Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Where I'm From
A classmate asked me today whether I felt truly American, and, well the answer I gave him was no. All my life I've felt like a foreigner, a European raised in America. I've always stressed the fact that my heritage is from the other side of the Atlantic, that I wasn't even born in America. Of course, I've spent a good deal of time with family in their respective countries, listening and speaking (in Germany) in the language, experiencing the culture, eating the food, etc. especially when I spent two years in The Netherlands where my grandparents' house was just an hour away, but it's not quite the same. Sure, I have customs, mannerisms, ways of doing things that are very much German or Turkish, and I've been educated to compose myself like a German with the Germans and a Turk with the Turks, but as soon as I left home everything I would do was completely American. I learned the American school system, studied the American government, spoke American English (New Jersey style if we want to get specific), pledged to an American flag (which I actually stopped doing in middle school for my personal reasons (respectfully, of course)), watched American movies, played sports the American way, celebrated American holidays, I could go on forever. Of course, this entered in the home too, it wasn't like I suddenly went to Europe when I entered the front door.
The point I'm trying to make is, I often felt uncomfortable telling people I was American. I'd go into a large ramble about how my mom's German, my dad's Turkish, I was born in Canada and my brother in England, expressing my extreme pride for my heritage every time someone asked my where I'm from. I'd even written about memories of sitting on my grandparents' balcony eating apricots and frozen bananas on a hot afternoon in Istanbul and watching the cows from my grandparents' back lawn in Germany in a "Where I'm From" poem in the sixth grade. I had a lot of trouble differentiating between where I'm from and who I am, and although heritage is important, and all of those memories in the end count very much to who I become and where I've come from, the question, "Where are you from?" has changed a great deal over the past few years for me, due to not only mindset but also location. In short, I never really felt American. That is, until I arrived here.
One of the first large observations I made here was how much of an accent I had (have, I don't know about regularly but now and then I say something with such an American accent I feel like I'm speaking English) I used to think I had a decent accent and I found it a little amusing when I'd hear some of my classmates speak spanish with such an American accent it almost seemed on purpose. It wasn't my spanish accent that really caught me off guard, that one I had coming for me. It was the American accent I have that all of a sudden sounded so weird, so different...
The reason I bring up the accent is because one day I was explaning to a Canadian friend I have here that comes from French-Canada how I don't really consider myself an American, and she basically told me that to her I am American, I have the accent, the customs, I grew up there. And for the next few days that conversation stuck with me. I slowly began to realize that, well, it's not where my parents are from, its not where my granparents are from, nor is it the blood they passed on to me that gives me any certain nationality.
In the end I didn't give my classmate a good answer today. It wasn't well-thought-out, either, just a habitual answer I was so used to giving for that question, but I've come to quite the conclusion. I'm much less European than the Italian guy that came for a trimester or the Belgian girl I became good friends with. I floated toward an American friend (who, although from across the country, shares many of the same types of observations, notices the same little oddities, even likes the same manner of saying certain words as me) whenever I felt a little left out or didn't know what was going on during the orientations for a reason: something familiar. Something I could relate to. Something American, just like me.
I'd like to clarify that in the above post solely my opinions are being posted. It has been written without intention to offend in any manner and I am in absolutely no way stating that I feel there is anything wrong with being American nor is there a problem with feeling like a foreigner. This is simply a matter of opinion and open to discussion, however I hope everyone understands the angle I am taking here and am merely writing to express prior and present mindsets and don't mean to impose on the mindsets of others. Thank you for understanding.
The point I'm trying to make is, I often felt uncomfortable telling people I was American. I'd go into a large ramble about how my mom's German, my dad's Turkish, I was born in Canada and my brother in England, expressing my extreme pride for my heritage every time someone asked my where I'm from. I'd even written about memories of sitting on my grandparents' balcony eating apricots and frozen bananas on a hot afternoon in Istanbul and watching the cows from my grandparents' back lawn in Germany in a "Where I'm From" poem in the sixth grade. I had a lot of trouble differentiating between where I'm from and who I am, and although heritage is important, and all of those memories in the end count very much to who I become and where I've come from, the question, "Where are you from?" has changed a great deal over the past few years for me, due to not only mindset but also location. In short, I never really felt American. That is, until I arrived here.
One of the first large observations I made here was how much of an accent I had (have, I don't know about regularly but now and then I say something with such an American accent I feel like I'm speaking English) I used to think I had a decent accent and I found it a little amusing when I'd hear some of my classmates speak spanish with such an American accent it almost seemed on purpose. It wasn't my spanish accent that really caught me off guard, that one I had coming for me. It was the American accent I have that all of a sudden sounded so weird, so different...
The reason I bring up the accent is because one day I was explaning to a Canadian friend I have here that comes from French-Canada how I don't really consider myself an American, and she basically told me that to her I am American, I have the accent, the customs, I grew up there. And for the next few days that conversation stuck with me. I slowly began to realize that, well, it's not where my parents are from, its not where my granparents are from, nor is it the blood they passed on to me that gives me any certain nationality.
In the end I didn't give my classmate a good answer today. It wasn't well-thought-out, either, just a habitual answer I was so used to giving for that question, but I've come to quite the conclusion. I'm much less European than the Italian guy that came for a trimester or the Belgian girl I became good friends with. I floated toward an American friend (who, although from across the country, shares many of the same types of observations, notices the same little oddities, even likes the same manner of saying certain words as me) whenever I felt a little left out or didn't know what was going on during the orientations for a reason: something familiar. Something I could relate to. Something American, just like me.
I'd like to clarify that in the above post solely my opinions are being posted. It has been written without intention to offend in any manner and I am in absolutely no way stating that I feel there is anything wrong with being American nor is there a problem with feeling like a foreigner. This is simply a matter of opinion and open to discussion, however I hope everyone understands the angle I am taking here and am merely writing to express prior and present mindsets and don't mean to impose on the mindsets of others. Thank you for understanding.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Video of the AFS trip from New York to Madrid
Click
All credits go to Jacob Spetzler, fellow AFSer, American, and, at the moment, fellow resident of the Basque Country.
All credits go to Jacob Spetzler, fellow AFSer, American, and, at the moment, fellow resident of the Basque Country.
Autumn and the "Home" Feeling
Well, it's not exactly autumn anymore, but I feel as though I've been cheated out of the most beautiful season of the year. Everything's still green here. That's not to say the trees aren't bare or holding on to their browned leaves for dear life, just that Autumn wasn't quite as marvellous as I had expected it to be when I first arrived here, thinking about how the green would slowly turn into a marvellous mix of yellow, orange and red as I'm so used to seeing in the leaves back home. It didn't quite live up to my expectations. I still see a large mass of green as I look out the window and the only color changing that's really taken place was one of the hills which actually turned white a couple times due to the snow. That's not to say I'd give up all this green to have autumn back, although I could do without all the rain. I suppose it's just another one of those changes where you remember that it's not good or bad, it's not better or worse, it's just completely different.
And that slowly brings me onto my next topic. As I walk across Urnieta from home to the polideportivo (basically a sports center where there's a gym for handball games, a swimming pool, a soccer field, tennis courts and other facilities as well as the showers. every town has one) I generally have a little chunk of time to myself, alone, just to think about whatever or listen to music. Friday, on my way to practice, as I passed by this little park for kids that I have to go through every time I go to practice, to meet with my friends, the bus station or even just to buy lettuce from the supermarket if I take that route, I got this strange, warm feeling inside me all of a sudden. I didn't quite know what it was at first, but it felt familiar. Today, it happened again, as I was lying on the couch attempting to take a siesta, but in the end didn't manage doing so, but I felt so comfortable under a warm blanket just looking at the reflection of the little streak of clouds in an otherwise clear sky in the glass of a large painting hung in the living room. But as I mulled over, once again, what the feeling could possibly be, I remembered back to those days in Tenafly where I'd go out for a short walk with some music just to enjoy the fall weather and, of course, to marvel at all the colors that surrounded me. Those were the days where I'd get that very same feeling I've been having lately, and I've finally discovered what it really means: it's that "home" feeling. That warm feeling you get on the inside when you just feel so safe and, well, at home, with your surroundings, where everything's so normal to you, and you feel as though you could walk around with a blindfold on and still find your way because you're so sure of where everything is and what's going on around you.
I guess getting that feeling is supposed to be a big feat in my year here, finally feeling comfortable and confident with where I am, having overcome the initial overall feeling of just being completely lost in another world based on completely different morals, history, geography, culture, language, and customs than what I've grown up with. But I think it has had a different meaning for me. It's been more of a catalyst for me. It's sparked new trains of thought running through my mind, new perspectives of the two lives I've now become accustomed to.
I once told my host mom how I've never felt like I've ever really "belonged." In every place I've lived, every place I've gone to school, for one reason or another, I just never quite felt completely at peace with myself, as though there was just something "off" between the harmony of me and my surroundings. But getting that "home" feeling on my way to practice, reminding myself all of a sudden of those days where I'd go from the track to the gym at school after track practice or waking up at 8 in the morning christmas break to go run ten 400's in the freezing cold, made me realize the true meaning of the word "home." You don't quite have to fit in with everybody else to feel at home, and you don't even have to feel like you belong. Home isn't the place where you were born, and it doesn't even have to be where you've spent all your life. For many of us, well, that may be the case. It could be where you grew up, where you are now, where you spent your time studying, whether it be college, boarding school, even studying abroad, but it's not the where that makes the difference. The "where" is what we often call "house," but the real "home" is, well, that's you. Home lies within all of us, and it takes a while to dig deep down enough to unlock it, and a whole lot longer to interpret it your way. For me, home is normal. Home is that place where, as I said earlier, you feel like you can walk around with a blindfold on, just because you feel so safe and secure, so sure about yourself and where you are. It's that harmony I talked about earlier between you and your surroundings that I've always felt was a little off-beat. What I've come to realize is, you can't always be in harmony with the world. In fact, you're almost never in agreement with "home," but those precious moments where you get the "home" feeling remind you that it doesn't matter whether or not you're in the town you grew up in or whether or not you still go to the same supermarket to buy chicken or whether or not you're even with your family. It reminds you that, in the very least, you're secure, comfortable, and, most importantly, safe.
And that slowly brings me onto my next topic. As I walk across Urnieta from home to the polideportivo (basically a sports center where there's a gym for handball games, a swimming pool, a soccer field, tennis courts and other facilities as well as the showers. every town has one) I generally have a little chunk of time to myself, alone, just to think about whatever or listen to music. Friday, on my way to practice, as I passed by this little park for kids that I have to go through every time I go to practice, to meet with my friends, the bus station or even just to buy lettuce from the supermarket if I take that route, I got this strange, warm feeling inside me all of a sudden. I didn't quite know what it was at first, but it felt familiar. Today, it happened again, as I was lying on the couch attempting to take a siesta, but in the end didn't manage doing so, but I felt so comfortable under a warm blanket just looking at the reflection of the little streak of clouds in an otherwise clear sky in the glass of a large painting hung in the living room. But as I mulled over, once again, what the feeling could possibly be, I remembered back to those days in Tenafly where I'd go out for a short walk with some music just to enjoy the fall weather and, of course, to marvel at all the colors that surrounded me. Those were the days where I'd get that very same feeling I've been having lately, and I've finally discovered what it really means: it's that "home" feeling. That warm feeling you get on the inside when you just feel so safe and, well, at home, with your surroundings, where everything's so normal to you, and you feel as though you could walk around with a blindfold on and still find your way because you're so sure of where everything is and what's going on around you.
I guess getting that feeling is supposed to be a big feat in my year here, finally feeling comfortable and confident with where I am, having overcome the initial overall feeling of just being completely lost in another world based on completely different morals, history, geography, culture, language, and customs than what I've grown up with. But I think it has had a different meaning for me. It's been more of a catalyst for me. It's sparked new trains of thought running through my mind, new perspectives of the two lives I've now become accustomed to.
I once told my host mom how I've never felt like I've ever really "belonged." In every place I've lived, every place I've gone to school, for one reason or another, I just never quite felt completely at peace with myself, as though there was just something "off" between the harmony of me and my surroundings. But getting that "home" feeling on my way to practice, reminding myself all of a sudden of those days where I'd go from the track to the gym at school after track practice or waking up at 8 in the morning christmas break to go run ten 400's in the freezing cold, made me realize the true meaning of the word "home." You don't quite have to fit in with everybody else to feel at home, and you don't even have to feel like you belong. Home isn't the place where you were born, and it doesn't even have to be where you've spent all your life. For many of us, well, that may be the case. It could be where you grew up, where you are now, where you spent your time studying, whether it be college, boarding school, even studying abroad, but it's not the where that makes the difference. The "where" is what we often call "house," but the real "home" is, well, that's you. Home lies within all of us, and it takes a while to dig deep down enough to unlock it, and a whole lot longer to interpret it your way. For me, home is normal. Home is that place where, as I said earlier, you feel like you can walk around with a blindfold on, just because you feel so safe and secure, so sure about yourself and where you are. It's that harmony I talked about earlier between you and your surroundings that I've always felt was a little off-beat. What I've come to realize is, you can't always be in harmony with the world. In fact, you're almost never in agreement with "home," but those precious moments where you get the "home" feeling remind you that it doesn't matter whether or not you're in the town you grew up in or whether or not you still go to the same supermarket to buy chicken or whether or not you're even with your family. It reminds you that, in the very least, you're secure, comfortable, and, most importantly, safe.
Seventeenth Week
Messing around on a Sunday afternoon... Just enjoying some free time while the others are taking a siesta
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
December!
With the arrival of December, everything in school's calmed down (actually finished projects and tests December 1st) and the breaks are arriving. Decorations are slowly appearing on the trees and everybody's getting in a festive mood (I even started an advent calendar).
I'm in the middle of a 5 day weekend right now and in a couple of weeks Christmas break begins. Yesterday I went to watch a "ciclo-cross" competition where some of the world's champions competed. I also got to see a friend of mine from AFS who actually lives in a small town right next to where the competition was. Later that day, my host father and sister and I went to see the local proffesional soccer team Real Sociedad from San Sebastián play against Athletic de Bilbao which they call the "derbi" here because of the rivalry between the two teams. Real Sociedad won 2-0, one goal was a penalty and the other an own goal, so all in all we left the stadium happy.
Today, we went to an old amusement park for kids on top of one of the hills of San Sebastián where we got a really nice view of the whole city, the ocean and everything. We went on some of the rides, played some of the games and overall just had a good time. Then, we walked across the city so that I could get to know the streets a little more and my host sister went to meet up with her friends while my host parents and I went to the movie theatre to watch "Biutiful" directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Javier Bardem which was placed in Barcelona. It turned out to be a really good movie, I'm not sure if it'd be in theatres in America but for anyone that encounters it I seriously reccommend watching it.
Overall I've been have a pretty good time with my family and just been relaxing lately which has been nice. I've been given a lot of time to think and just to mull over all the things going on in my head lately which has been nice as well. I've been laughing lightly a lot lately (just about little things) and overall just been having a good time.
I'm in the middle of a 5 day weekend right now and in a couple of weeks Christmas break begins. Yesterday I went to watch a "ciclo-cross" competition where some of the world's champions competed. I also got to see a friend of mine from AFS who actually lives in a small town right next to where the competition was. Later that day, my host father and sister and I went to see the local proffesional soccer team Real Sociedad from San Sebastián play against Athletic de Bilbao which they call the "derbi" here because of the rivalry between the two teams. Real Sociedad won 2-0, one goal was a penalty and the other an own goal, so all in all we left the stadium happy.
Today, we went to an old amusement park for kids on top of one of the hills of San Sebastián where we got a really nice view of the whole city, the ocean and everything. We went on some of the rides, played some of the games and overall just had a good time. Then, we walked across the city so that I could get to know the streets a little more and my host sister went to meet up with her friends while my host parents and I went to the movie theatre to watch "Biutiful" directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Javier Bardem which was placed in Barcelona. It turned out to be a really good movie, I'm not sure if it'd be in theatres in America but for anyone that encounters it I seriously reccommend watching it.
Overall I've been have a pretty good time with my family and just been relaxing lately which has been nice. I've been given a lot of time to think and just to mull over all the things going on in my head lately which has been nice as well. I've been laughing lightly a lot lately (just about little things) and overall just been having a good time.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Trimester coming to an end
This trimester's slowly finishing off with "examenes" and a fairly large essay-type project for "Gizarte" (History, Ciencias Sociales, whatever you'd like to call it). I've had the luck of not actually having too many tests as 3 of my classes are electives and I was put in Plastika, Teknologia and Informatika (Art, Technology and woodworking, and Informatika is basically learning how to do things on the computer) in which I have tests but they're not your average pen and paper tests so I don't really consider them tests. Apart from those three I've been put in a separate classroom with an individual teacher for Euskara (without tests or pressure, so that I can learn at my pace), and in English, well, it seems fairly useless to mention that I don't need to take the tests to prove how well I know the language (I read books and write small essays about them instead of doing the classwork). Apart from those 5 classes I have tests coming up in history, math and lengua (spanish). The first 3 went pretty well, so I'm hoping that with enough studying and with my better language skills I'll be able to better or at least maintain the grades I've been getting.
Aside from school, I, myself, have been doing pretty well. The length of my time here is starting to take a little weight and I've been noticing it more, but I'd like to think the dreary weather is also bringing the mood down a little. The sky has been consistently grey for the past week and today in the morning it started raining so much I began to wonder how I would manage to play my soccer game later on with the field so wet (which, by the way, we won 2-1). It actually began to hail in the morning, which was a bit surprising but also kind of entertaining to watch the little ice balls falling on our balcony.
Also, yesterday, after watching my sister play her soccer game, my father, sister and I went to France (30 minute drive, more or less) to a town called St Jean de Luz. It's a very beautiful town and I actually managed to take some really nice pictures, which, hopefully, I'll upload later. We took a walk down the beach for a little bit (going to the beach but not going to swim or tan was always something I wanted to do) and afterward drove back home. On the way back my host father showed me a bunker where the French soldiers shot cannonballs out at the boats in the water in World War II, which was quite interesting. St Jean de Luz is also part of the Basque Country, which was pretty cool because I got to see the difference between País Vasco and Pays basque.
All's well with the family, I feel right at home with them (doing my part in the household, of course) and with my friends too. I feel like I fit in pretty well with all of them. I'm starting to find my place among my peers a little more and noticing more the interactions and relationships between them. I would say pretty certainly that I haven't encountered any problems I haven't been able to overcome, and aside from the daily ups and downs that occur no matter where you go, I am, as always, content.
Aside from school, I, myself, have been doing pretty well. The length of my time here is starting to take a little weight and I've been noticing it more, but I'd like to think the dreary weather is also bringing the mood down a little. The sky has been consistently grey for the past week and today in the morning it started raining so much I began to wonder how I would manage to play my soccer game later on with the field so wet (which, by the way, we won 2-1). It actually began to hail in the morning, which was a bit surprising but also kind of entertaining to watch the little ice balls falling on our balcony.
Also, yesterday, after watching my sister play her soccer game, my father, sister and I went to France (30 minute drive, more or less) to a town called St Jean de Luz. It's a very beautiful town and I actually managed to take some really nice pictures, which, hopefully, I'll upload later. We took a walk down the beach for a little bit (going to the beach but not going to swim or tan was always something I wanted to do) and afterward drove back home. On the way back my host father showed me a bunker where the French soldiers shot cannonballs out at the boats in the water in World War II, which was quite interesting. St Jean de Luz is also part of the Basque Country, which was pretty cool because I got to see the difference between País Vasco and Pays basque.
All's well with the family, I feel right at home with them (doing my part in the household, of course) and with my friends too. I feel like I fit in pretty well with all of them. I'm starting to find my place among my peers a little more and noticing more the interactions and relationships between them. I would say pretty certainly that I haven't encountered any problems I haven't been able to overcome, and aside from the daily ups and downs that occur no matter where you go, I am, as always, content.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Winter's Arriving
The rain's starting to come down hard and often here, but I suppose all the nature here doesn't come from nothing. Every now and then a nice, sunny day comes along to brighten our spirits.
I've been busier than usual the past couple weekends and weeks so I haven't had a chance to upload any pictures or write anything, but I managed to find a little time. Everything's been going well, as usual. Of course, I've gotten a lot better at speaking, but I still have trouble with the grammar, but little by little that too is becoming more natural to me.
The weeks have been going by pretty quickly lately, but I'm not too worried. I can say pretty comfortably that I've settled in to the daily routines here and I'm starting to get used to the whole lifestyle. I think I've adjusted pretty comfortably. I've begun to understand a little bit of Basque every now and then so I'm pretty content with that too.
Yesterday I had a pretty long conversation with my host dad about music, soccer, growing up and other things, and today I had a really nice conversation with a friend of mine. It's become easier to express some of my deeper thoughts and ideas which makes me really happy, as in the beginning I was really only able to answer questions and talk about basic things.
I have a lot of homework to do and not that much left to say, which is also one of the reasons I haven't written in a while. I'll try to make more of an effort to keep the blog updated, however. Adios por ahora.
I've been busier than usual the past couple weekends and weeks so I haven't had a chance to upload any pictures or write anything, but I managed to find a little time. Everything's been going well, as usual. Of course, I've gotten a lot better at speaking, but I still have trouble with the grammar, but little by little that too is becoming more natural to me.
The weeks have been going by pretty quickly lately, but I'm not too worried. I can say pretty comfortably that I've settled in to the daily routines here and I'm starting to get used to the whole lifestyle. I think I've adjusted pretty comfortably. I've begun to understand a little bit of Basque every now and then so I'm pretty content with that too.
Yesterday I had a pretty long conversation with my host dad about music, soccer, growing up and other things, and today I had a really nice conversation with a friend of mine. It's become easier to express some of my deeper thoughts and ideas which makes me really happy, as in the beginning I was really only able to answer questions and talk about basic things.
I have a lot of homework to do and not that much left to say, which is also one of the reasons I haven't written in a while. I'll try to make more of an effort to keep the blog updated, however. Adios por ahora.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Gaining fluency
A lot of pretty monumental things happened this week. I had my first dream in Spanish, which was really blurry but I dreamt about some of the people here and I know I was talking in Spanish. I can understand television and when people talk to me without any problems and slowly I´ve been learning things in Euskera too, which I find that once you start to learn it comes to you easier but the actual frustration of starting to learn and trying to remember the words and keep them in your head makes it so difficult.
I had 3 tests in the past week. One in history, one in spanish (lengua), and one in math. All of them were in spanish, so I didn't have any problems with the language. I'm pretty proud to mention that I got a 10 on my history test (the grading here is from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best) and an 8 on my spanish test which was about grammar. I don't know about math yet but I'm a little nervous as I had a lot of trouble concentrating since the kids in my class were making a lot of noise.
Last weekend was the AFS northern Spain fall orientation, which went really well for all of us. The activities really helped me take a step back and sort of take everything into perspective and remember a lot of the important things I need to keep in mind. Also, I made a lot of really good friends there. It was nice to be with people that understand me not only about what I'm going through now but also that have the same mindset as me, that sort of thirst to adventure and enjoy every moment of their youth.
Other than that overall I've been getting on really well. My spanish every day gets a little better. As of now I have a very good basis but I'm starting to notice more how much there is to learning another language. Although I don't have a problem with talking about simpler things and I don't really have to think before I talk in certain situations, I still hesitate a lot and there are a lot of things I don't know how to say. I get sort of frustrated because I can't really express myself too often but more and more I've been reminding myself what everyone's been saying to me from the beginning - poco a poco. Little by little. I've learned to take everything as it comes and not to worry about things that have happened in the past, which I can't change, or things that will happen, which I can only take care of when they happen. Elimiating worry is difficult, and frustration as well, but every day I have time to take things into perspective and even if I am worried or frustrated by something, I have time to relax and just let my thoughts flow, which is really helpful.
I took a walk yesterday after school with my camera. It was really peaceful, and perfect timing too. I've had a chunk of time every friday after school and before soccer practice (when I get home at 2:30ish until when I have to leave the house at 5:15) where the only thing I have to do is homework, and as I don't like to do my homework on a Friday right after school, I haven't had anything to do in that time. I think I'm going to keep going on walks Fridays after school. It was really nice and peaceful and just to sort of get away and take pictures really helped clear my mind. I played around with the camera and ended up with some really nice pictures.
Overall I'm really content with everything. Day by day the language gets better and slowly everything's falling into place.
I had 3 tests in the past week. One in history, one in spanish (lengua), and one in math. All of them were in spanish, so I didn't have any problems with the language. I'm pretty proud to mention that I got a 10 on my history test (the grading here is from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best) and an 8 on my spanish test which was about grammar. I don't know about math yet but I'm a little nervous as I had a lot of trouble concentrating since the kids in my class were making a lot of noise.
Last weekend was the AFS northern Spain fall orientation, which went really well for all of us. The activities really helped me take a step back and sort of take everything into perspective and remember a lot of the important things I need to keep in mind. Also, I made a lot of really good friends there. It was nice to be with people that understand me not only about what I'm going through now but also that have the same mindset as me, that sort of thirst to adventure and enjoy every moment of their youth.
Other than that overall I've been getting on really well. My spanish every day gets a little better. As of now I have a very good basis but I'm starting to notice more how much there is to learning another language. Although I don't have a problem with talking about simpler things and I don't really have to think before I talk in certain situations, I still hesitate a lot and there are a lot of things I don't know how to say. I get sort of frustrated because I can't really express myself too often but more and more I've been reminding myself what everyone's been saying to me from the beginning - poco a poco. Little by little. I've learned to take everything as it comes and not to worry about things that have happened in the past, which I can't change, or things that will happen, which I can only take care of when they happen. Elimiating worry is difficult, and frustration as well, but every day I have time to take things into perspective and even if I am worried or frustrated by something, I have time to relax and just let my thoughts flow, which is really helpful.
I took a walk yesterday after school with my camera. It was really peaceful, and perfect timing too. I've had a chunk of time every friday after school and before soccer practice (when I get home at 2:30ish until when I have to leave the house at 5:15) where the only thing I have to do is homework, and as I don't like to do my homework on a Friday right after school, I haven't had anything to do in that time. I think I'm going to keep going on walks Fridays after school. It was really nice and peaceful and just to sort of get away and take pictures really helped clear my mind. I played around with the camera and ended up with some really nice pictures.
Overall I'm really content with everything. Day by day the language gets better and slowly everything's falling into place.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Seventh Week
My host mom and I having too much fun
Estamos haciendo las tonterías.
Necesitamos reírnos.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
10/10/10
Today is my host mom´s birthday. I can´t think of much more to say about that. Happy birthday!
I went to Bilbao last weekend for an AFS meeting. It was pretty calm, I got to talk to the other AFSers in the region and the volunteers too, and I got to see Bilbao. I have another orientation on the 16th and 17th (overnight) which should be fun.
But aside from AFS, everything´s going really well for me here. I had a soccer game yesterday (the first time I was able to play, because certain papers had to reach Madrid before I could play in the games) and I scored a goal, which was pretty exciting. I´m starting to understand television and I can talk to my friends with a little less struggle (the only trouble I´m having is conjugating verbs without thinking, but they correct me when I say something wrong and they´re really patient with me, so I´m really happy about that too).
Overall I couldn´t be more content with my family, friends and school. I´ve been put up to a challenge with learning Castellano and basque at the same time, but since I don´t actually have to learn basque (of course, I really want to learn) I can take my time, which is better since it´s very difficult. Naturally my friends speak in basque more than Castellano, but on the weekends they talk more in spanish than basque, especially when I make more of an effort to talk and be part of the conversation. I´m content either way because when they speak in basque I´m getting used to listening to the language and trying to pick out the words I know.
The weather is really confusing (one minute it´s raining and the next its sunny). The food is really great, so all in all, I´m really happy with everything right now. I have to go eat breakfast now, so I´ll probably write more next weekend. We have fiestas this week so monday and tuesday I don´t have school.
Anyway, until later.
I went to Bilbao last weekend for an AFS meeting. It was pretty calm, I got to talk to the other AFSers in the region and the volunteers too, and I got to see Bilbao. I have another orientation on the 16th and 17th (overnight) which should be fun.
But aside from AFS, everything´s going really well for me here. I had a soccer game yesterday (the first time I was able to play, because certain papers had to reach Madrid before I could play in the games) and I scored a goal, which was pretty exciting. I´m starting to understand television and I can talk to my friends with a little less struggle (the only trouble I´m having is conjugating verbs without thinking, but they correct me when I say something wrong and they´re really patient with me, so I´m really happy about that too).
Overall I couldn´t be more content with my family, friends and school. I´ve been put up to a challenge with learning Castellano and basque at the same time, but since I don´t actually have to learn basque (of course, I really want to learn) I can take my time, which is better since it´s very difficult. Naturally my friends speak in basque more than Castellano, but on the weekends they talk more in spanish than basque, especially when I make more of an effort to talk and be part of the conversation. I´m content either way because when they speak in basque I´m getting used to listening to the language and trying to pick out the words I know.
The weather is really confusing (one minute it´s raining and the next its sunny). The food is really great, so all in all, I´m really happy with everything right now. I have to go eat breakfast now, so I´ll probably write more next weekend. We have fiestas this week so monday and tuesday I don´t have school.
Anyway, until later.
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
My hair is blonde and my room is always clean. Oh, how things change so quickly..
I tried surfing for the first time this weekend. Of course, it was a miserable failure, but I couldn´t expect anything more. I went with a friend from AFS that´s living with a family in San Sebastian. We actually ended up spending more time eating than surfing, but I suppose that´s just the way things work around here.
I also watched a movie in San Sebastian (part of the festival de cine going on here) which happened to be in English. It´s called Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it was in black and white (made in 1956, I think). I thought it was a pretty good movie.. I´m going to see another movie this Friday. My host mom has been going to watch multiple movies a day on the days she doesn´t have to work. She´s an artist (photographer, not sure if I mentioned that already) so I suppose it´s pretty fitting that she´s interested in the festival. I find it pretty cool.
But anyway, that was my Sunday, a little more relaxed than Saturday. Saturday morning I watched my team´s soccer game (couldn´t play because of some papers that need to be sent to Madrid with my signature), saturday afternoon I watched a women´s proffesional game (superliga) and at night, I went to the stadium in San Sebastian to watch Real Sociedad (San Sebastian team) play against Real Madrid. Madrid won 2-1, but Real played really well, so I was content. Other than that, I got to see Ronaldo, Ozil, Khedira, Xabi Alonso, and many more... It was quite the experience.
As for school, which probably sounds a little less eventful than the weekends, things have been going alright. I have to make double the effort to understand what I´m learning (in Castellano, too, not even Euskera), and then to actually answer questions from the textbooks also takes an immense effort. Nevertheless, I find that I´ve been able to manage with most of the homework and the work during class. So far I haven´t missed or not been able to do a single assignment, so I think for my first few weeks of school I´m doing pretty well. I´m more eager to learn (Castellano, Euskera, and the stuff we´re learning in class too) than I ever have been. It´s really satisfying when in History class I understand what I´m reading in the textbook and I can reply to the questions about it, even if it does take me a lot more time than it would if I knew the language. I feel acclomplished after every assignment I finish, which I guess is pretty cool.
And as for the rest of my life here, everything´s going pretty smoothly. I was surprised to see on my watch that it was the 20th already. 10 days until October, wow. Day by day I learn more and more and understand more of the language, the culture and the lifestyle they have here. It takes me a while to fall asleep (no matter how tired I am) because I hardly have time to think, so when I lay down to sleep everything that I haven´t had time to think about during the day runs through my mind. I still find myself thinking about things that happened in America, but then again, I have only been away 20 days. I´m still transitioning from Tenafly to Urnieta. But, I can´t learn everything at once, so I´m not concerned about that. Poco a poco, as everyone here likes to tell me. Little by little, it will all fit together.
I also watched a movie in San Sebastian (part of the festival de cine going on here) which happened to be in English. It´s called Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it was in black and white (made in 1956, I think). I thought it was a pretty good movie.. I´m going to see another movie this Friday. My host mom has been going to watch multiple movies a day on the days she doesn´t have to work. She´s an artist (photographer, not sure if I mentioned that already) so I suppose it´s pretty fitting that she´s interested in the festival. I find it pretty cool.
But anyway, that was my Sunday, a little more relaxed than Saturday. Saturday morning I watched my team´s soccer game (couldn´t play because of some papers that need to be sent to Madrid with my signature), saturday afternoon I watched a women´s proffesional game (superliga) and at night, I went to the stadium in San Sebastian to watch Real Sociedad (San Sebastian team) play against Real Madrid. Madrid won 2-1, but Real played really well, so I was content. Other than that, I got to see Ronaldo, Ozil, Khedira, Xabi Alonso, and many more... It was quite the experience.
As for school, which probably sounds a little less eventful than the weekends, things have been going alright. I have to make double the effort to understand what I´m learning (in Castellano, too, not even Euskera), and then to actually answer questions from the textbooks also takes an immense effort. Nevertheless, I find that I´ve been able to manage with most of the homework and the work during class. So far I haven´t missed or not been able to do a single assignment, so I think for my first few weeks of school I´m doing pretty well. I´m more eager to learn (Castellano, Euskera, and the stuff we´re learning in class too) than I ever have been. It´s really satisfying when in History class I understand what I´m reading in the textbook and I can reply to the questions about it, even if it does take me a lot more time than it would if I knew the language. I feel acclomplished after every assignment I finish, which I guess is pretty cool.
And as for the rest of my life here, everything´s going pretty smoothly. I was surprised to see on my watch that it was the 20th already. 10 days until October, wow. Day by day I learn more and more and understand more of the language, the culture and the lifestyle they have here. It takes me a while to fall asleep (no matter how tired I am) because I hardly have time to think, so when I lay down to sleep everything that I haven´t had time to think about during the day runs through my mind. I still find myself thinking about things that happened in America, but then again, I have only been away 20 days. I´m still transitioning from Tenafly to Urnieta. But, I can´t learn everything at once, so I´m not concerned about that. Poco a poco, as everyone here likes to tell me. Little by little, it will all fit together.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
First Week
As promised, I will (try to) post a picture a week of me during the year. I didn´t remember until now (two weeks in) so here´s me in the airport in New York City with some other AFSers.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
La primera semana
So, I´ve been here a week, but it certainly doesn´t feel like just one week. It´s probably because of all the things I´ve done in the past few days (it seems as though I only have two weeks left to live...) and the siestas. It´s like the morning and afternoon is one day, siesta, and then the evening and night is another whole days (much shorter of course, but some days have felt that short).
Anyway, there´s so much to tell, I probably won´t be able to share everything.. I´ve been to San Sebastian 3 or 4 times (I can´t exactly remember right now) and it´s a very very beautiful city. We went to watch the waves crashing against the beach and this other area where there´s a big sidewalk type thing that is about 2 meters above the ocean and sort of goes out into the ocean past the beach, but its still attached to lland. It´s pretty hard to describe, but anyway, there were waves that were around 4 meters tall, it was insane.. But very beautiful.
School started too, and since everything is taught in Euskara (basque language) for the most part I´ve been pretty confused. I was put into a few classes with kids that failed the class or need more attention, which is pretty helpful, but at the same time the kids are a ot louder and rowdier, so it´s harder to focus. Then again, the work is easier, so there´s a balance. My teachers have been pretty accomodating. I have two textbooks that are in Castillian instead of Euskara and a few of them talk to me in Castillian too. Overall, it´s not so bad, but we´ll have to see how things go in the next few weeks, as I´ve only had 4 days of school. Of course, English is pretty boring for me, but I suppose I couldn´t expect anything better.
I had my first AFS orientation yesterday. It was in Bilbao (an hour´s drive, but after the 6 hour bus drive from Madrid to San Sebastian, it seemed like nothing). I didn´t get to see a lot of the city, but there´s plenty of time for that. The orientation itself was just about going over the rules (for the 50th time, but that shows how important they really are) and talking a little bit about first impressions. After we were introduced to our ¨tutors¨ (liasons, aka the AFS volunteer that we can contact at any time for help or questions or problems etc) we went downstairs and we got to talk to eachother (the AFSers to eachother and the host parents as well). I talked to a girl from Canada for a while who live in San Sebastian, and we ended up getting along pretty well, so I think we´ll probably spend some time together in the future (its a 10 minute train ride, so its pretty convenient).
As for the everyday things, I can pretty much understand everything people say in Castillian, except when they talk reallly really quickly, which I guess is a lot of the time. The food is great and I don´t mind the different mealtimes. Everybody spends time in the living room and not too much time on the computer. With that said, the world cup of basketball final is on right now, and it´s the first time Turkey is in the final (Turkey vs. USA). I´m going to watch it with my host father, so I´ll write more next week.
Anyway, there´s so much to tell, I probably won´t be able to share everything.. I´ve been to San Sebastian 3 or 4 times (I can´t exactly remember right now) and it´s a very very beautiful city. We went to watch the waves crashing against the beach and this other area where there´s a big sidewalk type thing that is about 2 meters above the ocean and sort of goes out into the ocean past the beach, but its still attached to lland. It´s pretty hard to describe, but anyway, there were waves that were around 4 meters tall, it was insane.. But very beautiful.
School started too, and since everything is taught in Euskara (basque language) for the most part I´ve been pretty confused. I was put into a few classes with kids that failed the class or need more attention, which is pretty helpful, but at the same time the kids are a ot louder and rowdier, so it´s harder to focus. Then again, the work is easier, so there´s a balance. My teachers have been pretty accomodating. I have two textbooks that are in Castillian instead of Euskara and a few of them talk to me in Castillian too. Overall, it´s not so bad, but we´ll have to see how things go in the next few weeks, as I´ve only had 4 days of school. Of course, English is pretty boring for me, but I suppose I couldn´t expect anything better.
I had my first AFS orientation yesterday. It was in Bilbao (an hour´s drive, but after the 6 hour bus drive from Madrid to San Sebastian, it seemed like nothing). I didn´t get to see a lot of the city, but there´s plenty of time for that. The orientation itself was just about going over the rules (for the 50th time, but that shows how important they really are) and talking a little bit about first impressions. After we were introduced to our ¨tutors¨ (liasons, aka the AFS volunteer that we can contact at any time for help or questions or problems etc) we went downstairs and we got to talk to eachother (the AFSers to eachother and the host parents as well). I talked to a girl from Canada for a while who live in San Sebastian, and we ended up getting along pretty well, so I think we´ll probably spend some time together in the future (its a 10 minute train ride, so its pretty convenient).
As for the everyday things, I can pretty much understand everything people say in Castillian, except when they talk reallly really quickly, which I guess is a lot of the time. The food is great and I don´t mind the different mealtimes. Everybody spends time in the living room and not too much time on the computer. With that said, the world cup of basketball final is on right now, and it´s the first time Turkey is in the final (Turkey vs. USA). I´m going to watch it with my host father, so I´ll write more next week.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The start of it all
It´s been a while since I´ve updated this blog, and a lot has changed since then. On the 1st of September, my adventure began. My dad and I drove to the AFS orientation in New York City and I spent the night there with all the other AFS kids leaving from the airport there. I got to know the kids going to Spain (of course), France, Austria, Switzerland and Turkey. On September 2nd, all 31 kids going to Spain were dropped off at the airport in New York City and after checking all of our luggage and passing through security, we were on our own. We managed to handle everything smoothly and soon enough, we were on the airplane, off to start our exchange in Spain. At the orientation in Madrid, we met all of the kids from other countries coming to Spain as well and talked as much as we could for the day that we were together. Around midnight, most kids went to bed. The few of us that couldn´t sleep or didn´t want to went outside to talk to the volunteers. At around two, I was the only student left. For the most part, I listened to the volunteers (most of them under 25 years old, I think) as they talked in Castillian, but I did manage to talk in English for a while with a volunteer from the Basque Country, which is where I was headed. Two of the volunteers and I actually stayed up all night talking about their experiences, my worries, etc.
Of course, the next day arrived and we all parted, each of us taking a bus to our respective parts of the country. I went on the bus to San Sebastian with one other girl going to live in the city and one volunteer that helped us with everything.
We arrived in San Sebastian 6 hours later, and so the exchange began...
Of course, the next day arrived and we all parted, each of us taking a bus to our respective parts of the country. I went on the bus to San Sebastian with one other girl going to live in the city and one volunteer that helped us with everything.
We arrived in San Sebastian 6 hours later, and so the exchange began...
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Officially Accepted by AFS Spain!
Hey everyone! So a while ago I got an email from a woman who works for AFS saying I was officially accepted by AFS Spain, which means I'll officially be going next year. I'm supposed to get an official email, which I haven't yet, but I'm in no hurry. Just knowing is fine for me.
Just a couple updates here and there. I haven't really started earning money yet, but I plan to do the majority of that over the summer, as I'll be busy with school for approximately another 4 months (woohoo...). I think I'm going to get into babysitting and I'll probably do some garden work come spring/summer (weeding, mowing lawns, etc). Any suggestions?
Also, I've decided that once I go abroad I'll take a picture once a week of myself with the host family, friends, teachers, etc. That way I'll have a nice record of how I progressed throughout my 10 months there (as well as around 44 pictures of my adventure abroad). I'll definitely take more pictures, but I'll post one each week here to show everyone how it's going.
So, I haven't exactly shown anyone this blog yet (aside from my parents), which I'll get on right now.
Until later,
Alina
Just a couple updates here and there. I haven't really started earning money yet, but I plan to do the majority of that over the summer, as I'll be busy with school for approximately another 4 months (woohoo...). I think I'm going to get into babysitting and I'll probably do some garden work come spring/summer (weeding, mowing lawns, etc). Any suggestions?
Also, I've decided that once I go abroad I'll take a picture once a week of myself with the host family, friends, teachers, etc. That way I'll have a nice record of how I progressed throughout my 10 months there (as well as around 44 pictures of my adventure abroad). I'll definitely take more pictures, but I'll post one each week here to show everyone how it's going.
So, I haven't exactly shown anyone this blog yet (aside from my parents), which I'll get on right now.
Until later,
Alina
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Chip In!
Hey all,
I've just added the ChipIn! button to my blog. This means you can contribute to making my dream of going abroad happen! Every penny counts, so please donate. I know times are tough right now but even a small contribution is a contribution. Please help me make this happen and donate today. Just click on the ChipIn! button.
I've just added the ChipIn! button to my blog. This means you can contribute to making my dream of going abroad happen! Every penny counts, so please donate. I know times are tough right now but even a small contribution is a contribution. Please help me make this happen and donate today. Just click on the ChipIn! button.
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