Our first encounter was back in October, the sound of saddened suitcase wheels rolled through the doorway behind two tanned boys who looked less impressed to be in Chester.
They explained they had been living in a hotel for a few days after arriving from Faro airport, and had met my landlord by coincidence.
Now, no one ever relishes in the thought of new housemates, but at the time my partner and I were concerned we would not even be able to talk to them and understand them, how wrong were we. The boys, Jesús and Ignacio, from Huelva University in South-West Spain, had swapped their 38°c sunshine and shorts life for British hibernation and why? To learn our language, and our ways.
Jesús Félix Domínguez from La Palma del Condado said: “There are lots of ERASMUS students here, Germans, French, Slovenian and Spanish. There are about 55 of us, we all get on really well and go out twice a week together. It’s not a problem that everyone speaks English, everyone can communicate, in fact it definitely helps.”
They had traded a ten minute drive to Portugal for a ten minute drive to Wales and when the chicos first arrived they felt like fish out of water. They only knew each other and weren’t even aware of how to use a tin opener let alone know which tin to buy. But the guys, here on an ERASMUS year knew they had a big learning curve ahead of them and lots of new people to meet.
One of them, English student Emma Souleliac from Bordeaux, France said: “When I first got here, people were nicer here than in France, more polite. The university is much better; the organisation is brilliant compared to my university which is much less strict.
“Your nightclubs are much better than Bordeaux which is much bigger than Chester, you can have so much fun in such a small area. However, what struck me is the British girls, how they dress, they just don’t feel the cold.”
The European Commission’s programme for higher education is offered at most universities including the University of Chester and enables students to study abroad for one year to gain valuable experience. The lifestyle of an international student here couldn’t be more European, with all nationalities conversing in universal English, helping each other out, teaching each other new words and exploring the city together.
Emma continued: “It’s nice to be in a student city with a good university environment. This is ERASMUS life; parties, not doing much, speaking English everyday, meeting loads of people. For the first three weeks we were out till 2am every night. We’ve made more connections with ERASMUS students than Chester; they’re the first people we meet so we stick together.”
All three students, despite being from different countries, agreed on how nice the University of Chester is. Not only was it described as incredibly modern but the European students are also very impressed with the University facilities and the different leisure activities in town.
Jesús said: “Chester University is like a mother to us, they care so much. They know you’re alone, and they send us emails telling us to eat a hot meal everyday because the weather is cold. There are events organised every week, trips, bowling night, film night.”
Admittedly, they’ve picked up a lot of our colloquial habits, which was bound to happen to them living under the same roof as a posh Southerner and a South-Walian. They now hardly pronounce their ‘T’s’ - “universi-y compu-a”, and have adopted such adjectives as ‘beast’, ‘sick’ and ‘sound’ of which even our own parents wouldn’t know the alternative meaning to. But the point is we all bond and pick up words when we teach each other, and needless to say have a good giggle at each other’s pronunciation attempts, after all you’ll never know if you’re not told.
Ignacio Salas Martín from Bollullos said: “At first I missed my family really a lot; it was a big culture change. For example, the food, the time you eat, the weather, I was really far away from my native country and everything was different – it’s another kind of life. To me it’s really interesting to be able to speak in another language, and it is definitely easier to learn it in the country itself.”
The boys, who only have five months left of their year abroad, have had an incredible time so far. The level of their language has gone from broken English with limited vocabulary to completely fluent communication, being able to share personal jokes and express themselves with no problem at all. We’ve introduced them to beans, snow, icicles, tea, English breakfast and squash; and every day we learn of something else that our countries do not share, and spread the knowledge.
Jesús said: “When I leave this place I will have lots of memories, being the nostalgic that I am I will come back to see the city.”
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