Student life should be one of the most beautiful periods of life, but usually is spent around many books, when you need to remember all these small things that maybe you will not use later in life or work. But when you are a student of IBCM, it changes a lot, since you have many opportunities, like going abroad, which was very important in my life.

Last year, I spent one semester as an exchange student in Odense, Denmark, and I have been a student at UCL University College. This was a life-changing moment in my life, I have learned a lot about my self, how to take care of everything, I met a lot of people and made some lifetime friends. Since I was in the dorm, I had a few people that I spent time with the most, we travelled together, going out, staying together, talking about everything, and now, we talk and chat even now, and we made a plan to visit each other soon.

Even before my semester in Denmark, I wanted to go abroad, but my preference was Portugal… When IBCM announced an internship opportunity in Portugal, I thought they would not choose me since I had already been part of the exchange program, I applied anyway so I got a chance again to be a student on exchange and complete an internship at ISCAP in Porto.

When I arrived here, everything was so different than in Denmark. People are very easy-going, bureaucracy is very slow, buses are always late, we waited a long time for documents and to open a bank account. Also, we had a problem, because not a lot of people speak English, and so we had problems communicating with them and explaining what we need. The weather is not what I imagined, it is raining a lot, even if it is warmer in general. But when the first sunray was out, we went to the city centre, walking and discovering the city, it was amazing. There is a lot of churches, the famous Livraria Lello, 6 bridges, wine cellars, a beautiful park near the Dom Luis bridge…

Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal, and it is a big city will a million citizens and very developed tourism. Porto is an amazing city, it’s beautiful. It is a typical city on the sea, with palm trees, and nice houses. Portuguese people are very kind and very pleasant. We have been on a walking tour, where we visited the most famous buildings in the city, and after that every time we were free, we tried to visit as much as possible.

The best thing about going abroad is meeting people. I met people from all over the world. All these people are giving you new stories and new experiences that will help you in the future in many ways.

 

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