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We've just finished our first day in Mataró, and it was packed with a lot of walking and exploring. Compared to the Czech Republic, the warmer weather was a nice change, so we could throw away our jackets. We have visited both the beach and the city filled with beautiful buildings and an amazing views. We ended the day in a park overlooking the sea with a beautiful sunset.

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a breathtaking view of the whole Barcelona

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Our second day in Spain was just as full of walking as the first. We visited Barcelona, where the weather wasn’t as warm as it had been in Mataró the day before. One of the highlights was exploring Park Güell, and we also had the chance to watch a short 4D film about Antoni Gaudí. To finish the day, we visited a public market, which left quite an impression on me.

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Today was packed with a lot of walking and traveling in general. We have visited Barcelona and went to see the main highlights such as Park Güell, Sagrada familia and Plaça de Catalunya. In Barcelona, there were a lot of tourists and traffic so it was pretty exhausting. Overall, I enjoyed this day and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

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Today was all about resting. After two exhausting days, I treated myself to some well-deserved sleep and didn’t wake up until around 11 a.m. In the afternoon, I went with my host family to the center of Mataró, where we caught a parade featuring the traditional local giants. After that, we stopped to enjoy some delicious churros—such a treat! In the evening, some friends of the family came over for dinner, and I had a really nice time chatting with them while also trying some typical local sweets.

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After breakfast, my host family and their friends (the ones from last night) took me to Barcelona, where we visited Poble Espanyol. It’s a place that represents the art, traditions, and architecture of different parts of Spain. We explored many shops with handmade crafts, which I have to say were absolutely beautiful. There’s also a gallery there that features works by artists like Pablo Picasso.

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After I had late breakfast, I went to play Basketball with Matěj and his Spanish partner Oriol. The weather was so good today. Later, I explored the city at night with my host family. There were so many people, because there was some concert happening. They showed me around and I met a lot of their friends.

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Today I went with my host family to their extended family gathering. It happens like twice a year, so I was pretty lucky to be part of it. The main thing on our menu was traditional Paella. I liked it very much. For dessert we had homemade Tiramisu. After that, we met up with Matěj and Oriol and we went to a football match that was happening in the neighborhood.

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Today, I went to school (Institut Thos i Codina) for the first time. I had a German and an English class, and I have to say that everyone I spoke with was very kind and friendly. I also attended a robotics class, where we worked on preparing a box for a camera that would automatically take pictures of the birds at the feeder. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming atmosphere of the school.

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Today I had the first full day in school. From the start I noticed that the interactions between the teachers and the student are more friendly than in Czechia. First lesson was German. Opposite from the Czechia I was one of the best in the class, because they are learning only numbers now. Next was History. I found out that learning about The French revolution in Catalán is no easy task. Furthermore, English class was the best so far. Expectedly. Overall, I like this school and the good weather definitely helps. After school we went to lunch and had delicious macaroni. In the afternoon we went to the shopping mall Mataró Park and we looked at some clothes and potencial presents for our families. My day ended in the gym with my friends.

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(13.11) First day, we arrived in Spain, in Barcelona. Flight was perfect. It went as fast as it could and without any problems. Our host families were expecting us at Mataró railway station and then took us home.

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(14.11) Today, we went downtown into the city and had a guided tour around some historical buildings. We visited local market and later our spanish hosts took us to the beach.

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(15.11.) Friday, what a lovely day to visit Barcelona. We visited a bunch of interesting places like Park Güell or Sagrada Familia. Later we visited Plaza Catalunya and I spent a lot of time with Toby in different shops. When we arrived back in Mataró, we had the opportunity to see the full moon, that was that night.

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(16.11.) First weekend in Spain, I slept until 11 am. Then I did some schoolwork and in the evening my host family took me to the Science Museum in Barcelona. It was AMAZING! For me, as a Physics and Biology lover I enjoyed it as much as I could.

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(17.11.) On sunday, my host friend had a football match, so I went to have a look. Unfortunately, they lost 2-1, I would disagree with the referee with some calls he made, but it was not up to me. Afternoon, we met with Toby and Janina and we watched basketball and a football match, which was pretty fun.

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(18.11.) My first day in spanish school. I already had bunch of lessons. In physics, the teacher was super helpful and explained everything in english very well. Then I had chemistry. There, it was a bigger struggle due to the teacher not saying anything in english at all. Thankfully, the stuff we did I already knew from my school, so I could atleast solve the equations. After school, we visited one of the biggest shopping parks in Mataró - Mataró parc.

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(19.11.) Today, I had physics and technical drawing. Physics went well again and technical drawing did not. I was completely lost due to the teacher not explaining anything to me. After school, I took my swimwear, met Toby and went for a little swim. The sea was so cold I did not feel my toes. It was 19 degrees centigrade.

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I started my day with a late arrival to the school. Fortunately, I had selfstudy in the first lesson. Actually, apart from one german class I had only selfstudying today. That gave me the opportunity to catch up with all of my task that needed to be done. After school, we had a quick lunch and then I went with my friend Matěj to the beach. The water was cold in the beginning, but it got better with time. We watched beautiful sunset and then ended our day in the gym. For dinner I had mussels, fried fish and castanyes. I was so full!!

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Compared to yesterday, I only had one class today—German. I spent most of the day doing self-study and catching up on all my tasks. In the afternoon, my host parents showed me the pool in Mataró, which also has a small gym, so I decided to get a monthly membership. I haven’t been swimming since the end of August—it was very calming, and I felt totally relaxed. On my way home in the evening, I felt a bit strange. I was wearing just a short-sleeved T-shirt, while everyone else had jackets on. If they experienced Czech weather, they’d probably freeze to death😄!

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Today was the first day I felt kind of settled. Everything worked out in the morning as it should and we got to school on time. First two lessons were selfstudy, which I used to complete my tasks as usual. In history I had to summarize French revolution, while the rest of the class was writing an exam. I was glad, because this period of time interests me. The German and English were normal and pretty easy for me. After school I ate at my partner's grandparents house. We had fish and rice. Next thing I was sitting in a car with Matěj and Oriol going to pretty known shopping area in La Roca. We glazed through the ,,village" and picked out some new clothes. I enjoyed every moment today!

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Today felt like it went by very quickly. I spent more than half the day on self-study. In German class, I learned some new vocabulary, like Kennzeichen (license plate). I was surprised that they’re learning words that I think are quite advanced. In the afternoon, we visited the father’s side of the family (his sisters and mother). They have a beautiful house, and everyone was so kind to me—I really enjoyed it. Later, I went to work out and swim again, so when I got home in the evening, I had a quick dinner and went straight to bed.

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(20.11.) Today was pretty fine. School was going as usual. Chemistry, physics, english and a bunch of self studies. After school, I had lunch back at home and later my host family took me and Toby to famous La Roca village. It is basically a shopping centre for rich people. Me and Toby bought some clothes and then we went back home. It was a lovely day.

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(21.11.) Thursday, the week is finally coming to an end. We had our first PE today, and I can say I enjoyed it. We played volleyball and I am pretty good at it so it went very well. I did not have anything planned for afternoon, so I just rested and watched some series and later met with Toby and paid a visit to the gym. Looking forward to friday.

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First lesson today was PE, and even though I’m not a big fan of volleyball—which we played the entire hour—I still enjoyed it. One thing that really surprised me was that PE here is mixed, with both boys and girls together. There were about 40 people in the class, which is a huge difference compared to back home, where we’re usually around 12. I also had my first test in English class today. Honestly, I had completely forgotten there would be a test, but it turned out to be fairly easy. After school, I spent the rest of the day relaxing. I didn’t feel like doing much, so I just chatted with friends back in the Czech Republic.

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Today was colder than usual, so it seemed to me that everyone was more sleepy and tired, including me. We had PE for the first time today and it felt good to finally play some collective sports. After PE we had bunch of selfstudy as usual. After school, I finally visited mother of my host mum and had lunch there. We had french fries and chicken. In the afternoon I had a gym session with Matěj. Today, it was longer at dinner, because we were discussing political situations in our countries.

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A small robot that can now drive to an obstacle and stop in front of it

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I started my second Friday in Mataró with some self-study. After the lunch break, we had another PE class, where we played a strange combination of football and volleyball—I’m not entirely sure I understood the rules, but somehow, I managed to enjoy it. In robotics, we programmed the movement of a small robot, and even though I’d never written any code for Arduino before, with the teacher’s help and my basic Python knowledge, I did quite well.

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We sat in a great spot that gave us a perfect view of T10, T11, T12 and T13

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One of the things I wanted to do during my stay was visit Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. So, when I found out there were GT car races happening today, I was thrilled. Today was mostly about qualifying sessions, which was perfect for checking out the cars competing here. There were some incredible machines, like the McLaren Artura GT4, Audi R8, Porsche 992 GT3, and Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo. The atmosphere was amazing, and I really enjoyed the experience.

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(22.11.) Finally friday. I have been waiting the whole week for this particular day, we all have. I started of my morning with this beautiful view at the sea and went to school. My first class was technical drawing, where the teacher praised me for my work, which was absolutely amazing to hear. Then we had PE. We played gaelic football - the most chaotic game I have ever seen. After school I visited a recommended barber and went home.

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(23.11.) Today, I woke up at 11. I stayed at home until lunch and then went downtown and met with Toby. We went over the beach to have a look at the local fishermen, unfortunately, they did not catch anything when we were present. After that we went to have a look in the docks. There, it was something different. Suprisingly, the whole harbor was pretty clean - basically no trash anywhere. Later we just sat down on the beach and watched the sunset. Then I took a 30 minute walk back home. Lovely day!

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(24.11.) Sunday, the weekend is coming to an end. I woke up late again, but I do not blame myself. The rest is well deserved :) Right after breakfast my host family told me, that we are going to Girona, to see the cathedral. I am not a religious person, I mostly dont care about churches and such, but this cathedral really amazed me. I cannot describe the feeling I had when I was sitting inside, just having a look around. Then we had lunch in some restaurant nearby a headed back home. Later I met with Toby and we went to the local football stadium to watch a match. I mean, you can really see the difference between this spanish football and czech football. Everybody here is so passionate, which forms the great atmosphere in the stands. After the match, we went to the gym and both headed home. It is going to be my second monday tomorrow and I look forward too!

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I successfully made it to Friday. Friday is always one of the best days from a week and today was no exception. My day was full of selfstudy so I was glad that we had PE today, which helped with my morale for the rest of the day. We played a modified version of football, where you can pass the ball not just with a foot, but also with your hand. Even though it was strange at first I enjoyed it. I finished school with history, where we learned about French revolution. I went home for lunch today, but what I didn´t expect was the dinner we were going to have. There was so much food!

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Today I exploited the option of sleeping little bit longer than usuall. After I woke up I ate breakfast and headed outside, because the weather was so nice. I have met up with Matěj and we went to buy a lunch for ourselves. Then we proceeded to ate the lunch at the beach, because why not? We took a walk on the beach and saw many fishermen trying to catch their dinner. We ended up in local port, where we saw many boats, but also a few windsurfers. It was really windy today. At the end of the day we just enjoyed the possibility of being on the beach and watched sunset together.

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Today, I spent most of the day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with my host family. The main two-hour GT race was fantastic. There were about six instances where the safety car had to come out, which, combined with being seated on the main grandstand, gave me a great opportunity to closely admire many of the luxury cars. I also have to mention the incredible sound of the engines—the V6s and V8s were absolutely insane. After the GT race, there was a 25-minute sprint race in the TCR category, which was also enjoyable.

After all that, we visited the grandparents, where a massive four-course dinner was waiting for us. It was quite a shock for me since my dinners back in the Czech Republic are usually very modest😄

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Today was one of the more chill days. I woke at 10 and realised that it was 20 degrees outside, unlike the freezing temperatures in Czechia, so I had to get out. I quickly ate breakfast and went outside. I wondered through the city little bit and then I met up with Matěj. We went to see some of the games that were happening near the Park Central. We watched some of one basketball game, but we liked the football better. To end the day, we went to the gym as always.

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I woke up feeling tired today and I also felt my throat hurting a little. Despite that, I went with my day as usual. In school nothing interesting happened really. Bunch of selfstudy, history and english. After school I had my usual lunch at the grandparents house. We had a steak and mashed potatoes. After school I went home and didn´t really do anything more today. I guess not all days are gonna be that interesting.

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(25.11.) And again, back to school. Classic monday, where I sat through the school. I had physics, where we revised for next weeks test, chemistry where I kind of helped some other students and english, where I found a mistake and the whole class applauded for me (It was uncalled for but I enjoyed it :) and after school, I did some german homework for Gymnazium and went to the gym. Pretty average day.

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Another week in sunny Spain! To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Mondays, and my overall mood wasn’t helped by the fact that I overslept this morning and didn’t have time for breakfast. At school, we had German and English classes, which were enjoyable—probably because I got back the English test I took last week. I was really happy to see I scored full marks, especially since, judging by others' reactions, it seemed like a pretty tough test.

In robotics, not much happened today. I ran into some issues with my robot, so we didn’t make much progress. After all that, I really needed to relax, so I headed to the pool and then the sauna. I felt amazing afterward.

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Today, just like last week, I only had one class—German. We had some kind of test, and to be honest, I managed to mess up the first six questions out of 30 😄. Once I understood what was actually being asked, I got into the flow and did the rest without any mistakes.

For the rest of the class, Toby and I prepared for a presentation we’ll be giving tomorrow about the Czech Republic. During the lunch break, we borrowed a basketball and spent some time shooting hoops. It was a pretty good way to pass the 30-minute break.

In the afternoon, I decided not to do anything special, so I stayed home and played video games with friends from the Czech Republic.

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(26.11.) Here we are, tuesday. I had normal morning, nothing special a headed for school. I had tech. drawing and physics, both went fine, without problems. After school, I wanted to go to the gym with Tobi, but he insisted on going on a tour through the other side of the town, where we have never been. We had a pretty nice walk, and ended our day with a gym session.

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(27.11.) Today was fun. I made a few new friends, due to helping others with chemistry and physics. I am not going to lie, I like the attention so it motivates me to study the subjects better. After school, I met up with Tobi and we went to the gym. After gym, just like we planned, we went to the local basketball stadium to watch a game between Mataró and Godella. Godella came with a strong start gaining a huge lead and Mataró was not able to catch up before the game ended. It was really exciting to watch a game at this level of basketball.

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For some reason, it’s getting harder and harder for me to wake up in the mornings here. It’s probably because I’ve gotten into the habit of staying up until 1 a.m. watching shows on my laptop (so yeah, the problem is mostly me). In German class, we gave our presentation about the Czech Republic, and even though I forgot all the notes I had prepared the day before, it went pretty well. Some of the German words we used were unfamiliar to others, so we had to translate them into English, and then everything became clear for everyone.

After school, I went to the gym and then for a swim. Afterward, I had my now-traditional sauna session. Even though the pool is relatively close to our house, this whole routine takes up a big chunk of my afternoon, and I didn’t get home until around 7:15 p.m. I didn’t have the energy or desire to play any video games, which I would normally do, so I just chatted with a friend instead. We were trying to organize a team for the traditional floorball tournament that takes place at our school every year. I have to say, it wasn’t easy since we don’t have enough players.

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Today, awaited me 5 hours of selfstudy. Therefore, I was glad to have one hour of German. In this lesson, me and Filip prepared our presentation for wednesday. Only other exciting event in school was, when we borrowed ball and played a little bit of basketball. In the afternoon we (me and Matěj) explored part of the city that was unknown to us beforehand. After that we did a quick gym session and with that we ended this beatiful day.

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On wednesday I always have the most subjects. History, german, english and of course selfstudy. In history I took online exam about the French revolution. In german me and Filip presented our presentation about Czechia. It went well and it helped our classmates to get to know our country little bit better. After school I went with Matěj to the gym as usual. After the gym we attended a basketball game near the Park Central. It was between Mataró and Godella. I enjoyed the match, because the level of the game was much greater than we are used to. Mataró unfortunately lost, but they still played well.

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I like thursdays. Mainly because we have PE, which is my favourite subject here. Today we were finishing our unfinished games from last week. My team was second. After that, we studied on our own and played some more basketball aswell. After school I had lunch at our hause. In the afternoon we went to the gym and stopped in the Mataró Park afterwards. We bought some food and looked through different shops. The nights are getting colder now, so today was the first day I wore my jacket.

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(28.11.) The week is finally coming to an end. Today we had PE, we were finishing our volleyball matches, but my team was not able to win a single game, so we finished quickly. After school, I once again went to the gym and after that I, Tobi and Filip went to the Mataró parc, where we looked through some shops.

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I've already taught him to turn 90 degrees if there's an obstacle in front of him

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Today, it felt like school flew by really quickly. In English, we had a listening test, which I completed with only one mistake, and I’m quite happy about that. After school, I had lunch and took a little rest—I’m starting to understand the Spanish tradition of a siesta 😄.

Later in the day, I went to Mataró Park with Matěj and Toby, where they already have the Christmas decorations up. I have to say, I’m really looking forward to Christmas!

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It’s Friday again! After the break, we had PE class, where we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. I joined a fairly large group to play football. I have to admit, their skills are incredible. For example, I played against one Spaniard who could dribble the ball through the entire field. He was so good that after a while, most people got bored and went off to play something else. I switched to the ping-pong table, where, in contrast, I was the one dominating 😄.

In the afternoon, I followed my usual routine—gym, pool, and sauna. For dinner, my host partner and I went to a restaurant where we also met Matěj and his partner. We had an amazing burger, which was absolutely delicious.

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For the first time in a long while, I slept in until 11:30. Honestly, I felt amazing. Before lunch, I managed to finish all the important school assignments that had today’s deadline.

In the afternoon, Matěj, Toby, our partners, and their friends went to Barcelona together. Since the Christmas season is starting, the whole city was covered in beautiful lights, which were truly stunning. We took a lovely walk and visited a shopping mall. I really enjoyed it, even though we spent much more time on the train than in Barcelona itself.

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Christmas lights we go to see on our way home.

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Today is once again Friday. After 3 hours of selfstudying I appreciated 1 hour of moving in the PE. Today we got to choose whatever we wanted for our activity. Firstly, I played football, but then the skill level of my spanish opponents was much better than mine, so I ended up shooting hoops with Matěj. Only other class today was History. We had an assigment to write five intriguing facts about the French revolution. After school I hoped quickly in the gym, because in the evening a dinner with my host family was awainting me. We went into a local bar/restaurant and I have tasted the best sandwitch in Spain so far. It was soo delicious!!

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Today I enjoyed my time in bed. After lunch I have met up with Matěj and Filip and their partners. It was a big group because the spanish partners brought along few of their friends aswell. After what felt like an eternity in the train we finally arrived to Barcelona. We went to visit one of many shopping malls there. Because tommorow is the first of December, christmas lights were everywhere. We wandered through the city and ended up close to Placa catalunya. The main square you could say. We saw astonishing lights, but there were so many people! Luckily, we didn´t lose anybody and safely got to Mataró in the evening. What a lovely day!

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Even though it´s finally December, local weather doesn´t really represent it. It was 17 degrees all day. Unusually, today I stayed home basically all day. I needed to rest a little. I have done all of my schoolwork I didn´t finish throughout the week. This nice sunday has came to an end with a fabulous slice of pizza for dinner.

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(29.11.) Lovely friday, nothing really interesting happened today, we had PE and tech. drawing, which I aced like a champ :D After school, I went to the gym with Toby and did nothing for the rest of the day.

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(30.11.) I woke up at 11 am and had a lovely breakfast (donuts - a whole bunch of them). After that I watched some netflix and after lunch, we headed off to Barcelona to see the christmas decoration in the center of the city. It was not like I expected at all. I thought that there is going to be this massive christmas lighting everywhere, unfortunately it really reminded me of what we have in Jihlava. After all, it was better than just sitting here at home and doing nothing all day.

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(1.12.) I woke up, once again, at 11 am and watched TikTok on my phone. I was supposed to go in this castle ruin nearby the city with Toby´ family, but they called it off. I started to search for some new activites to do in this lovely sunday afternoon. First, we went to see a football game, which my hosting brother was refing. There I initiated, that we could finally pay a visit to the aquarium in Barcelona. After lunch, when we wanted to buy the tickets over there, we found out that they were sold out. Then my hosting brother found tickets to the Real Madrid vs Joventut Badalona basketball game, so we bought them instantly. An hour later, we jumped into the car and went to Badalona. The stadium is massive, and I mean it. There was around 10 000 people with us and the atmosphere was insane. I was cheering for Madrid, but the unfortunately lost, only by 4 points. Still, it is the biggest basketball experience I have ever had. I am super grateful for my family here for taking me to a game like this.

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There are already Christmas decorations everywhere, which feels strange since there's no snow

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Just like yesterday, I had a nice long sleep today. I didn’t have any plans because they had to be canceled due to some damage to the car, which made it impossible to go anywhere. That’s why I was very surprised when Indira told me that in the afternoon, we would be going to the Mataró Park shopping center.

I browsed some clothing stores and then visited a game shop, hoping to find something cool. And I did! I bought a Funko POP figure from my favorite TV series, which I’ve wanted for a long time but couldn’t find anywhere in the Czech Republic—it’s simply not sold there.

After that, we stopped for a meal (not sure if it was lunch or dinner—it was 5 PM, and sometimes I eat dinner at that time in the Czech Republic 😄). I ordered some spicy chicken, so I was really surprised when I got a massive portion of chicken schnitzel covered in spicy sauce with chili peppers. I was expecting something much smaller.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as full as I did today. Honestly, I wasn’t even hungry later in the evening, so I just had a small piece of bread and went to sleep.

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The first school week of December started like any other—I really didn’t want to get out of bed. I felt strangely tired all day, which doesn’t happen to me very often. On my way to the pool, I called my grandma back home, and I have to say, the almost 50-minute conversation with her really got me thinking about new things. After that, I visited a local store, which was absolutely massive, and everything there was incredibly cheap. So, I picked up a few small items (I just hope they’ll fit in my suitcase when I fly back to the Czech Republic).

In the evening, I had a nice chat with my host family about a variety of topics, such as Christmas traditions in Catalonia versus the Czech Republic, typical weather, and even politics.

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(2.12.) First monday in December did not start ideally. I woke up with my head hurting, sore throat a being tired like i have not slept at all. I stayed at home taking all the medication I layed my hands on.

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(3.12.) Today I woke up feeling the same. My host family gave me some medication, it was awful but I suppose it did its job because I feel much better now. I am even thinking about going to school tomorrow.

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(4.12.) I did not go to school today. I was not really feeling myself, It is not like I am going to miss any important tests so I did not want to risk it. Tomorrow, I will go to school, I still need to do a little research for my project, so it will be beneficial.

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I spent the entire school day catching up on assignments for school back in the Czech Republic. Honestly, it wasn’t particularly fun, but it had to be done. In German class, Toby and I tried to explain the system of Czech word declension to the other students. It was pretty complicated but also kind of funny at the same time.

Even though it’s already December, the weather here is still beautiful, and being out in the sunshine feels like summer (It’s kind of messing with my brain, and I feel a bit strange when I think about the weather back in the Czech Republic).

In the afternoon, I didn’t do anything—I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I spent the whole day lying in bed and watching TV shows.

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Even though I woke up more easily this morning than on previous days, I still felt tired all day (I guess I should cut down on late-night TV shows 😅). I’m starting to realize that in just over a week, I’ll be heading back to the Czech Republic. I wouldn’t say I’m not looking forward to going home, but life here is amazing. I don’t feel the stress of school tests, the weather is beautiful, and thanks to my regular visits to the swimming pool, I’ve been keeping up with healthy activities too.

I’m also starting to think about what souvenirs I’ll bring back for myself and my loved ones. I have a few ideas, but I’m not sure if they’re good enough yet.

I also got an advent calendar from my host family—I’m so excited for Christmas! 🎄🎅

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Monday. Not my favourite day of the week. Even though I have 3 classes besides selfstudy, I enjoyed this day. After school I had lunch at home. We had some meat with rice. After I had my siesta, I couldn´t move. Because of that I skipped the gym today. I was doing my work for my school in Czechia instead.

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I like tuesdays. But 5 hours of selfstudy is pretty boring honestly. I did my work from Czechia and then I worked on my project. In our one class today - German, we tried to explain the basics of our Czech language. We had to explain everything in english, which wasn´t easy. We had a lot of fun in the end. After school I didn´t do anything significant. I had launch, and then I pretty much spend my afternoon doing homeworks and watching TV shows.

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Today I overslept a little. Because of that, all of my morning was a little bit rushed. In history we discused the first phase of the French revolution. In the other classes nothing interesting happened. After school, I had a quick nap and then my host dad dropped me of in the gym. The gym session was really good. One of my favourite part of the day is going from the gym to our house. Even though it is like 2 kilometres, I enjoy the atmosphere in the city at night.

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During the first lesson, which was P.E., we were allowed to play or do whatever we wanted, so Toby and I played badminton. It was quite fun. Just like yesterday, we had a substitute teacher in English, so not much really happened during the class.

After school, our host parents picked us up because they needed to collect some boxes from school, and we headed home. One notable thing about today is that the host mom’s brother, who lives in Chile, came to visit. He came because it’s her birthday today, but nobody else in the family knew he would be here. So, when everyone arrived in the evening for the celebration, they were pleasantly surprised to see him.

The party was really big—there were about 15 of us (which was kind of crazy). It was a lot of fun, we had some great conversations, and for the first time in a while, I went to bed relatively early (at midnight).

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The sky in the evening is really beautiful here

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Today, we had planned to visit a nearby monastery, but due to yesterday’s celebration, the parents decided to postpone it until Sunday. Even though it was Friday, I didn’t have to go to school since they had a day off. I took full advantage of it and slept in until 12:30. Honestly, having breakfast at 1 PM felt pretty strange.

In the afternoon, I went to Mataró Parc shopping center with my host partner and her friend. I browsed through most of the stores and spotted a few items I might buy as souvenirs to take back to the Czech Republic. The place is enormous, so I didn’t get home until around 7:30 PM. Before dinner, I spent some time relaxing and playing video games with a friend.

I went to bed early tonight since my host family told me we’d be leaving early in the morning for a trip with Matěj’s family.

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Early in the morning, we set off for the small town of Besalú, located about 15 km from the French border. Besalú is known for its well-preserved medieval architecture, which left quite an impression on me. We explored the entire town, took some photos, and enjoyed a cup of coffee.

Afterward, we drove to another spot where we had planned to have a picnic lunch together. However, it started raining, so we got back in the car and headed home. We eventually had lunch in Mataró at Parc Forestal, which offers breathtaking views of the entire city.

In the evening, I attended a mass at the local church. Even though I didn’t understand anything, I found the ceremony very beautiful.

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Today, we once again set out early in the morning for a family trip. Our destination was the Montserrat Monastery, located at quite a high altitude (around 750 meters above sea level). Unsurprisingly, it was freezing cold up there. (I managed to handle it pretty well, but my host dad had his whole face buried in a scarf and looked like he might freeze to death!)

Even though all the tickets to enter the main church were sold out, the security made an exception for us, and I got the chance to attend a mass being held inside. Just like yesterday, I didn’t understand a word, but the atmosphere of the church took my breath away. It was truly charming.

Later in the day, we decorated the Christmas tree. This was something completely new to me since, in the Czech Republic, we usually decorate it on December 23rd. All the festive vibes here are making me even more excited about celebrating Christmas back home in the Czech Republic.

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(5.12.) Thursday, last school day of this week because here they have holidays on this friday. School went normal, without any problems, after school I went with Toby to Parc Central and we had a lovely evening.

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(6.12.) Today I woke up knowing we do not have any plans. I asked Oriol, just to make sure and he told me that we are going to visit the Barcelona Aquarium. It was absolutely magnificent.

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(7.12.) We were supposed to have a trip today, I mean my family, Filips family and Tobys family. Tobys family canceled for some unknown reason. We went to a medieval village called Besalú. It was really nice, it kind of reminded me of Č. Krumlov :) After we arrived back home, I met up with Toby and we spent a nice evening together. We had dinner in a restaurant and it was delicious.

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(8.12.) Today I woke up pretty late, It is becoming normal for me :D I did not do nothing until lunch and afternoon I met with Toby, we went to the gym and later to the Parc Central. Very nice day, as usual.

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Today was the last day of school this week. That´s because on friday they have holidays. Thus, the day was pretty chill. I played badminton with Filip in the PE. It was fun! Todays meeting with Núria was cancelled so we had a lot of time for ourselves today. In english, we discussed the rules for opinion essay. After school followed gym session and evening was spent with Matěj in Parc Central.

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Today was friday. Holidays. I took advatage and slept pretty late. After breakfast, we headed to a family lunch that takes place every year on this day. It was nice to get to know the extended family of my host family. We had bunch of shrimps and other seafood. Other than that, there wasn´t any plan for today. So I hoped to the gym and ended my day with a delicious dinner that awaited me at home.

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Today me and my family headed to Girona. Relatively big city about hour away from Mataró. We explored it´s sights and wandered through the historical streets. After a big lunch (I had a burger) we went to bowling. It was super fun and I had the most points out of everybody. After the way back I met up with Matěj and we had dinner together. We found some local restaurant and had nachos. They were so good!

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(9.12.) Basic monday, did not do much school. We had physics and chemistry which went pretty well, without any complications. Afternoon, I did basically nothing. I thought that I should give myself a free day, so I stayed at home and played videogames and watched Netflix.

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Today I spent mainly studying. Even though I woke up little late, I still got a lot of things done. In the afternoon I went to the gym with Matěj. After we worked out we grabbed a kebab and went home.

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Our last monday. I overslept a little bit, but in the end everything was okay. In school nothing major happened. In english though, we had to correct others essays. It was interesting, because we could see first hand the level of english of our classmates. After school I planned on going to gym, but when I arrived home, I fell asleep. So today was without gym, but it ended with delicious Domino´s pizza.

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The final week in sunny Spain has officially begun. Honestly, I hadn't realized how quickly time flies until today, but it is what it is. Nothing really happened in school, but my English teacher came back. Her voice sounded really strange, so she was most likely ill last week. After school, I did my normal gym-pool-sauna routine.

Also, as part of my self-study, I took a practice B1 Deutsches Sprachdiplom Leseverstehen test. I managed to get 23 out of 24 points, which is my new personal best. It’s quite ironic because sometimes I share a room for self-study with German students, but I’m unable to understand a single word they say.

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Consequence of no benches in the shopping mall.

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Today we had 5 hours of selfstudy as every tuesday. Sometimes it´s tiring, because every hour we have to change classroom. Anyway, we had our usual call with our erasmus teacher from Czechia and it went well. After school I headed home and had lunch. After that I have met up with Matěj and 3 other erasmus students from our school. We went into Mataró parc and shopped for some gifts for our czech families. Then we hit quick gym session and my day ended with delicious burger and rice.

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(10.12.) Today, I woke up normally for school. We had physics and tech. drawing. Other from that I just had a load of self-studying. In the afternoon, I met up with Toby and three german students, that are also here on an exchange and we went to Mataro parc to do some christmas shopping. I did not buy a single thing I wanted but a bunch of things a did not want :D Then I payed the gym a visit a ended my day with some tasty dinner.

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My host partner, Indira, was ill today, so I went to school on my own. It’s starting to get a bit colder here, so I’ve started wearing a jacket in the mornings. I finished most of the school assignments from last week and decided to properly start working on the report I have to write as part of the Erasmus program. It was quite challenging since I’ve never written anything like this before. I’ve completed most of it already; the only thing left is the section analyzing the responses to the questionnaires I sent out to the students. In the afternoon, I stayed home all day. I was tired after yesterday and didn’t feel like doing much. I think I’ll go shopping for some gifts tomorrow, I managed to make myself a small list.

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(11.12.) Wednesday, we had quite a lot of self-study today. I had physics and chemistry, both classes went well. In the afternoon, I started to collect some things from around to house so that my packing is easier.

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When Matej and I were walking home from school, I told him I needed to take a picture for the padlet. So he posed for me like this

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I’m already halfway through my final week, and I’m starting to feel a bit stressed about leaving. The departure is getting closer, and because of that, I don’t feel like doing anything (honestly, I’d rather just lie in bed and watch a series, but at the same time, I know I need to make the most of these last days). As I mentioned yesterday, I went to Mataró Parc today and bought some things to bring back for my grandparents, parents, and maybe even my friends (if there’s anything left). I also wanted to send a postcard, but I couldn’t find one anywhere.

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The weather here is starting to take a turn for the worse; it drizzled both yesterday morning and this morning. While it wasn’t anything intolerable, it no longer feels like the middle of summer. I didn’t manage to go to the pool the past two days, so I decided I had to make up for it today. However, I started regretting this decision a little because, as soon as I stepped outside, it began to rain. At first, it wasn’t too bad—just like the morning drizzle—so I figured I’d stop to buy one more gift on my way home. I have to admit, it turned out to be one of my poorer life decisions. The rain quickly got worse, and by the time I made it back home, I looked like I had just climbed out of the pool again.

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Our last wednesday. Today we had our last german. It was nice, how everyone said goodbye to us with enthusiasm. These last few days are really enjoyable for me, because the realization about our end here is dawning on me and that makes me appreciate every small thing more and more.

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(12.12.) Last thursday. We had PE today, me, Filip and Toby took a volleyball and had a little fun. The weather is starting to look the same as it looked in Jihlava when we left for here. I am not really homesick but I can not say that I do not miss my family either. After school I met with Toby and the german students, because we had some christmas shopping to do. I was succesful I would say, I bought almost everything I wanted. Tomorrow is our last day in the school here.

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Thursday. In summary, PE, english and lots of selfstudy. Today was nice, because we talked even more with our collegues from germany. After school, we have met up with them and went to Mataró parc, again. The main reason was gift shopping, in which I would consider us successful. My host mum picked me up and we went shopping. I went with her, because I decided to make my host family dinner for once. We bought everything and went home. In the lights and sounds of thunder, I made ,,vepřový řízek s bramborami". It was pretty fun and everybody liked it.

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Today marked my final day of school in Spain. During PE, we had something quite different for a change—not a game, but a fitness-style training session. It wasn’t too demanding, so I actually enjoyed it. Together with Matěj and Toby, we said our goodbyes to the principal and the teachers we’d gotten to know over the past month. A highlight of my day was my robotics teacher’s thoughtful gesture—he gave me the little robot I’d been working on all month. It was such a kind and unexpected gift.

In the afternoon, I made a quick trip to Mataró Parc to grab one last thing. (Well, that was the plan—I ended up buying much more than intended!) Once I got back, I packed my suitcase, and it was a close call. I had to really press down on it to get it to close, so now I can only hope I didn’t break anything inside.

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(13.12.) Last friday here. I had normal day at school. A lot of self-study, I had to finish my project. In the afternoon, I did nothing apart from watching my favourite series Dexter.

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(14.12.) And here we go, last day in Spain. I woke up at 10 am and packed in 20 minutes. I feel like that it has to be some record time :D Then I had lunch and I headed to Decathlon, where we were supposed to meet. Filip and Tobi arrived shortly after a we headed to the airport. The drive was smooth, only in Barcelona there was a bit of a traffic jam but that was expected. Plane was 10 minutes late and we still managed to land 10 minutes ealier. Shot out to Vueling, it was the smoothest landing I have ever experienced. And that is how I ended my 1 month long study stay in Mataró, Spain.

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Last friday. Last day at school. I really enjoyed this day. Everybody was saying goodbye to us and it was really sweet. In PE we did something unusual today. We did fullbody exercises in a quick pace. After PE we did say our goodbyes with the principal and other teachers aswell. Last lesson of today , history, took forever. I had to watch the clock every minute because the time just wasn´t flying by. After school, I decided to visit the beach one last time. Me and my host sister Juliana took some pictures at the beach and headed home for our last dinner together.

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LAST DAY!!!! I woke up at 9 feeling pretty sad to be honest. I knew at that time that this was my last few hours here in my new favourite country. I packed everything and managed to squeeze it all into 24 kilos. 25 kilos was the limit. My family made me pancakes, which were delicious. I said my goodbyes, especially to the youngest one, Lizi. She didn´t want me to leave. We made our way to Decathlon and met up with Núria, Matěj and Filip. Núria was so helpfull, because I can´t imagine traveling on our own to the airport with all of the luggage we had. At the airport we made a smooth sailing through the security checks and we bought few more presents. After 2.5 hours we landed smoothly in Prague. Immediately after landing I felt the excrutiating cold running through me. I think I caught a cold in the first minute outside. This was the summary of my one month long journey to Spain. I am really glad that I got to have this opportunity. I´m seriously planning on going back in the summer already!!

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I woke up around 11 a.m. and packed the last few items into my luggage. My host mom quickly prepared lunch for me, which I ate in a hurry. Afterward, my host mom, Indira, and I walked to the Decathlon store, where we met up with Matěj and Toby. We said our goodbyes, and then Núria drove us to the airport in Barcelona.

Even though we were on our own at the airport, we managed not to get lost and boarded the correct plane without any trouble. The journey home was faster and calmer than I had expected.

Looking back, I had an absolutely amazing month in Spain. I enjoyed every moment, and I’m pretty sure I’ll come back someday on my own. Their culture and way of life really amazed me, and I’d love to see what it’s like there during the summer when the weather is at its best.

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To sum up my whole trip to Spain I would like to add a few things. I am unbelievably grateful, that I had this opportunity to get to know different culture. And in Spain? What more could I have asked for. I have learned many new things not only about the country, but also about the people and friends there. I think it gave me a whole new perspective on how life is, not only in my home country. See you next time!

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Looking back, I have to say that I enjoyed the whole exchange program so much. It was truly an amazing experience. I had the unique opportunity to get to know Spain and Catalonia firsthand — I got to see their way of living, their art, and, of course, their distinctive cuisine.. These are things I wouldn’t have been able to experience in the same way otherwise. That’s why I would strongly recommend the Erasmus program to anyone who is thinking about it.

You’ll get to experience all these things (every day was packed with enough experiences to fill a whole paragraph—I was never bored!), and you’ll also get a great chance to relax and enjoy something completely different.

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All the photos I used were taken by myself during the Erasmus exchange program in Spain (between 13th November and 14th December)

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I can say I really enjoyed my stay in Spain. It was lovely to learn about the country itself, about Catalonya, about their cuisine and culture. I very much recommend projects such as this one, because people get to know a lot about another countries. I gotta say, I was never bored :)

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All photos above were taken by me, during the Erasmus project, in Spain (13.11. and 14.12.)

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Every single photo above was captured by me in Spain on my Erasmus program from 13.11. to 14.12. 2024.