big matt

today, i'm going home.

so, what am i going to miss...

- fo shizzle, the people i've met this year, the teachers, the kids
but especially the three j's and the n. the final set of photos (links
on the right) prove how wicked cool this years drinking pals have been
- the fact you can go out at 11 and crawl home at 6 in the morning
- the amount of vodka (i really mean campari) they pour in your glass
- being wedged in a metro carriage in 30ºc heat underneath someones
sweaty armpit - you just can't beat it
- the weather
- tiqui taca tiqui taca

and what i won't miss...

- that EVERYTHING except the cinema closes on a sunday
- our flat being treated like a hotel for any weirdo who wants to come to madrid
- arrogant madrileños
- spanish banks and their cumbersome paper based way of doing things

having said all that, i am thoroughly ready to come home. it's been a
blast blogfans, i couldn't have asked for anything more.

until i see you all in person...adios

Labels: españa

popped over to the beach to spend some quality time with alice and joe
and had a fantastic time (not least because of the inflatable
volleyball set for the pool).

it's a beautiful part of spain although there's very little spanish
about it. the town (moraira) is not a package holiday destination,
it's more a place of villas and families - very few hotels, even fewer
chavs. it's the kind of place where families have owned houses for
generations and as a result, the town has grown to accomodate the
englishes.

we watched the football in a pub on sunday, full of daily mail
readers, roast beef and bread and butter pudding on the menu, not a
spaniard in sight.

later that night, when i ordered my drink in spanish, the barwoman
replied in a liverpudlian accent how she'd lived in spain for eight
years and doesn't speak a word of spanish.

the embarassing thing is, it's possible. this place is like living in
england. whilst the land is spanish, the people, the shopowners, the
number plates, the barowners are all english.

the even more embarassing thing is, it doesn't feel like living in
spain; it feels like living in england...just with better weather.
very odd indeed.

Labels: españa

today is my last day at work.

whilst in reality, time has gone quite slowly (well at normal pace) it
seems like only yesterday when i walked into this school for the first
time, extended my hand to the deputy head and was promptly kissed on
both cheeks.

it's fair to say, i knew very little back then about how things worked
in this country (not least the bleedin' language). the majority of
embarassing situations have been caused by not understanding. i feel
my skin has grown thicker this year, because every time you make a tit
out of yourself (and that's happened to me quite a bit) you learn
something. being embarassed about cocking up in spanish doesn't bother
me anymore, everyone knows i'm not a native so why worry about making
mistakes.

if we're going to get philosophical, i believe learning a language is
all about confidence. if you have to confidence to try, to cock up and
not mind, to admit that you don't understand, the faster you learn -
which is why i think teaching english from such a young age is
fantastic.

the kids have english lessons from age 3 in my school (personally, i
think it should be 4) but it still amazes me that children who are
only just learning how to use their own language have a competence in
english. yesterday, my classes performed english theatre for their
parents - forty 6/7 year olds did a play completely in english. is
that not impressive?

even though it's the last day, i'm not leaving til the 30th, so
there's probably time for another post. until next time blogfans...

Labels: españa

i don't know if you remember, but quite a while ago i was taken for a
fool by an american who told me he needed help (read it).

his story was that he had been in a car accident and needed money to
stay in a hotel for the night as he'd got seperated from his friends.
he 'borrowed' €10 from me, agreeing to meet me the next day to return
the money...but, unsurprisingly, never showed.

since then, the same bloke has been spotted by many people, praying on
english speaking people in madrid. i'd been waiting until i saw him
again...and last night it happened.

there was four of us, and each person had seen him in action at some
point this year. we all gave him a bit of stick, telling him he owed
me money, that he should move to another city cos everyone's heard it
all before and lying to good natured people was very very wrong
indeed. then he came out with a cracker.

'well, my parents have met bin laden,' he said.

belter. that suddenly makes everything ok then...

Labels: españa

last night, for some unknown reason, i was suddenly hit by the
realisation i've only got another week at work.

for weeks now, i've been saying how few weeks i've got left and what a
shame it is that i'll be leaving, just to entertain the people who ask
me; i never really thought the time would actually arrive.

but having had an awesome weekend away with my favourite work
colleagues, i've realised what a real shame it is i'm
leaving...especially seen as i've just settled in.

you see, the year breaks down like this - the first six months
involved a daily communication failure leading to general
embarassment. the next two, involved me actually being able to hold
conversations, and the last one has just been a blast.

this year, my skin has definately grown thicker from living
independently where you don't necessarily understand how things
function, but (i'm afraid to say) i'm actually getting a bit emotional
about leaving.

Labels: españa