My IAESTE journey began with an inquisitive friend. We had heard about the program from our friends back in Ghana but assumed in Korea it would be for only Koreans. My friend was however relentless, he kept pursing the matter and upon contacting the main office in Korea we were told international students could apply too. I was at that moment still not convinced to apply because I thought I will be made to pay a lot of money and not see results as some overseas internships seem to be. I however decided to give it a try since I was eager to experience other cultures and do something profitable during summer. At the very end of the application deadline I submitted my documents with no idea it will be one more step to experiencing a new culture.

Two weeks later, when I had given hope on ever hearing from IAESTE, I got a mail asking for an interview. I was simply blown away. On the day of the skype interview, which happened to be my first skype or job interview, I was so nervous I was surprised I got through the interview successfully. After a few days I got an email that I had been accepted for the program in Spain and that was when the making of a beautiful story began. After paying the application and deposit fee, it was left with my employer to agree and I will be given the green light to begin the visa acquisition processes. All things being equal I was awarded the visa and started making plans for the trip. 

On the 24th of June I left Korea, it was the first time I had travelled outside Korea on my own and at point in time I thought I would get lost or miss my flight. I had a long stop over on Tokyo, which was an awesome experience, I met other Koreans students going for vacation or a program overseas we talked and exchanged telephone numbers to stay in touch with each other. I really wished my Korean was polished enough so I made a vow to really take my Korean lessons seriously.

Due to all the stop overs and long sitting in the airplane I got to spain and realised it was 25th June. Although it was around 9 pm when I settled everything to enable me to take a train to Elche, it was not yet dark the sun was still up. Funny enough it got me wondering if I was in the right country. With a little bit of difficulty and running I was able to locate my already booked train. At 12 midnight I arrived in Alicante to meet a 2- man welcome party to take me to my residence in Elche. One of the members of the welcome party was my flatmate and the other was the IAESTE representative in Elche who was an amazing help during my stay in Spain. The next few days was used in acquiring my NIE and work permit, and we were led by another representative from IAESTE Elche.

The following week I started working and it was a great first day for me, I was taken around to greet all the workers by my supervisor and showed how the company works and what it deals in. I was given my first project which was not based on product design but employed my graphic design and programming skills which was very rusty. I made a plan and used about a week to polish my programming knowledge in CSS and HTML. I then coupled it with my graphic design knowledge I was able to present a good finish for my first project, which was applied to various client sites. My projects after employed my graphic design knowledge which was a great help to me since I had been hoping to improve my knowledge on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. My company have a job culture of having lunch in the first month of every month, it was a great experience for me and I learnt a lot from that job culture.
In August during the vacation days of the employees, I got to have a week of vacation too. I plan a nice trip along the coast of Spain. My holidays started with an IAESTE weekend in Malaga, which was full of fun and excitement and I also met other students from IAESTE Korea. On Monday I travelled to Valencia and met an IAESTE friend there, we had an amazing tour of the city and I ate paella which I was told is best in Valencia. I then travelled to Barcelona where I met more students from IAESTE and I was lucky to meet one from my country Ghana. Fortunately he was also on holidays so he took time taking me around the nicest places in Barcelona. On Friday I returned home to rest for work the following Monday. 

This is a compact version of all the fun things I did in Spain. My advice to new students is keep an open mind. Make friends, have fun, try and join activities organized because it is really well organized and very affordable. I believe you will have an awesome experience then. Above all be yourself.