Funny how we say "study abroad" as if studying is the main objective. To give an idea of my "school" experience so far, my enrollment in a couple classes has yet to be finalized and class started three weeks ago (well, actually three and a half, but my advisor convinced me not to attend the first couple of days on the grounds that "no one will be there anyway"), I switched one of my classes today, and I know a Spanish guy who is in my economy class and I still have not seen him there once. He promises me he will "try" to wake up for the next class. Welcome to Spain.
Enforcement of attendance is obviously slightly lax to say the least, but there is also a reason they have a one and a half month exam period. I just witnessed my roommates taking their exams for their fall classes, and I kept wondering why they do this to themselves. If they would just study little by little throughout the semester, they wouldn't lose three months of their lives every year (but this is the overly-logical, unnecessarily hard-working American in me talking).
As for the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, I love it. The campus is big for Europe but definitely not when compared to UT. I have asked countless students what the total enrollment is, and so far no one has been able to even give me a ballpark! There is a much stronger identity with individual school than the university as a whole. The architecture school has around 2,000 students (all undergrad)!! That is about SIX TIMES the size of UT's School of Architecture.
The campus is vibrant, with cafes spilling out into the common outdoor areas, teaming with students and professors drinking café and cerveza at all hours of the day. One long green space runs the length of the campus, flanked on either side by academic buildings, athletic facilities, student services buildings, and many other convenient services such as a hair salon, book store, school supply store, copy center, and photo center. Palm trees define the experience, announcing clearly that the Mediterranean is near (a 5-10 minutes tram ride in fact).
The school has a huge number of study abroad students, but between all the foreigners I've met, only one has been from the states. Almost all are from Europe: Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria. It seems like nearly every other day I add a country to the list. All of the students from the US are studying at the other major university in Valencia, including the other three students here from UT. I obviously made the right choice.
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