So this will be my last blog until I return after Christmas, this week has been very hectic so I haven't gotten round to blogging.
This weekend I chilled here in Barcelona, went out on Saturday night and went shopping on Sunday. There is a primark here! I know it's not very cultural but sometimes you just need something cheap and cheerful and Primarmani is the place for that.
Last night we all went out together for tapas as a final meet up before we all go off to Madrid/France/America/England (delete as appropriate) for Christmas. The food was lovely and also very cheap, all the dishes were between 1euro and 2.50, even my friends who unfortunately are still waiting to be paid could afford that!
Yesterday and today were the Christmas concerts at my school, it was so cute (photo below of us being reindeers) I was really proud of them all managing to sing their songs in English, especially the youngest, they may only be 5 and 6 but they definitely were the best.
I've received lots of Christmas presents this week from teacher too, I got a hat, scarf, necklace, turron and a flower, very spoilt. I feel so at home here in Barcelona and at my school that it's really sad to leave, but it's best to see my family while I can and I know I would have regretted not going home.
So I fly tomorrow, hopefully all will go well and I'll be back in England tomorrow night, freezing to death but enjoying a lovely Chinese takeout with my friend Becky!
Feliz Navidad a todos/Bon Nadal tothom/Merry Christmas everyone!
So I have now been hit by the cold that seems to hit every teacher in the world as they finish work for the holidays, leaving them ill and unable to function. I felt tired and a bit funny all morning so decided to have a power nap this afternoon.. it lasted 6 and a half hours and I still don't feel A1. :(
But on the plus side my last two posts now make some sense, I did go to the circus with school today, but it was held in the building of the old flowers and silk market, so I got it right both times! (glad to see my Catalan/Spanish hasn't failed me) The show was good, a mixture of acrobatics and drama and comedy, I've never seen anything like it before but I did enjoy it, as did all the pupils (we took 8 classes...) On the bus to and from the Mercat de flors we sung Christmas songs in preparation for the show next week, I have learnt that they sing better in English than they do in Catalan, guess my job isn't going to badly. I was on a bus with 3rd level so this was all very cute. However at the front we also had two boys from 6th grade, one with a broken foo and his friend. They were made to sing their songs! Oh it gets better... they couldn't remember the words to the English song (John Lennon's Imagine..) so yes, I was forced to sing with them.... on the bus' MICROPHONE. I think my skin was somewhere between the shades of beetroot and crimson...
Also my block of flats now has a Christmas tree in the lobby! As does my school, but that was more likely to happen.
Tomorrow I need to pay for my Catalan course and buy the book. Should be easy enough......
Bona Nit a tothom!
:)
So my webcam has died, my uber-technical friend John attempted to fix it remotely, but it still isn't working. :( Yet another bad thing about my computer.
But I have now got a much quicker version of Internet explorer; which means I can final delete safari - yay!
However on the up side of things I am definitely moving up a class in catalan, I got 90.4% overall on the course. I am very pleased with myself, seems like my hard work has paid off. :)
Tomorrow I'm off to the Circus with school, then maybe iceskating later, not some sort of flowers and silk thing, to be honest I don't know where on earth I got that idea from....
Also planning to watch a Barca match with Gavin at some point early next year, which I can't wait for, to see some live sport, I miss it.
Starting to get excited about meeting up with everyone over Christmas, although I am not looking forward to those temperatures... eeek.
See you soon England.
Today was pretty boring, I went to school, the gym and then have mainly chilled, partly due to the fact that my private lesson had to be cancelled as my pupil is ill, and partly due to the fact I ache all over from the gym. I hurt in places where I didn't know muscles existed! Maybe it will have some effect so I look good on my return to England, but I doubt it, seeing as I am going out for chinese food on Friday.
It really feels like everything is grinding to a stop here. I have no private lesson, no homework to do for my catalan class tomorrow and a bad case of not wanting to go to school, along with all the other teachers, and pupils.
But I did manage to find out that my school trip on Thursday is to some sort of flowers and silk market, I have a party at catalan to look forward to tomorrow, as well as my final weekend in Barcelona being filled with Christmassy things, and going out.... and maybe the gym
All in all life's not too damn shabby, I guess I've just gotten used to be so busy that I'm not really sure how to have nothing to do anymore..
Hasta Manana
x
Ice skating yesterday was absolutely amazing, so funny, looking after my French friend Rosa who was adamant she was going to fall made my day! Afterwards I had a christmassy starbucks with the Frenchies, never thought I would miss speaking French, but it was a welcomed change from the Catalan and Spanish overload I sometimes experience.
Today was a pretty normal day at school, found out I am going on a trip with levels 3, 4 , 5 and 6 on thursday, although I'm not exactly sure where. Should be interesting though. :)
And I got 88% on the Catalan test I took so hopefully On Wednesday I shall be moving up to the next level, which means I could be a certified B1 by March! Definitely worth doing.
After an amazingly long weekend, a trip to Frankfurt then exploring Barcelona and puente-ing, (yes the new verb to party, hard, because it's a puente) I today am slammed back into reality. I've just finished my Catalan book report which is due in tomorrow, then on Wednesday I should know whether or not I can matriculate to the next level of my Catalan class. It's scary how quick time is going, this time in 2 weeks I will be celebrating Christmas day, with my family, in England. I'm glad I am spending my entire year here, otherwise I would be moving to a new country soon and that would be too quick for my liking.
One very strange thing which is going on here in Barcelona is the appearance of ice rinks, there are 2 within 15 minutes of my house. Now I know everybody likes a good ice skate, but I just find it a little weird when it's bright sunshine and still about 16 degrees that there are Spaniards in scarves, hats and gloves on ice. It's all a little bit too surreal for my liking.
So tomorrow I head back to school, only 7 working days left now before Christmas, crazy! I'm starting to get really excited now, mainly because I have all my presents and I can't wait to see my family.
Hope everyone else is enjoying the run up to Christmas as much as me :)
This is last night's blog. Posted a little late, as it didn't work, sorry about that guys.
So today I did a lot of research for my DELC310 in french as I want to start the next 4000 words after christmas. Gosh I had brain ache, I think I have finally decided what I want to do it on, and Isabelle seems to agree that it will be ok, and there seem to be quite a few academic papers and articles on both topics. Which is good. Except the prospect of being stuck inside reading on a computer screen while it's a nice sunny puente weekend outside does not, and I really can't afford to print them so I am going to have to suck it up and stare outside from my window. :( Tomorrow I plan to go to the gym, and then do some studying afterwards. I was thinking of seeing if Maquinista (a massive shopping complex) is open as I am desperately in need of tights, the one pair I have left are about to die. So a pretty boring day today guys. :( At least I have some weekend trips planned :) although I'm still thinking about last weekend in Frankfurt, which was simply amazing.
