International Business + Culture, Newsletter, Spring 2017, Issue I

¡Bienvenidos a Sevilla!

Orientation in Seville

The Spring17 students arrived to Seville a day after Spain´s National Three Wiseman holiday, jetlagged but excited to begin their semester study abroad. Students began the semester with an onsite orientation of the city, discussions on how to keep themselves safe and healthy during their semester, a presentation on homestay norms and the importance of communication between host and student, information on CIEE social and cultural activities, academics, (possible) cultural hurdles, etc. After a long day of sessions, students had some downtime with their orientation guide and orientation group to explore their neighborhood and enjoy a tapas dinner at local restaurant.

Taking it to the Streets

Students jumped right into their 2-week Spanish Intensive Grammar course following the onsite orientation, enrolling in one of 5 courses, from Intensive Beginning Spanish to Advanced Spanish. One of the goals of the CIEE Spanish Intensive Session is not only to get students completely immersed in the host language from the start but also get them out into their community, interacting with their surroundings, with individuals and applying their classroom knowledge to the local cultural context…below are just some of the activities that students engaged in:

• Taking photos of objects or behavior they found to be “curious” in their new cultural context, with a subsequent essay of their impressions of the object/behavior and why they found it curious.
• Interviewing local university students about their employment opportunities, the Spanish university system, student interests, etc.
• Visit to a local food market and writings about impressions, what they learned, etc.
• Visit to the Seville Fine Arts Museum and essay regarding the artwork that was most impressive, what they learned, etc.
• Interviewing host family´s neighbors with the objective f learning more about the neighborhood in which they live with a subsequent essay about knowledge gained and the similarities and differences between their Spanish neighborhood and U.S. neighborhood.

IBC Activities

Several cultural and social activities have been held in the afternoons and weekends since students´ arrival, including a historical tour of the city, a daytrip to Córdoba, a cooking class in which students made two of the most prominent dishes in Seville: tortilla de patatas and salmorejo, visits to Seville´s Gothic Cathedral and Royal Palace, and Spanish student-CIEE student language exchange events.

University Pablo de Olavide

Students are in their first full week of classes at the UPO; several students have made the decision to enroll in courses alongside their Spanish peers.