FOREIGN REPORT
STUDY
During the winter, I studied fashion design for one semester at the Escola de Arte e Superior de Deseño Mestre Mateo in Santiago de Compostela.
I decided to spend a semester abroad for a variety of reasons. One of my goals was to improve not only my English, but also my Spanish. It is a great opportunity to expand my language skills while also learning about Spanish culture. I decided to go straight to Spain because I liked the culture and the interaction with people. In addition, the courses at Escola de Arte e Superior de Deseño Mestre Mateo in Santiago de Compostela, Spain sparked my interest thanks to its creativity and interesting courses. The Fashion Design Degree programme was very different from my studies in Textile Technology/Management here in Germany and I was excited about it.
For the study abroad, the preparations began almost a year before the start. After submitting all the necessary documents such as status sheet, language test and portfolio, nomination and some initial difficulties, I was finally accepted at the Escola de Arte e Superior de Deseño Mestre Mateo. Escola de Arte e Superior de Deseño Mestre Mateo is an art school. It was founded in 1888 and offers Bachelor's degree programmes in Fashion Design and Product Design. The studies started in September 2021 and would last until the end of January 2022. During the studies, I chose the courses so that I could earn at least 20 ECTS or CP. I could choose within the course catalog of the Degree programme Fashion Design. In the end, I successfully participated in a total of four courses. The courses were very diverse and instead of an examination, the students had to hand in some projects and the intermediate score was included in the grading. The courses were all in Spanish, although some of the university teachers / lecturers helped out in English if there were any problems. In Santiago, the second language of instruction is Galician, but the university teachers / lecturers chose not to use it because Spanish was easier for the Erasmus students to understand.
Besides the study-related preparations, I took care of an international insurance, recommended vaccinations like the one against Corona, the apartment search, booking of flights and collected important information about Santiago like the bus connections, supermarkets and sights, as well as the Erasmus student network. I found my apartment with two roommates on Airbnb, although I also searched on Spanish sites like Idealista. It was close to the university and had a sports field, garden area and pool.
The courses initially listed in the LA, were almost all replaced with better matched courses. The previously selected courses did not fit, because previous knowledge in, for example, Photoshop was assumed, there was a final detailed examination in Spanish/Galician or altogether too much theory was treated. I chose the courses creative illustration, basic design, 3D jewelry, jewelry and ephemeral architectural design (especially in relation to shop windows). Unfortunately, I had to deselect architectural design after the first lecture because knowledge from my studies and Photoshop was required. With the remaining courses I had enough ECTS for the semester abroad. Every week I had a total of 15 hours of lecture with the four courses I chose. The courses creative illustration, basic design, 3D jewelry and jewelry were very interesting, but completely different. Creative Illustration was a four hour class that was all about drawing. The first hour we went to Santiago Cathedral, sat down and drew the surroundings as well as the people walking by. In the Basic Design course, the first topics were modalities and function of the design, phases of the creative process and creativity techniques. The instructor gave us a wide variety of assignments, such as drawing our own name with an aspect of personality, choosing a color that describes us, and drawing a haversack for Versace. My third course was 3D jewelry design. I worked with the program Rhinogold 6.6. By means of the program jewelry can be designed. Based on the designs, it can also be made in a 3D printer. In the jewelry course I dealt with the working and processing of metal and the production of jewelry. To get a feel for working with metal, I started by sawing various shapes into platelets of brass.
Since the language of the course and the country is Panamanian, my Spanish improved a lot. I understood all the course content and if not then the university teacher / lecturer helped me. I did not use English in my studies, however, I spoke it quite often with Erasmus students. Although I only spoke English in everyday life, it improved. I could speak it more fluently and spontaneously, and my vocabulary also expanded.
EVERYDAY CONCLUSION
Using Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, I was able to communicate with the other Erasmus students and find out about upcoming events. The organizers are helpful and plan the events and trips very well. Erasmus events are regularly uploaded on Facebook. There were joint yoga/volleyball classes, trips to Asturias and Porto, for example, museum tours
and discussion groups. During the events I got to know a lot of students of different nationalities and kept in contact with them.
CONCLUSION
My semester abroad was a very nice time that I enjoyed. It was important for me personally to move to another country on my own, although it was very challenging. Before the semester, I could not imagine what an enrichment it would be. I met many interesting people from other cultures and made friends. The studies were varied and I enjoyed them. The lectures were exciting and I was able to expand my skills by quite a bit. I can only recommend this experience, although it was difficult at first to settle in and have such a different everyday life compared to Germany. The language was also a challenge, but the more exercise I had, the easier it was.
Of course, my time was somewhat hampered by the corona pandemic, but the government loosened restrictions at the time of my arrival. You had to wear medical masks almost everywhere, the university was disinfected, ventilated, and all bars closed by four o'clock. Otherwise, 3G or 2G was in effect from December.
What I liked most was meeting new students from other countries and studying fashion design for a semester. I was able to achieve my goals like improving my language skills and expanding my knowledge during the months in Spain and I am satisfied with my student performance.
