For 14 years now I've been living and working here on Tenerife. For the last five years I've been organising practical placements in hotels on the Canary Islands. Before that, I worked on Tenerife in various departments of the hotel industry and worked my way to the management team. Before my studies, at the age of 22, I also used to work as a trainee in the entertainment department in a 4 star hotel in Spain. Thus, I can understand your situation. As a young person you just want to get out of your own country for a certain period of time, have lots of fun and gain new experiences. Besides all the new life enriching experiences, it was really important for my future, as I obtained a tremendous amount of self-confidence during that time. My wanderlust syndrome stayed with me and so I moved to Hawaii, after having successfully completed my studies. During that time, I realised I want to live abroad forever, in a place with pleasant climate conditions. Due to my family, I didn't want it to be on an island as far away as Hawaii. So I decided on Europe. I was looking for fine weather all year round and a rich vegetation. I also value a multicultural population and a low crime rate. So I decided to visit the Canary Islands. Up until now I haven't regreted my decision once. We really are living in paradise here!

As manager of the practical placement service s-w-e-p I will do anything possible to help have a successful and happy placement on the Canary Islands.

I came to the Canary Islands in 2007. I started off doing an internship organised by s-w-e-p as an assistant manager in a 5-star hotel on Lanzarote. After this I work in a hotel here on Tenerife and part-time for the Spanish Work Exchange Programme in the field of administration. I think it is great to see how many young people benefit from the opportunity to work here on the Canary Islands, how they gain professional experience and the amount of enthusiasm they report about their experiences with. I can understand this enthusiasm, because life here has many advantages: a good climate, a wide range of recreational activities available, highly diversified nature and lots of nice people from all over the world. There is a lot to discover on the Canary Islands and it takes you a while to realise what else the islands have to offer other than the tourist hotspots.

From my own experience I can really recommend doing an internship in a hotel with s-w-e-p. Conny's contacts, experience and her support for the interns is fantastic and who knows what opportunities may arise after your internship finishes ...

In February 2008 I began an internship organised by s-w-e-p in the public relations/quality management department in a 5-star hotel on Tenerife. I was immediately fascinated by the versatile island and its climate. It was so much fun working at the hotel and I got on really well with my colleagues. They helped me to improve my Spanish language skills by talking to me in their mother tongue from the first day. Additionally, Conny Lassen took excellent care of me during my internship and I could contact her at any time.

Currently I'm working as a freelancer for s-w-e-p and I am responsible for translations (Spanish/German and English/German). It's nice seeing so many other young interns becoming fascinated with the Canary Islands and its high standard of living.

My internship was an unforgettable experience and I highly recommend doing an internship with s-w-e-p.

I wanted to get away from the stresses of university, do something different before the "serious side of life" begins, that was my plan.

Since August 2009 I have been working for s-w-e-p in the IT department. Our enterprise is young, has a lot of positive energy, commitment and it's a lot of fun working here. From the outset, I decided to learn about the Spanish culture with which I wasn't familiar with at all, I ended up falling in love with it and immersing myself into it.

I dance flamenco, have Spanish friends, speak Spanish every day and eat Spanish food, above all I love the fresh fish here.

The canarian attitude to life is contagious. Sun, beach and sea means you're always in a happy, positive mood and when you find yourself sitting in a beachside bar, wearing summer clothes in winter, listening to lounge music accompanied by the rushing sea and drinking delicious wine, you never want to leave this perfect place again.

The decision to come here was the best I could have made and if I could go back, I would make the same decision again.