I cannot say I know any high school aged students here in Spain, but I have had the chance to have intercambios with a few freshmen in college (about 18 years old) and all of them have seemed extremely interested in the US. When I tell them I am from California, some have visited and absolutely loved it, others who haven’t visited intend to sometime in the future. I think the younger generations here are much more open to the world outside of Spain than usually are similar aged people in the US to the world outside of the states.

About the war, I have not had many extensive discussions with very many people on this topic, but I will say it is a slightly mixed bag. To the majority around here, Bush does not have a very good reputation. Most of the people I have spoken with feel the US is simply interested in oil and created a bogus excuse to start a war with very little, honest interest in helping anyone aside from them/ourselves. I have also heard the term “world police” thrown out there quite a few times. Aside from this, I have also heard from former European military folks that Bush is a genius and he started the war where he did in order to isolate the fighting of terrorists outside of the US. This opinion, however, is definitely in the minority.

I don’t want to turn this into a political blog by any means, as I am more interested in expressing my views on the positive aspects of international education and intercultural exposure, therefore I don’t believe I will say much more on this matter. Hopefully you find this at least somewhat helpful for your paper.

Good luck!

Matt

I first was wondering as well about going to Spain to study. I have done it and never regret it.
The language and the culture are so beautiful, so I think if you agree with this it should be easy to learn Spanish!

I travelled through many parts of Spain and it has so many beautiful cities and sceneries!

Where do you want to go Tom?

I was surfing on the internet and came upon your blog. It is very interesting to read what you think about Barcelona and its people. I have been living there for a while as well and we share the same opinion. Everybody agrees the service in Barcelona is really bad. It seems the people in general are very friendly (when they are not working) and if they are the service can be really bad, however this is not always the case. I recommend you to visit the south of Spain where the people are so different and even more relaxed!

I don´t know if you visited other larger cities in Europe? All the cities like Rome and Paris are sooooooo different from Barcelona. You just can´t compare them. Europe seems to look like one for people from outside Europe but that´s not true at all. The various cultures differ a lot and it is very interesting to visit them all!!

I hope you will enjoy your stay in Barcelona as much as I do!

If you don´t now where to find things in Barcelona just let me know!

Kind regards,

Cyril

Think of the scholarship as an investment the school is going to make – why should they invest in you? If you can provide a structured and well written response to that, I think you’ve got a great shot.

Good luck, please ask if you have more questions!

Matt

I got through ESADE I wanted some help regarding the Financial Aid Application for students coming from developing countries.

I am unable to figure out the correct response for the following question:

please explain your current financial situation and why you feel you should be awarded a scholarship

I am eagerly awaiting your reply.

Best regards,
Chetan

Thanks for your comment, I appreciate your perspective and absolutely agree that Barcelona truly is an international city! You really do hear a number of languages when you’re navigating the hot-spots, and it is always fun trying to identify just what it is everyone is speaking.

For me, choosing a single, favorite part of the city is hard, but I do love the “magic fountain” and find the rest of the Montjuic area to be quite nice, as it offers fantastic views of town. I also very much enjoy the area between Joanic and Fontana because of the great variety of amazing ethnic foods. If you like Cuban, Ethiopian, Greek, etc. food, you can find it all in that area, and it’s wonderful!

I would really like to visit a number of other cities in Spain, but thus far have only been to Madrid (twice) and Valencia. I have a huge to-see list (Sevilla, San Sebastian, Tenerife, Malaga, Bilbao, etc) but for now this is all I have had time for. Hopefully soon!

Again, thank you for your post!

Buena Suerte!

Matt

This is an awesome perspective of what life is like in Barcelona! Having been there three times, I know exactly what you’re talking about with the customer service, the language, and the people. Barcelona is such an international city, and to be honest I heard other languages just as much as I heard Catalan or Castilian Spanish. Have you been to other cities in Spain? What is your favorite part of Barcelona? For me, I love the beach area, the Port Vell area, and all of the Antonio Gaudi architectural marvels. Barcelona seriously has something to do for every day out of the year. I must also add that I love your description of Catalan, but you are right that English is no more charming I hope you’re enjoying your experience in Barcelona. Buena suerte!