Sunday, November 7, 2010
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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