Showing posts with label uni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uni. Show all posts

Saturday, 6 February 2016

Au Pair Experience Días 20 and 21

I'm gonna do a quick recap of Wednesday and Thursday then get on to Friday 😍.

Basketball was cancelled on Wednesday so that gave me some time to rest. Susana and I didn't really feel like going anyway so we all stayed in and watched the Barcelona match with pizza and salad. 

Thursday was still a big tired day. The kids played up a bit and I saw them properly get told off for the first time. Kids will be kids but it was pretty testing. Still, mummy was there so I didn't really have to do anything except keep trying to get them to engage in English. 

In the evening I was quite busy. I had an intercambio with a friend of the member of staff at my school and I'd rather not do it again. She was nice and everything, an English teacher herself and bought me a croissant and a coffee for my time. It's just that I struggled to get a word in edge ways. She was so over enthusiastic and I just don't think we were compatible even for something so simple because I just didn't have a good time with her. I learnt a lot and she did too but then she was determined to do it again, for longer, have me at her house and going for walks with her friend as well. Like, no? There's being nice and exchanging cultures and information and then there's pouncing on every au pair that comes to the area to practise your language skills with them. (She said she does this all the time). I might go next week just to speak English for a little while and then start saying no. The charm of being one of the only native English speakers for miles is beginning to wear off

I also had class which was the worst one yet, we just rushed through it and it was so confusing, I might actually have to study for more than an hour beforehand. (That hour has mainly consisted of photocopying anyway). After class I went to help another teacher in the school with their English class. It was quite fun, but not without controversy. For example, there was the guy who'd asked about my age and martial status beforehand and then asked me how much free time I had and whether I was interested in being paid to speak English with him *every day*. No words. Then there was the woman who asked me my political opinion on Catalonian independence, and Scottish independence and stupid controversial things which I answered very carefully but she'll take from it whatever she likes. Nothing else was that bad, I tried to make sure I got questions from everyone and everyone spoke to me  roughly the same amount. The confusion on people's faces when I spoke was a bit off-putting but it actually went well and everyone thanked me at the end and stuff. Then I got din dins with the teacher which was the best pizza *ever*. 

So I was in a bar when I checked my emails and found out I'm going to Santiago de Compostela for my year abroad (which starts in September!?) 

Most of you will know this already of course, but after the stress of the application I can hardly believe I actually got my first choice in the first round of applications. If it was that easy whyyyyy did I have to spend time on two more choices I didn't care about!? I guess it's easy to say when I got what I wanted but with the fact my degree is so weird and getting decent grades in first year, I was probably a high priority all along. I'm happy anyway, just have to start doing research and stuff to make it feel real. 

So, Friday is coming up next xxx

Friday, 22 January 2016

Friday! (Au Pair Experience Día 8)

It's weird because I can say I've been here a week but I've actually been here 8 days because I got here last Friday. 

Today I decided to clean my room and my bathroom (not that they were filthy or anything!) and I'm also going to paint my toenails and redo a bit of my hair so I feel human again. Might treat myself to a cute pair of Nike trainers for €50 though I can't justify it after my ASOS and Amazon shop (oops!)

This morning I watched some of the show Catalunya Experience which is really cool if you wanna find out things about this region of Spain. The Pirinese are the border between Cataluynia and France which explains why Català sounds like French with words like d'accord and merci. 

I'm gonna study for my strange Spanish class today and have the weekend completely for resting. I'll answer my university emails too. I keep in touch with my course adviser and the two supervisors from my placement in the summer but I have to filter through so many unimportant emails first!

I was so optimistic in the morning but I didn't do much except cleaning and taking photos









I tried going to a few bars on my own but I wasn't having a confident night. It might have been because of my sandals and socks combination: 


I was going for cute Topshop cutie but I was more like your Uncle Bob. This big white dog wouldn't stop looking at me, like I thought it was gonna eat me. The first bar I went to was quite nice but I obviously got there at the wrong time because within 10 minutes of me arriving everyone left. I thought I was being brave asking these two guys if I could watch their darts match, they obliged, but they were finishing and I was left with the barmaid who apparently couldn't understand "vodka and cola" and the owner who must've been depressed that by 11 everyone had left. I don't even drink vodka I just thought it was the easiest thing to say. 

The next bar was a younger crowd and I liked it more but didn't talk to anyone. I'd been on the phone to a friend from England and I felt so uncomfortable talking to strangers. The rest of the bars that my host parents recommended were closed so I just went home. 

I have made a friend though, me and the girl that works in the shop are going for a coffee on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it so much. The au pair life is strange. Overwhelming socialising and loneliness at the same time. Maybe I'm being dramatic. We'll see