Who hasn't fantasised about having an affair with a teacher? In Jan's case, the dream came true: he fell in love with his Spanish teacher, Laura, while he was on Erasmus in Valencia. After three years together, they now live happily in Berlin.

Photo: Laura Sirera

Laura and Jan in Budapest, May 2009

When Jan was in Spanish class, he could not completely concentrate on the pages of his book. The reason was his teacher, Laura. She was young (27 at that time, Jan was 26), and had beautiful long, brown hair and dark eyes. He felt attracted to her distant, strict attitude towards students, but never really thought anything could happen between them. Like most of us, he kept his feelings to himself, as an unattainable love story.

Jan had come to Valencia to spend his Erasmus year studying medicine in autumn 2006. He is originally from Berlin, where he had lived until then, so Spain sounded like a nice sunny break from the annoyingly grey German sky - and unexpectedly, Jan ended up bringing more than just a tan back home.

Alongside his academic studies, Jan wanted to improve his Spanish, and so he signed in for a course at the Language Centre of Valencia University, where Laura was teaching.

Jan was doing well in Spanish class and Laura gave him a B as final grade of the semester. "It was really hard for me to read his exam, because he has that typical doctor's handwriting", Laura recalls. Jan moved on to a higher course, and so in February 2007 he had a new Spanish teacher.

One day, still in January, Jan entered the supermarket as usual to buy some groceries and was surprised when he saw Laura there. It turned out that she had just moved to the area. "I was back from yoga class, looking horrible", Laura recalls, "and he was just as gorgeous as always..." They talked for some minutes and said goodbye to each other with a smile and a "See you around".

And they definitely saw each other around. They randomly met again in the supermarket, at bars in the area… The teacher-student hierarchy was fading quickly away - they were now becoming equals.

When Laura and Jan began dating, they were not the only ones who got nervous about it. Laura's colleagues at university couldn't hide their excitement when Jan walked along the hall - they always gossiped with Laura about how handsome he was.

The year was soon over and Jan had to return to Berlin to continue with his studies in July 2007. Yet breaking up didn't even cross their minds. "We knew right from the beginning that we wanted to be together", Laura says. They first thought about moving together to Berlin that same summer, but they finally decided to wait a little longer and see how the relationship developed.

"The distance was the hardest", Laura admits. After a year living apart, Laura in Valencia and Jan in Berlin, Laura took her suitcases and landed in Jan's city in August 2008. She already had some good friends living in the German capital and knew finding a job wouldn't be difficult.

Laura's profession has been key to the success of the relationship: "I always complain about my job, but I have to admit that it is thanks to teaching Spanish that we could maintain the relationship".

Photo: Laura Sirera

Laura and Jan in Berlin, winter '09

Adapting has been hard for Laura, but she now has a pretty "German life style". She still gives herself some "Spanish licenses", though, like hanging out with Spanish friends: "In some sense it's necessary to stay in touch with people of your own culture, with whom you share interests and a perspective of the world. It surprises me when people can live in a foreign country and have only friends from that place… They must have an incredibly strong mind and an enormous spirit of survival".

Laura and Jan usually communicate with each other in Spanish, because that's the language they used when they met, but they are switching more and more often to German now that they have spent almost two years in Berlin.

Language has not been a big problem between them: "We have the same sense of humour, we agree on what's wrong and what's right". But it certainly is more difficult when a third person gets involved, Laura says. "There's a different perspective of the world among people from my country and people from Jan's country, a different way of dealing with daily life".

Jan has adapted himself better to Spanish culture, Laura thinks. "When we are in Spain, he's always out and about, he has a lot of friends, talks to everybody on the street… That's not something usual in Berlin." In the future, they will eventually move back to Laura's country of origin: "It's what we agreed in the beginning, but now we see it differently. We don't want to think about what's going to happen in the next years. Who knows…"

Laura is happy that the winter is finally over. It's one of the hardest things for her about living in Berlin: "I still haven't get used to these low temperatures; spending so much time indoors, not being able to take long walks… In Valencia I always spent most of the time outdoors, that's why Berlin is hard for me!"