SAIIE15 February 2023 at 06:59

    Thank you Matthew for this first blog. It was really fun reading and thank you for sharing all your thoughts about your trip to Sevilla. We're sure that many students who still have not travelled abroad will find it very interesting.

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