Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas everybody!!! I went to bed last night and thought, man I just wrote a really cheesy, unjolly Christmas blog. So I´m sorry if I just depressed you all on Christmas day!

My Christmas is actually awesome so far. We had a Christmas eve dinner at my aunt´s house and my Tito Peter´s sister and her family came. It was a very, very lovely dinner. Then we all grabbed some kind of musical instrument, played and sang Christmas songs. It was awesome! I´m totally making my family do that every Christmas. After our sing along, we opened Christmas presents. Everyone was great enough to give me a gift...it was so sweet I almost cried!

After some coffee and cookies, we all went to Midnight mass. Yup, I went to church! Thankfully, god did not strike me with lightning. But I´m sure he/she/it was very surprised to see me there. It was all in German so I didn´t understand a word.

It´s traditional for Germans to drink gluwine during Christmas. Gluwine is like wine mixed with, I believe, spices and juice. It´s a hot drink so they love drinking it during cold weather. So each year after midnight mass, all the church-goers gather outside the church, in the freezing cold, to drink gluwine. Since I don´t do well with wine, I was hesitant to drink it at first. I didn´t want to get drunk on "holy" ground. But when in Germany! I didn´t really like it but they all made me finish my drink. I haven´t felt that much peer pressure since high school. These guys here are hilarious!

Well, now it´s officially Christmas! I hope everyone has a very nice, happy Christmas!!! I hope you enjoy the company of your love ones. Regardless of where you are or who you´re with, it´s definitely great to have wonderful people around you. It´s also great to have Skype (the most awesome invention!) because you get to talk long distance for free and see everyone´s beautiful faces...and hear your three year old niece sing, see your one year old twin nieces walk, and see your new nephew´s cute little yawn. I miss the babies :(

To make up for the last few annoying and nauseating sentimental posts, click on the link below. I got this from my awesome old boss, Deirdre, and it definitely put a smile on my face.

Enjoy...

http://www.thecompassgroup.biz/merryxmas.swf

Christmas 2007

I´ll be home for Christmas...in my dreams :(

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I mean, I really really love Christmas. I know it´s gotten a bad reputation the past 5, 10 years b/c Christmas isn´t really what it used to be - basically I think people have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas, which is family, and giving (real giving...not IPOD giving), and love, joy, etc. But for me, Christmas is still the best. I guess I´ve been lucky enough to have a really close family that still know how to enjoy Christmas.

This year is my first time away from my family on Christmas. I knew I would have trouble with this before I moved here, but I was hoping I´d get over it. Apparently, I am not.

As happy as I am to have my relatives in Germany to spend Christmas with, I have also been very sad about this Christmas. I really miss my family and I wish I could be with them too. It also doesn`t help that I was supposed to spend Christmas with a good friend, and that plan just completely and surprisingly (and painfully) fell through. So that just made want to go home more.

For some reason, I find myself sad (and sometimes crying) a lot this holiday season. I usually listen to a lot of Christmas music, but sometimes they just seem too happy. So I`ve been listening to a lot of depressing music instead. As horrible as this may sound, it´s nice to know other people are more sad than I am. I don´t why I just can´t get over it. It makes me angry at myself for being such a baby about it. But I just can´t help it.

Pictures and address

I know I´ve been slow with the picture taking since I´ve gotten here. And some people have been asking about it. Well, I finally do have some pictures. I just don´t know how to post them yet. The pictures are in my computer and I can´t hook my computer up to the internet here. So you all will just have to wait to see my pretty face in January.

As for my new address, I will not be posting it here in fear that some stranger will send me something (Whatever happened to the unabomber??? Did he get put to sleep, or is he just in prison???). If you would like my address b/c you want to send me awesome packages full of goodies and love, please email me and I will be more than happy to share that with you.

Oh also, I don´t know if I ever mentioned on here that I also have a spanish cellphone. It starts with the country code +34. You gotta figure out the rest...hahaha...kidding. If you want that too because you miss hearing my high pitched voice, also email me.

Wilkommen to Munich, Germany!

Because I couldn´t afford to go home and my original plans for Christmas in Ireland fell through, I have decided to spend Christmas and New Years with my German relatives in Munich. I love coming to see my family here. They are ridiculously awesome. They feed me, they tease me (gotta love my Tito Peter!), they offer me lots of alcohol, and most of all, they are just the nicest, most welcoming people I know. The minute you walk into their house, you immediately feel at home. This is my third time visiting them (the last one was five years ago), and I still love it!

I arrived late friday night. Tito Peter picked me up at the airport with a bag full of winter accesories. My Tita Mary Ann knew I had barely anything to survive the German winter, so she wanted to make sure I wouldn´t freeye. And of course, Tito Peter had a bar of chocolate for me (I´m telling you, these guys are awesome!). We took the train to Haupbanhof, Munich`s Central Station, and met with my cousin, Stefan, and his girlfriend, Kathi. After feeding me with some pretzel sandwiches, we took another train to Wolfratshausen. They live close to Wolfratshausen, just outside of Munich.

Saturday, I took a very very long hot shower! I didn´t want to get out. Then we did some grocery shopping (Tita Mary Ann got me Nutella) for dinner because we were having a fondue style meal. I can`t remember what it`s called but basically you have this portable looking stove in the middle of the table. Each person gets a miniature pan where you can put as much cheese and vegetables and meat as you like. Once your mixture gets all cooked, you put it on some bread or pretzel. It was pretty freaking awesome. Natania, it was like random cheese everywhere!!!!

Side note: My aunt just called me from downstairs b/c she just baked some cookies...at 2 in the morning!!!! Man, she is awesome!

Today, we went to Regensburg, a tiny town about 2 hours from Munich. The Reidl´s wanted to take me to a real Kriskindlmarkt. The market is located in the town´s royal palace grounds, and it is known to be beautiful at night when the entire palace is lit up. So to kill time, we walked around the city. We looked at the Cathedral and saw the Danube river. It was the classic German town and every scene was something out of a postcard.

However, the weather was not so great. It was super super cold. I thought my fingers and toes were going to fall off. At first I was frustrated for not being able to handle the cold. I`m from Chicago for god`s sake! And then I realized the difference between Chicagoans and Germans. In the winter, Chicagoans drive everywhere and stay indoors as much as possible. Germans, on the other hand, walk everywhere!! All I kept thinking about was sitting on the couch with a blanket, watching a cheesy romantic comedy, and sipping on hot chocolate with marshmallows. I just couldn`t believe how many people were walking outside!!! I was cold for myself and everyone else!

Finally, once it started getting dark, we walked to the Kriskindlmarkt. It was awesome of course. There were lots of handcrafts and all sorts of other stuff being sold. I didn`t buy anything due to a lack of funds...and really what would I do with a glass plate??? It´s pretty and all, but it really would just collect dust. I did find these wonderful warm boots for kids. I really wanted to buy it for my nieces and nephew, but it was something the parent´s should buy for their kids and not their poor aunt.

Regensburg

My piso!

I finally got mz first Spanish apartment. As alwazs, I do everything last minute and did not start looking for apartments until last week. I was determined to find one b/c I had to leave for Munich on Friday, the 21st. I promised myself to get an apartment so that I could have a place to staz after the holidays. I didn´t want to impose any further on Juan...he´s done enough for me and I just feel bad...he´s probably so sick of me.

In Spain, there are a few ways to find a piso (flat or apartment): through an agency, or through websites, or through something else I can´t remember at the moment. I chose the website route. I posted an ad on www.easypiso.com and on www.loquo.com. Loquo is like the spanish equivalent to Craigslist. After putting my ad on loquo, I got a lot of responses. I had to weed some of them out due to horrible location.

I saw three flats total. First, I saw Juan´s friend´s apartment. Pros: nice, clean, had an oven; Cons: too far south and the guy smokes. Second was an apartment with two boys. Pros: nice, clean, oven, two bathrooms, two balconies, very cute and sweet future roommate; Cons: too far from the Center and both boys smoke too. The third apartment was also with two boys. Pros: nice, very clean, a balcony with an amazing view of a basilica and Palacio Real, very nice roommate, smoke-free, great location; Cons: I would have to get up 5 minutes earlier to get to work and no oven. And the winner is...number three!!!! (A2Her`s: remember when I put that picture of a monument as my wallpaper on my computer??? Before I changed it with the Ghana picture? I didn´t even know what that was...it just looked pretty. Well, that is about 10 minutes from my apartment! It was meant to be).

I am very excited to have a place that I can call my own...at least for a little bit. Once I get back to Madrid, I am definitelz going to Ikea so I can get some things to make my room a little homey. Yay!

Oh the joys of working abroad!

NOTE: I am currently using a German computer and the kezboards are even crazier than the Spanish ones. So if you happen to see some strange mispelling (like y´s as z´s, or vice versa) or characters (like Ö or Ä), just go along with it.

Last week, I started my first teaching job in Spain. I taught from Tuesday to Thursday. I haven´t worked for almost two months now since I quit my job at the end of October. It was kind of strange getting up at 6 in the morning again and getting ready to work. All I wanted to do was hang out with Andrea and Andrew before going away for the holidays. It didn´t help that thez were both not doing anything but fun Madrid stuff. I wanted to do the same...not take an hour bus ride to teach for 5 hours straight.

Alas, I had to do what I had to do. I have to start making money somehow. I really don´t want to end up in Calle Montera, which is what I call the prostitute street (this will be another blog on another day). And not having any incoming cash flow is going to really bite me in the ass soon.

I found myself very sleep deprived last week. Every night, I would go and hang out and, for once, have a nice lovely dinner. By the time I get home at around 11, I had to staz up for a few more hours to create my lessons. Now I know why they recommend that teachers only work for 25 hours a week...I did about an extra 10 hours of lesson preparation.

Classes were great. I really like my students. There are about 15 of them, and they range from late twenties to earlz fifties in age. Although some of them have had some English lessons, there are a few that are very very beginners. So I´ve decided to keep it easz the first three days and get down to business when we start again in Januarz.

I thought everything was great and I had established good rapport with my students. Then Friday came (my day off) and my boss at the language school called me, all freaked out, at 9 AM. Apparently, the coordinator at the training center heard from the students, or student, that I told them I didn´t have any experience teaching. I made the mistake of telling them about my old job, which obviously was not teaching, and did not mention anything about teaching ESL, training people at work (which is considered teaching), etc. The coordinator was concerned b/c she wanted someone with 2 years experience and she thought I had that. So she basically was asking my boss if it was necessary to change teachers. Unbeknownst to me, the coordinator has never seen my CV (resume). Because no one in the training center speaks any English, they just depend on the language school to give them the teacher they ask for. Eventually, my boss convinced them that it was probably just things getting lost in translation and that I meant it was my first time teaching in Spain.

Moral of the story is that I can´t tell students anything about me anymore! Which totally sucks b/c most students are really interested to hear personal stories about living in English speaking countries. When they start to look bored, they always perk up once I personalize the lesson.

So, I guess I still have my job. But now I´m nervous that it´s going to be awkward...but I guess I always have the option of quitting whenever I want to. Lastly, I can just add this on to my list of challenges to overcome while I´m here. This will just motivate me to be a better teacher, just so I can prove them wrong!...Bitches!

Partying like a Madrileño...kinda...not really...

As I have mentioned before, Madrileños are known to start the night very, very late. Because I've been so busy with classes, I really haven't been able to go out in Madrid. So I decided to try it out this weekend...and I'm pretty sure I didn't pass the test.

Friday night, my class celebrated our last day of classes. Our teacher took us to El Tigre, the tapas bar I went to on my first day here. Again, that place is just ridiculously awesome. I mean, with 5 euros, I was able to get a good buzz and lots of food. They just don´t stop feeding you!!! After overdosing on croquettas and patatas bravas, we finally went to a cafe bar and got some coffee, wine and more cervezas. We just sat there for hours talking about bloody shit and mormon sex...it was quite an interesting night. We all wanted to go dancing, but considering we started the night at 6 and festivities do not start till midnight around here, we just couldn't quite make it. So I walked home at about 12, just when the Madrileños were finishing dinner and getting ready to party.

Saturday night, I thought I would give it another shot and really party like a Madrileño. We got back to Madrid from Toledo around 8, and I went home for a delayed siesta...I knew I needed to really prepare myself before going out so late. At about 11:30, I left to meet up with Andrea, Andrew and Sara to go dancing. Andrea met a british girl who is friends with a girl who, through the internet, invited all these random people (locals and foreigners) to meet at a bar and hang out. Basically, it was like a social networking type of gathering. Well, the three cups of coffee and the two hour nap didn't help. After walking to Banco de España, I realized I was supposed to go to Plaza de España, which is on the opposite side of the city center.

So I hurriedly got on the Metro (in heels mind you!), and finally arrived at the right place. We went salsa dancing at the "Tropical House". I was intimidated at first because people were awesome dancers, but I actually had a lot of fun. The British girl was telling us that you basically just stand around the dance floor, and a guy will come and ask you to dance. I was just not drunk enough to be making a fool out of myself (the drinks were ridiculously expensive so I decided to stick to one drink), so I didn't stay too close to the dance floor. But after a while, you can't help but get closer, just so you can watch these people dance so well. And in the back of my head, I thought, "shit, I'm in Madrid! I want to dance with a cute boy!"

But then this old man started talking to me (of course, I attract the freaks or the elderly!) and was telling me about his friend. Thankfully his friend was not that old and spoke some English. This friend, Carlos, asked me to dance and I felt so awkward at first. My body really was only made to booty dance, not to do salsa or merengue or manchata. And I usually just like to dance on my own and not have to depend on someone leading me! Nonetheless, Carlos was nice enough to teach me and I started to get the hang of it after a while...I am definitely taking some kind of dance lesson while living here.

By three, we were tired and hungry. Andrew, Andrea and I decided to go food hunting. Surprisingly, it was very difficult to find food! We were starting to get really pissed. It was cold, cabs were all taken and not even Burger King was open! You would think in a city where people are partying until the wee hours of the morning, somebody would be savvy enough to think that having a late night pizza/hot dog/burger joint would be a very lucrative business. But no, we just couldn't find it, not even in the busy areas...or maybe we were just ignorant American's and didn't know where to look. The only thing we could find were Chinese people selling drinks, and snacks and bocadillos from a box on a street corner. Call me a snob, but I just didn't feel comfortable buying a sandwich from a box from a random person on a street corner (sorry, Juan!).

Finally, we found this tiny little dive bar in Chueca and saw people eating outside. So we went in and got some hot dogs. They were very interesting hot dogs (Andrea's was slathered with about half a jar of mayonnaise...gross!), but we were so desperate that we inhaled them. As we sat there and snacked on a big cup of french fries (it was a combo of super hot and semi frozen ones), I noticed these two guys totally making out. I just thought, wow, I'm totally jealous. Here I am stuffing myself with food I'm not so sure of, and other people are getting some. That's when I knew I needed to go home.

The sad thing is that as we were walking home, people were just starting to line up for the clubs. I just couldn't believe it! It was almost 4 and I was deliriously tired. And yet, people were just starting their night. Just when I thought I was doing better on my second night out, I failed again. But I am determined to adjust to this Madrileño style of going out! I will not give up.

As for Carlos, he asked for my number and I foolishly gave it to him. I mean he was nice and cute, but I have a feeling he's a lot older (like mid 30-ish...definitely older than my brothers!). I just don't know how I feel about that. I was hoping he wouldn't call, but he texted me tonight to go dancing...again! I just had to say no. I mean really, it's Sunday! I know I don't have to go to work tomorrow, but two nights in a row and a weeknight is just too much for me.

I guess adjusting to the Madrileño social habits will just take me a little longer.

TEFL course

Salsa Dancing