After graduating, spending a year teaching in South Korea, and a few holidays in between, I'm back in Spain. Why?
One of my degrees is in Spanish, and I've been wanting to live in a Spanish-speaking country for real this time. Yeah, I spent a few months here before, and my Spanish got better, but I don't think spending 3 hours a day speaking Spanish and the rest talking to your fellow Americans in English really counts. I'd previously been looking at Central and South America, but the pay isn't great. There's another reason I opted for Spain, though. My boyfriend Alasdair is finishing up his master's in journalism and I thought it might be nice to live near him. We're at least on the same continent now. He's finishing up in the summer and plans to move down here too, getting a start on travel writing, and teaching on the side.
Celebrating our anniversary at El museo de la Reina Sofia
I know a few people in Spain, most of whom I met on that study abroad and have returned, like me, to teach English, which is in greater demand than ever. It's not quite as fierce as in Asia, but Spain is desperately trying to play catchup to the rest of Europe in English. The tricky thing is, it's pretty hard to get a job here without a EU passport. The majority of legal teachers are British, although there are some legal teachers from all over, including the States. I however, and not one of them. Now before you freak out, don't. I've done my research and talked to several people who have been in this situation. Unlike our strict border control (and the UK's as well), Spain, as in almost everything, is pretty lax. I had a friend working out here last year and she offered up some great contacts for me.
After spending New Year's skiing (or at least pretending to) with Alasdair and his family, we set off for sunny Madrid. It rained the whole first week we were here. Still, it definitely beats South Korean winters!
I will focus on the beauty of the French Alps, rather than my poor ski skills.
We got in on a Thursday, I got a job Saturday, and started work Monday. After months of fretting, I got a job in less time than I have ever gotten a job before. My boss, Alex, had told me to call him when I got to Madrid and then we set up a meeting. I thought it would be a sort of informal interview, but he said "Okay, here are your classes for Monday."
I'm doing private lessons, mainly for students, in the north of Madrid. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the rent there, so I'm about a 45-minute commute from work. Fortunately, most of my classes start after 5 so it's not so bad getting there, since I leave during siesta. (This will probably change soon, so I'm trying to enjoy it now.) My youngest student is 6 and the oldest is 19, though next month I'm starting with adults...which terrifies me. I love teaching kids. In fact, I've often said I like the kids more than the teaching. However, I was apprehensive when I had my class with the 19-year-old, and she's now one of my favorites. Who knows? Maybe I'll love teaching adults...
My apartment definitely beats the one I had in Seoul. Okay, so I do miss living alone. But my kitchen not only has a freezer, but also a microwave and an oven. I do miss my Korean pseudo-dryer/tumbler thingy, but I'll happily exchange it for the kitchen. Plus...get this...there is more than one room. My living room is separate from both my kitchen AND my bedroom. Imagine that. I'll post pictures soon (aka after I clean up). My roommate, Cristina, is Spanish so we both practice our Spanish/English with each other. She's 40ish and is a costume designer, and pretty awesome. She's a little particular about cleaning and not wasting any electricity (our heat turns off at bed time) but she's also really sweet, offering to take me grocery shopping and to Ikea (YES!) in her car.
It was so wonderful finding a job AND an apartment so quickly, I admit...I was immediately suspicious. What was the catch? When was my luck going to run out? The answer: January 13. We'd had to fortune of finding out there were tickets available for La Copa del Rey soccer game with Real Madrid vs. Madrid Atletico. Well, Alasdair was excited. Okay, I was excited too...it was my first professional soccer game. After telling my boss about it, he warned me to watch out for pickpockets. I spent the whole game with my purse wrapped around my leg, and I generally consider myself pretty aware of things in dangerous situations.
Spanish futbol fans are pretty intense. What a game!
Then we got on the metro. Amid getting separated and having an anxiety attack, someone nicked my wallet. I didn't even feel anything. Strangely enough, my rusty Spanish skills still included "Alguien me robó!" (Someone robbed me!) as I told the metro guard. He offered to call the police and suggested they may have taken the valuables and dumping the wallet in the newspaper recycling bins. I looked to no avail. I didn't take it well and vowed I'd never go to another soccer game again! We cancelled everything as soon as we got back to the hostel, finding out someone had already tried to use the credit card at an ATM. Fortunately, they didn't know the PIN and had only gotten off with the hundred euros in cash. The worse part, I admit, was that I should have been more paranoid about things. I guess I've learned my lesson. I'm mostly disappointed I lost my brand new wallet (a gift from Christmas), a picture of friends, and my UGA ID (no more discount movie tickets for me!). The evening went from bad to worse when Alasdair had news of the death of a friend. I felt guilty for being so angry for my troubles.
Admittedly, we had one bad night, but I'd much rather have gotten a job and been robbed than not gotten a job and still have a wallet. The replacement cards are in the mail and Alasdair's parents were able to transfer funds so he could lend me cash til I got them. Now I'm constantly making sure my purse is latched and it's lying across my front where I can see any sneaky fingers. Upon telling my friend Richard, who's now on his third year teaching, he said it's pretty common, but petty theft is the worst of Madrid's street crime.
I'm really enjoying work so far, although it certainly is different working with students one-on-one than teaching classes. There's a lot more prep work involved, but I work way fewer hours. The pay isn't grand, but Madrid's a fairly cheap city to live in. I'm surprised by how cold it gets here...it's been below freezing most nights and how hot everyone says the summers are. At least it's a dry heat, unlike what I'm used to. There are so many things I can't wait to experience. There are great museums, parks, theaters, and plenty to do here. For now though, I'm happy hibernating, hiding from the cold and budgeting as much as I can til my schedule's full. I'm excited to see what Madrid has in store for me!
I wish blogs had a "like" button!! :) Yay Spain!
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