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Jonathan Phillips is one of the Calvin students spending this semester in Denia, Spain with Calvin’s Spanish department. This article was received over email.

In order to understand the different attitudes toward time in Spain and the United States, take a look at what the clock does in each language. In English we say that the clock runs. In Spanish it just walks. But for the Calvin students here in Denia, the clock is still running on English time-the semester is flying!

Classes started almost immediately after we arrived in Spain; all of us are taking classes in one of two programs. Students who have had little or no Spanish are in the basic "core" program. By studying in Spain, they’re completing all of their core requirements in only one semester. They immediately started picking up new words and using some of the common phrases they learned during [the required preparatory] interim.

The more advanced group, made up of many Spanish majors and minors, dove right into classes on history, literature, culture, and conversation.

The program here involves much more than just going to class, though. The official program features various excursions to cities around Spain, such as Barcelona, Granada, and Madrid. Usually we invite students from the local high school to come with us. Not only do they help us with our Spanish but they tend to be good at finding the "marcha" (nightlife) in all the big cities we visit, too.

Denia is a small town on the Mediterranean Sea, which means we’re right in the middle of beaches, hot weather, and fresh seafood. Between the relaxed summer atmosphere here and all the festivals (Trivial Pursuit has a question that asks for the city with the most festivals in the world-the answer is Denia), it is not a city where sitting down to study is easy. Most us of are not complaining, though!

With spring break over, we have only one more trip to look forward to. We’ll spend five days around Madrid in the beginning of May. Soon after that last trip, we take our final exams, say adios, and head back to the States. For many students, this will be hard, since we now feel at home here in Denia. At this point we’re wishing for a Spanish clock - one that will slow down and walk for a while!