Struggle and Someone I Miss

For those who don't know, well, you might surprised that amid all the fun and joy I've been experiencing with my time in Spain...

I'm struggling with school here.

Yes, it's real. And no, it's not the kind where it's a panic if I'm getting Bs. Rather, it's a real struggle. I've never been so concerned about school before, but I'm really scared of failing my year.

I go to classes, but I barely understand because of the language barrier. Though the professors are nice, I still feel that they are a bit unapproachable. Sometimes I go to their office with questions, but I feel that I'm not getting any help. And exams are coming up next month.

A lot of exchange students have told me that the courses and profs are easy on exchange students because they would just let the exchange students pass since it would be considered as wasting time to study abroad and fail and then study the entire year again for the same content.

But who can be sure? I mean, my last paper for this class was 40%. I've never ever had such a low grade on a paper, not even Chinese, English, or Spanish. And that's what stressing me out. I'm handing another paper for the same class in two days. I've been to the prof's office for clarification on the assignment and I've submitted my paper to 7 people to edit. Yet... I still feel that it's insufficient.

I know staying positive is very important. I've done that. But still, it's unknown in regards to my grade. I mean, I think I understand what the assignment is asking, but... when I write it and it gets graded, it's exactly the opposite. So frustrating.

Maybe this time it'll be better, yet there's still this part in my mind that it can be worse, as the paper is a lot longer and harder.

I feel that all the efforts that I'm putting aren't appreciated. I feel that the local students are constantly judging me, expecting me to fail. I really don't care what they think. I know I am better than they are since a lot of them have never seen the world. But it's hard when you're in an environment where people aren't recognizing, acknowledging, or appreciating the qualities and efforts you have.

Yes, maybe in a Spanish academic environment I may not be the brightest due to my limited knowledge of the language, but that doesn't mean that it represents all aspects of me.

I know that there are so many people supportive of me for who I am. And just when I'm thinking about it, I remember a teacher whom I know will greatly appreciative and supportive of who I am.

Mrs. Watson.

She was my 7th grade teacher. I'm not saying that other teachers I've kept in contact aren't supportive of me. But one thing about Mrs. Watson stood out.

She saw me struggled with school. I think she's the only teacher who saw me struggle and doesn't now much about the things I've achieved. I didn't know how to study. I didn't know English language. I was probably the one who struggled the most in her class. Yet, she would always call me over to ask me how I was, and she had expectations for me. Whenever I did well in some subjects, let it be geography, social sciences, or literature, she would always call me over congratulating and encouraging me and saying how happy she was to see me succeed and improve. That was somewhat a stimulant for me to continue to work hard, because she saw the effort.

Just when I started to get back on track with my studies in high school, she left Morrison. I never kept in contact with her. And she never saw the achievements I've made up to now. I think if I were to see her again, and tell her everything, especially my time here in Spain and MUN conferences, she'll be really proud. Surprised that someone who struggled so much could achieve so much in a short time. I have a feeling that she is still hopeful of what I can achieve and wants to know what I've achieved.

I have so much to tell her as we've lost contact and so there is a lot that she doesn't know. Yet it is still not the time as I still have a lot to achieve.

It is because of these people that I continue to strive. I'm thankful for meeting these people in my life.

Now... back to editing the paper. No matter what happens next, I know there are people supporting me for who I am. I'm still going to do my best regardless of the hardship. Even if those people don't appreciate or acknowledge it, it's not a concern as they are not important...

加油!

Sometimes Surprises Come Around

Coming to BIMUN had lots of surprises indeed.

Where should I start? There are way too many.

1. University of Salamanca

I thought I was the only student from a Spanish university, but it was totally false! My roommate at the hostel, Carl, is German student studying in UK but on exchange in Salamanca, Spain. He was with a delegation of 10 people, and you bet I was ecstatic to hear that! Throughout the conference whenever we see each other we would address each other in Spanish. It's kind of weird how I don't use Spanish when I'm not in the environment best for it. We've decided that we'll have to visit each other's cities before heading back to our countries :P

2. Oxford again?

What this means is that I actually met someone who went to Oxford! Judith was the Committee Contact Person (like assistant director) in my committee, and she was a chair for SPECPOL at Oxford last month. When we found out about our attendance at the conference, we were so happy that we just talked and talked about the conference and how much we missed it :P It's always good to know someone who has been to same place as you have.

Another part is meeting Hee Sun, assistant chair from my committee in Oxford. She is a student at University of Bonn, and the first day we met in Oxford we've decided to meet again in Bonn :P We talked a lot about many things, mostly about the goals we have in the future. And Hee Sun has really concrete goals she is determined to achieve! That's what I like about MUN conferences: meeting aspiring and inspiring people who have reasonable dreams and goals that can have an impact on the world and that you can understand, relate, and learn from.

3. TAIWAN (or really, Chinese language :P)

Who would've thought? I actually met people from Taiwan. Fu-nong and Chao-ting were exchange students from 台大 and 淡江大學, respectively. Particularly, Chao-ting had studied in Taichung (東海大學), where I grew up, and we were waaaaaaaaay to happy to see each other. We discussed how much we lovvvvvvvvvvved Taichung. In addition, I also met Hannah who is also an exchange student, but from UW Madison. She's studied Chinese in Taiwan for a year, and it was amazing just to listen and know how much knowledge of the language she'd acquired in a year! Moreover, she spoke very very very good German considering she's only been in Germany for a short time! Wow, so inspiring. I wish I could be like her :P She was screaming and hugging me like crazy when Chao-ting introduced me as the other Taiwanese, LOL.

I also met quite a few Chinese too! Songqiao is from 青島 but goes to Mount Holyoke and currently is an exchange student at Bonn. And she was in my committee too! And there was also Wensi, from 北京大學, who is an exchange student at Salamanca :P And lastly there was En-yi from Singapore, but goes to school in Japan, and is also an exchange student in Bonn

Talk about being international!

But technically Songqiao, Chao-ting and I hung out the most together :P Monday we spontaneously went to Cologne for a short trip. With their student card they were able to bring another person on the train for free :) We saw the major sites which were the Cologne Cathedral and the Christmas market :P

I decided to buy postcards, but it was pretty expensive. And just when we turned the corner, I saw another store selling the SAME postcards but SO MUCH CHEAPER. You bet I was furious!!!!!!!! Really, I wasn't :P

But Songqiao and Chao-ting were comforting me saying like:

"啊你那個比較漂亮"

"那個那個色調不一樣"

"那些有點髒..."

"啊它那個有摺痕......"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. 甚麼爛理由啊.....

But towards the end of this conference, I must admit that since leaving Taiwan, it was the most Chinese I had spoken. And I was happy :)

4. Canada

Well, I was the only Canadian there, LOL. Yea, what a surprise eh?

However, I met Annika and Mia who had been exchange students in Canada when they were in high school! They were in Vancouver for a year, and they loved it! Of course they would. I mean, come on, it's CANADA. It was definitely nice to meet someone who has been in an environment as you have :P And Annika represented Canada in her committee. She actually asked me for clarification on Canadian foreign policy prior to the committee sessions :P

Getting the Christmas Feeling

One thing that is different between Spain and Germany is, no doubt, the COLD.

I personally don't like snow and the cold too much, but being in a sunny environment while it should be really cold is some what weird for me. And so I enjoyed the cold very much in Germany. It's not as cold as Canada, which I guess is a good thing, but nevertheless it was pleasant to be in a different environment.

Another thing that I enjoyed Germany was the Christmas market, where traditional beverages, food, and crafts assembled. It was so lively and decorated every night, and along with the cold it definitely made it feel like Christmas!

I tried almost every traditional German cuisine you could think of. Bratwurst, gluhwein, backfisch, reikebuchen (however you spell them).

The Christmas market with all its characteristics really reminded me of the night market in Taiwan. The food, the vibe, the people. Just not the cold.

Though it may be chaotic as many times I'd almost spilled my food, it was relaxing and enjoyable. I guess people were there to enjoy, and I felt it.

I bought some small Christmas crafts for my family, and postcards too for the ones I care :P

The Unheard Symphonies of Beethoven

This past week I was in Bonn, Germany for another MUN conference. Bonn is the former capital of West Germany, and the birthplace of Beethoven.

BIMUN was a lot smaller than the previous conferences I've attended. Well, frankly it probably was the smallest conference I've attended. Like 200 people in total? Still a lot smaller than my committee at WorldMUN.

But the funny thing was that I heard people saying this was the biggest conference they've attended and they're super excited.

Wow. Seriously. You've got a lot to attend.

The conference overall had more students coming from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe

The conference invited so many people and figures discussing about climate change. In my committee a director of the German Union (If I can remember) lectured on green technology.

In my committee, International Labour Conference, we covered green technology and gender equality, but personally I liked green technology so much more!

We also visited the Germany Museum of History (whichever name it is...), and it talked about Germany from the end of World War II to the reunification. It was really impressive as it detailedly showed clips, files, and items depicting life in West and East Germany. I felt the most powerful part of the museum was about the fall of the Berlin Wall, where you see people from East Berlin and Germany crossing into West Germany for the first time in tears and with their luggages, hopeful of a new life.

I'll go more into details about the conference in different posts later on. As for now.... SLEEP.

Church Bells

I feel very fortunate to live in an area where there are 6 cathedrals in a circumference of 100 meters. Especially where the main cathedral of the city is located.

Every night, right at 7:15 pm, I hear bells. Lots of bells. Of different cathedrals. Of different tones.

It's very refreshing, calming, soothing, and motivating. The tones remind me of war movies, like in a scene, most likely ending scene, when church bells chime to signify the end of war and the start of peace.

Every time they sing, I always stop and listen. Tentatively. Enjoying and reflecting my time in Spain. Forgetting all the current troubles, stress, and worries I have.

And most of all, being content and thankful of where I am in life.

And it starts again at 8:15.

Every night.

I am fortunate.

It’s Good to Be Back in the Comfort Zone!

This past weekend was definitely a lot of fun and very fruitful! OxIMUN and England were beyond my expectations in many ways from the beginning to the end.

So… here it goes

I woke up at 6:00 am on Thursday, October 29, to do final packing. Before leaving I left a note to Francesco, because he was moving back to Sicily this weekend while I was gone. Just when I was leaving, my new roommate Iguer was going to work too! So we left the house together, but eventually went our separate ways :P

I got to the airport at around 8:30, with about 2 hours to spare. I waited for Ryanair counter to call for my flight in order to check in. Just when it said “London” I went to the counter, but when I got there, the representative told me that it was not my flight, but rather a flight an hour earlier, so I had to wait for the counter next to it to open in order to check in. And it was about another 45 minutes… I personally find that very weird because in Taiwan and Canada, you could check in early than the counter indicates.

Anyway…………..

After dropping my bags off, I had to go to another Ryanair counter to check my passport and visa. While I was in line, I saw a lot of EU passport holders paying a fee. Like, OMG, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??? BRIBERY? OR THOSE MYSTERIOUS FEE??? Stay calm, stay calm, I told myself, remember you are a citizen of a former British colony; everything will be fine. And things were fine. The representative kind of asked me where and how I got in to Valencia, and why I was going to London, and then she validated my ticket.

I waited for the flight for a while, and we boarded, we had to WALK for like 150 meters to board the plane. Ryanair is really interesting. There are no assigned seats; just grab whichever you’d like. And the interior is very simple, yet a lot of people choose it because of its prices

So yea, moving along…

I got to London Stansted Airport around 12:30 pm, went to the ticket station to purchase a ticket to Oxford, and then called my mom to update her that I’m safe. Later I got on to the bus, and the road to Oxford was beautiful yet LONGGGGGGGGG. The English country side is absolutely gorgeous! Very relaxing. However, the route was filled with lots of small narrow country roads that I thought we were lost! And I noticed that I was experiencing jetlag/culture shock because the set at 5:00 pm, whereas I have been used to the sun setting at 7:30 in Spain and getting really dark at 8:30, which is time for dinner. I really felt like sleeping and was feeling hungry… And plus, a lot of towns we passed by were dark, as if it were early morning in Spain.

But nevertheless, I got to Oxford around 6:00 pm. Walked to the hostel and immediately unpacked and took a shower. Just as I came out of the shower, 2 Dutch guys, Bobby and Geert-Jan, had moved in. Both of them had attended WorldMUN in The Hague as assistant directors. It was really nice to see people that I have in common! Later 3 other guys moved in; they were from England, but one of them (Eduardo) actually had lived in Canada for a while! OMG A FELLOW CANADIAN!!! :D He had lived in Toronto too, and still visits it occasionally.

I was really tired so I fell asleep while the guys unpacked. The next morning I woke up early to have breakfast. Very very delicious breakfast! Lots and lots of variety, LOL! Before registration started, I gave myself a little discovery tour of Oxford. The city is indeed very very beautiful. All the streets are filled with antique buildings like living in the medieval times! And the colleges of the university are absolutely surreal.

When registration came, I got to meet quite a few people, such as the delegation from 人民大學 in Beijing. I also met Astrid again, whom I first met in my committee in WorldMUN. She was in WHO while I was in DISEC, so she introduced me to her 3 other delegates, Anne (Haiti), Quinten (Bangladesh), Christof (China). It was definitely great to meet people before committee sessions started.

I later did the guided tour of Oxford by Oxford students, and it was really informative, although unfortunately we couldn’t enter in to a lot of colleges or buildings. And while on the tour, I met Pedro from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona! We were pretty much the only students from Spanish universities, and it was kind of funny for me to speak Spanish in an English-speaking country :P

Later came the opening ceremony. It was really good! The conference invited an important speaker on the reform of the UN, such as Security Council membership, peacekeeping structure, etc. And there was a long Q&A after the speech. Afterwards we went to our first committee session. Committees were in different college buildings scattered across Oxford, so if your college was far from the hostel…. Good luck walking. But before that, I spotted the West Point delegation, and I introduced myself to one of them, Woo, who happened to be talking about WorldMUN, and I told him whom I knew in West Point MUN. He was really really friendly and genuine too!

There were about 60 people in the committee session, and I got to know quite a number of people. And of course, there was a West Point delegate, Jake, who, obviously, knew the West Point MUN people I know too! When the debate opened, everyone was almost talking about nuclear weapons and non-proliferation. Like, honestly, can we not??? So boring! When it was my turn, I urged everyone to talk about peacekeeping. But unfortunately I couldn’t convince everyone, and the committee voted for the discussion of nuclear weapons and non proliferation =______=

The remaining of the committee session was long, and the rooms were so horribly ventilated! I frankly felt like suffocating… But anyway we finally ended at 6:30 pm! At 8:00 pm was the Global Village, and it was great to know the students a lot better. Different delegations/schools set up tables with food or items that represent their home country or the country representing. Astrid and her Belgian MUN team did Chinese food, since they were representing China. They bought 麻糬 and 皮蛋, without ever trying it before. No one liked 皮蛋, and I was really disappointed! They bought 愛之味 green tea and prune tea, and OMG it was great to taste food from home! There were Greek students that brought authentic Greek desserts and it was orgasmic! And West Point guys, like OMG, bought burgers from the McDonald’s next door, and had tea bags to represent the Boston Tea Party =_______= Way to be creative….

So that was the first day.

On the second day of committee, I woke up to meet with other delegates (well, really just the Belgians: Anne, Quinten, Christophe) an hour before committee session started to discuss working papers. We had really good ideas, and so it was a good step! Throughout the morning debate, it was INTENSE. So many working papers being introduced and many countries were really right at each other, like Iran and Israel. Almost everyone were leaning on to one resolution written by the Belgians, until Jake mysteriously presented a very detailed and unique working that was so different from what everyone had discussed. West Point people just never fail to impress. But a lot of people just didn’t understand the intent of the working paper, and just kind of attacked it…

But thank goodness we took a lunch break.

When we came back everyone was dead TIREDDDDDDDDDDDD. The debates were slowwwwww and dryyyyyy, like everyone just wanted to take a siesta! I felt everyone pretty much had agreed upon everything in the morning, and there was no point in talking more… just waiting for resolutions.

And sooner or later we called it day, and got ready for committee dinner and Halloween party!

We went to a very nice Italian restaurant, and we got to know each other a lot more in a relaxed setting through lots and lots of random discussions :P I later went back to change for my Halloween costume, which was the jersey of CF Valencia, since their colours were black and orange, and mascot was a bat. When I got to the club, I felt kind of stupid because one thing, I was one of the few that dressed up, and another thing because of the colours I was really visible that people kept looking at me. The club was really (and unsurprisingly) small. I had to squeeze myself through the hallway, and it had bad ventilation so it was ridiculously humid with human heat. BLEHHH.

So I left. Pretty early.

I woke up yet again to meet up with people to finalize a draft resolution. It turned out the two dominant working papers (Belgian’s and Jake’s) emerged to become the one and only resolution in the committee, which I have never ever seen before in my life! But it’s good, cause it made things a lot easier. We discussed, debated, amended, and PASSED it! It’s really the first time a resolution I supported got passed!

But that wasn’t enough, because we still have to present it to the General Assembly, and that’s when it’s really passed or not. I find it interesting how this conference used this method for simulation.

But it was really a hassle and unnecessary.

There were too many people, and people were pretty much repeating the same thing as repeated in our committee. And there were 2 other committees too, so it took a long time…………

But eventually we passed all resolutions and it was closing ceremony!

And it was looooooooooooooooooooooong as there were a lot of thanks to give and awards to give in many committees

When they were announcing the award recipients for DISEC, I was really looking forward to it as I had an idea who would be the recipients. There were two categories: Honourable mention and best delegate.

“The first honourable mention goes to…

Oliver Shen representing Malaysia”

Like… OMG! When I heard it I froze in my seat! It actually took me 10 seconds to realize it, and I had to stand up so everyone could see me. As I stood, some other delegates were cheering for me as I was still in awe and surprise of my prize.

Really, I wouldn’t have ever thought. First time going to England, to Oxford, to my first MUN conference of the academic year, and then winning an award… Unreal. So reassuring. So grateful. So content.

I never aim to be the best in these conferences because I feel that if you do you might miss out some of the fun as some people chose not to go to parties or committee dinners and just write resolutions.

It really made my trip so meaningful, especially in such a great academic location! Before coming to Oxford, I was a bit doubtful and hesitant about coming, such as feeling isolated and alone and unprepared, and in addition, feeling of being behind work after the conference. But now, it doesn’t matter anymore. I met so many great friends, whom I’ll be seeing again in London and WorldMUN, learned so much, grew so much, and plus, won an award!

It’s been pretty much a week, and the feeling of content, satisfaction, joy and peace is still present.

I’m just so happy that I went back to my comfort zone again. It was what I really needed.

And now I’m looking forward to Bonn, Germany!

Knowing People from Similar Culture Is a Major PLUSSS

Thanksgiving dinner (which was like 2 weeks ago) went pretty good I have to say! Although the dessert didn't turn out to be as good as I had wanted...

But moving along......................

Few days after Thanksgiving I was waiting in my linguistics class and I overheard sounds that I recognized... English... AMERICAN ENGLISH!!! Two girls were sitting in front of me, and I asked them WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM???? Their names were Tara and Alex from Rutgers in New Jersey and thought I was another exchange student in Europe until I said I was from Canada; then they started to get excited! We talked so much and exchanged info! Apparently there are 4 other students from Rutgers too! Then during break there was a girl sitting next to me and she asked me in the perfect British accent, "Excuse me, did I hear you talking in English?" Uh, hell yes girl! Charlotte is from Leeds in UK and to be really honest the 4 of us were so ecstatic to know each other! Now my classes won't be boring anymore!

Tara later informed me about the workshop on Teaching English as Foreign Language. I signed up for it, and forwarded the info to Kristen and Chris. Kristen later told me she also signed up for it too! So the three of us went to the workshop the following week, and surprisingly we met close to 20 people from Florida State! Like, hello, WHERE DID THESE PEOPLE COME FROM??? I NEVER MET OR HEARD ABOUT THEM BEFORE!!! I talked to a lot of them, and apparently it's a program FSU has that sends students abroad to campuses that FSU has. All their courses are from FSU, but it's just taught here in Spain. So technically they're not exchange students. But there are like total of 40 people in this program? They enjoy it but wish they were able to interact with local students in Valencia. And guess what? They live like a block from my place!!! Absolutely unreal. I felt so much better after meeting these people and knowing that there were more people I can relate to in Spain!

Other than meeting people, school has been all right. I recently turned in a paper for theatre class (totaly don't know what I was writing), and other classes had been a bit slow and dry. Well, except one. My 19th Century Spanish novel class is interesting. We've been talking about Romanticism and the prof (and by the way, I just found out that he is FAMOSOOOOOO in the world of literary academic in Spain!!) mentioned Romantic works around the world. When he talked about North America, he gave examples like Edgar Allen Poe (the utter psychopath), and the entire time he was looking at me, since I was the only North American in the class of 50. Later he asked me in front of class if I had read Moby Dick, cause apparently he enjoyed it a lot. Um.. no. Not interested. He just said what a pity that I haven't read it considering I'm from North America =_____=

Anyway, that was last Friday.

This past weekend Kristen and I did the excursion organized by the university. Tara was supposed to come too but she overslept! I called to persuade her to come because she lived on rez, and plus we wouldn't really be leaving until 9:30 when it said we were leaving at 9:00. But she just didn't want to come :(

We went to Albufera, which is like a lake/swamp around Valencia, mountains, beaches, etc. The prof talked a lot about the geography and environment of the area. He was really really enthusiastic. Good for him. But it was a bit boring for me, LOL. The entire time, Kristen, Niina, Liisa (two Finnish girls I had met earlier during the university dinner) just talked in English and kind of ignored the presentation. We later met 4 really really friendly Italian girls and just chilled the entire time.

We got to the hostel pretty late, but it was in time for dinner! MMMMM. It was delicious! And after dinner there was "multicultural" party, but it was not where close to multicultural at all!! People really just drank and smoked and talked... there was music and dance, but it was... not... inspiring or entertaining...

I decided to go out for a walk in the woods with 4 other friends. We went to this open space where you could see the sky! O...M...G... I saw milky way for the first time in my LIFE!!! I was breathless. My friends just looked at me like I was some alien. And... I SAW 3 SHOOTING STARS!!!!!!!!!! It was so unreal. I just stared at the stars for like an hour! The Big Dipper was bright and I didn't have to lift my head up because it was horizontally right in front of my eyes glowing. Seeing the milky way, the stars, and the shooting stars really really made my excursion trip and my time in Spain more meaningful!

Sunday morning we did the 15 km hike!!!!!!!!!! At first I thought it won't be hard... until the last 6 km which it was UPHILL. But nevertheless the view was really nice! Nothing compared to Rockies or Alpes, but it indeed had its beauty. And there were GAZILLIONS of rosemary! I totally picked some for future cooking! And there was a donkey to accompany us too, LOL.

By the time I was about to die from hiking, it was time for lunch!!! We had 3 amazing paellas: veggie, chicken, chicken and rabbit! Well, since I was in Spain, I had to try rabbit meat! And it was goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood! I ate a lot that I could've died happy, LOL!

After that we packed things up and went back to Valencia. Now it's back to school, but only for 3 days, 'cause I'm heading off to Oxford on Thursday!!!! :D

Some MAJOR Updates!!!!!

I'm soooo sorry for this very very late post/update! I have been busy and bombarded with school work, social activities, and miscellaneous things that I keep on forgetting to write new posts... for almost 3 weeks? Okay, I'm actually pretty busy (well, really, lazy..) so rather than writing about every minute that happened in the past weeks since the last post, I'm going to summarize things in different categories...

Academics

Well, as you know, school had started. My courses has been great. All my 4 professors are great, and it can also mean really hard. I think the hardest I have to face is Spanish Baroque Theatre. I have to write reviews and comment on different quotations, and it has to be at most 4 pages long! Well, not that I've never done it, but to do it like 5 times throughout the year? Um... please give me a break... In addition, I have trouble keeping up with taking notes because, one, my Spanish isn't that great, and two, the professor has a slightly different accent than what I've heard and she just says things. A LOT of things. So much that just when I'm writing she'll be spitting out a lot more that I'll just get confused. =____= Anyway, don't get me wrong; the prof is very very nice and very informative. She's also passionate about the subject and is willing to share and teach! And she is ridiculously young for a prof. Probably late 20s or early 30s? I've talked to her couple of times after class and she was really understanding.

My favourite course would probably be 15th Century Spanish Literature. I have no prior knowledge of this topic at all, but the prof is just amazing. She is very informative, knowledgeable, passionate about the subject and approachable. She jokes sarcastically with students. I feel that she is one of those people whom you don't want to mess with because she can be a major bitch, but if you don't give her trouble she'll be a great person. She is probably in her 40s or early 50s but her sense of fashion is darin for her age. Tight jeans and sleeveless tops. And during breaks she would go outside for a smoke and talk to students too. She honestly makes me feel that 15th Century Spanish Literature is the best literature to be ever created in the literary world, LOL.

The other class is 19th Century Spanish Novel. It covers all the literary movements in the 19th Century, such as Romanticism, Naturalism, and Realism, etc. The prof is as well very good, but one problem I have is that sometimes he talkes too soft that I can't hear him.... And plus there seems to be a lot of things to do for this class but even now I'm still confused.... =____=

The last class is Spanish Language and Languages in the Hispanic World. For me, this is like waaaaaaay too easy. It talks about Spanish and other languages in Spain, and frankly I've known some information about minority languages in Spain before coming to Spain, so everything in the course so far is like a review or repetition. The prof is ridiculously nice, but to the point that she kind of is like a push-over...

Social Life

Well, this is going to be long, if I can remember what the hell happened! Waaaay to many events!

First thing I remembered was that the university organized a free event, like introducing Valencian and a guided tour. I got to know a lot of people from different countries! And the university is recruiting volunteers to become English conversation group leaders, which sounds really really interesting! Time for some revenge >:)

The next day the university organized a free dinner!!! MMMMMMMM... It was delicious! But there were unsurprisingly TONS of people, so in the end... I didn't get desserts, but it didn't matter cause I was fullllll from all the food and drinks! And I randomly bumped into Chris, and he was ridiculously desperate to find local Spanish people to practice his Spanish. And he even told me that he would only respond if I talk to him in Spanish. Bitch. But it didn't last long, haha. He later found his friends and roommates, and were absolutely undecisive about what to do or party. Well, frankly it didn't bother me that much cause I was going home so I just walked with them in downtown since I live downtown too, LOL!

The most recent was Kristen's birthday!!!!! We all met up at Michelle's apartment, and she seriously prepared a lot, despite being so last minute! There wasn't a ginormous crowd, but there was enough to make it a fun night (like 12 people)! We later illegally went to Michelle's friend's family restaurant, which was pretty much like Chucky Cheese, LOL, with children's play zone. All of us ate, drank, and talked with one another about anything that came to our mind. And then someone suggested to play tag, so we started playing tag in the dark in children's play zone. Honestly, it was FUNNNN. Crazily fun. And dangerous too. It was definitely different from birthday parties at clubs, but I really felt it was one of the best birthday parties I've ever attended :P

This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me because Friday was regional holiday in Valencia (Dia de la Comunidad Valenciana) and Monday is the Spanish National Day (Dia de la Hispanidad). And moreover, Monday is also Thanksgiving Day in Canada!!! So Chris and I are planning a dinner for our roommates and friends. Kristen couldn't make it because of some important plans... but she'll be there in spirit for sure ;) But it's not exactly like Canada because there are some supplies we can't get it in Spain :P

York United

Monday was the day for academic orientation for my faculty. So, I went to the location where it was held, and thank goodness I didn't go to the wrong place. I heard a lot of French and German going on so I knew I was at the right place. The funny thing I noticed that I was the ONLY Asian in the entire room of 400 students I think? I felt a bit left out, but it was a minor feeling.

Just when I was waiting for the orientation to start, someone approached me shouting, "OLIVER!!!"

I turned around and saw Kristen!!! She's also from York and I was so estactic to see her in the same room! I thought she might have been at a different place because she was studying different than what I had. But at that moment I felt so much better just to be able to talkin in English!

The orientation was really straightforward and course enrollment wasn't to bad to understand, just a bit unorganized with the schedules and lists. After orientation Kristen and I hung around the faculty building, and updated on each other's lives since being in Valencia. I am so thankful to have people from my university studying here in Valencia with me.

We later talked about where we're living, and it turned out she might be living close to me! So we decided to go to her place, do groceries, then to my place, and then search for cellphone booths to get SIM cards. As we approached her apartment, I noticed that she lives DIRECTLY across from the gorcery store I shop at!!! NOT FAIR. That'll be soooo convenient for her!

Her place was really comfortable! Very bright with lots of natural light! When I was in her room she had her curtains on so it was a bit dim, and it honestly made me want to have siesta at that moment. :D

We went to the grocery store ACROSS from her place (GRRRR, still jealous), bought lots and lots of food. We decided that she can put her stuff first before going to my place. So we went to the apartment entrance door and she just COULDN'T open the door! The key fitted the lock, but she just couldn't turn it! For 15 minutes, I tried, she tried, I tried again, and she again, but it just wouldn't work! I was like, that's not good...

Just when we were frustrated about the door, she looked up and was like, "Weird, I don't think I ever saw... OMG!!!" At that moment she broke out with laughter and fell to the ground.

I was like, "HUH?? Is everything okay?"

She said, "It's the wrong apartment... This one is 40, but mine is 42..."

I went silent, ".................................................................................................................."

Wow. I can't believe we were so stupid to miss that! Both entrance doors of the apartment had the same design...

Anywayyyyyyy

We went back to her apartment and I waited as she put her groceries away.

So we later went to my apartment to put away my stuff and we set off to find SIM card!

But we got lost... We were walking fine until we saw this tourist shop, and later walked around the Central Market that smelled like intense GARBAGE! BLEHHH... We tried to get back on track finding the way to Plaza de Ayutamiento, but we got more lost and decided to rest at Starbucks. There we just relaxed and I talked about Barcelona since she hasn't been there. After Starbucks we got to Plaza de Ayutamiento but the cellphone store ran out of SIM cards so... :S

We walked back to our apartments, and since we were meeting Larissa Strong (I think coordinator of York International?) at 7, we decided to meet up around 6:15 and go to her hotel. When we met up, she was talking to Chris, another Yorkie, and he was trying to get directions, LOL. So Kristen and I took the metro and went to Larissa's hotel. We were pretty late because Chris and Larissa were outside waiting for us... (We thought Chris would be late since he looks pretty clumsy, LOL)

Since Larissa's hotel was close to the beach, there were a lot of restaurants, one of which is La Pepica, very famous. Many politicians and celebrities and well-know people, like Ernest Hemingway, has dined in the restaurant. But when we got there it was 7:30 and it doesn't open until 8:30....

So we decided to walk on the beach! And it was greaaaaaaat. The Valencian beach is not as beautiful as the ones you seen on Pacific Islands, but it was really really really relaxing. And it was wide! You could probably walk like an hour and still not get to the end of the it.

While we were walking, we talked to Larissa about our experience in Valencia, how much we love it, and how much we have felt and changed since coming here. The three of us all agreed that we made the right decision to come over here, and that we've grown and discovered all these qualities we have after coming here. We would also recommend future students to do the same. Larissa commented and assured us about our experience. It was so nice of her to come to Valencia just for us. She was so nice and very encouraging.

So around 8:30 we went back to the restaurant, and Larissa said it was on her. At first I felt bad but... considering the menu was expensive and it was the school (well, our tuition) paying for the bill, we decided to order el menu del dia! We talked a lot about different things, such as personal lives, work expereinces, etc, while enjoying great wine and fabulous food! It was epic.

But when we finished dinner, it was 11:30. OMG... no way! Larissa was obviously very tired, so we walked her back to the hotel and said our farewells, wishing her a safe trip back to Canada.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Chris's apartment. On the way we joked so much, and the streets was so quiet that our laughs pretty much echoed. LOL. We got to his apartment, which was situated at a nice neighbourhood, but we didn't use the elevator because Chris got stuck in there once for some hours...

His apartment is very nice and basic, and we got to meet his roommate, Jan, from Belgium. We were supposed to go to this club for ERASMUS party with free mojitos and agua de valencia (until 1:00), but we just chilled and talked and joked until 1:30, and it took us like 30 minutes to walk to the club. And it was SKETCH!!! Like, yea, it was free entrance, but it was soooo stuffy with bad music and no space to dance! After like 30 seconds we decided to leave...

And since it was 2:30, we were pretty much tired, so Kristen and I took a cab home, and Chris walked home.

And that was the first day York united in Valencia. And I felt great, just to be able to talk in English again and associate with people whom I can relate a lot...

Barcelona Inspiring

Spending 3 days in Barcelona might not have been long, but it was enough to see the major attractions, which are mainly Gaudi's architecture. The streets of Barcelona are filled with gorgeous residential buildings with unique balcony and fence designs!

Well, Francesco and I saw Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, Park Guell, Crypta de Colonia Guell, and more, but I'd like to talk more about his masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. No, it's not that other houses and architecture are of less importance, but going ot the Sagrada Familia gave me an inspiring and fulfilling feeling.

The church itself is still under construction, as it has been since 1882... It projects to finish in 2030, which would be close to 150 years. YIKES. WOW.

Anyway, there are 3 facades in the blueprint, but so far only 2 have been completed (Passion and Nativity), the other one (Glory) just started construction. The interior of the church is very big! Unlike your typical Gothic or Baroque cathedrals, Sagrada Familia is more a representation of modernism. Gaudi uses a lot of mosaic on the exterior of the buildings. Every part of the church, inside and out, you can see so many religious expression, such as Jesus, Mary, Fruits of the Spirit, the 12 Apostles, the 4 Evangelists, Birth and Cruxificion of Jesus, and pretty much just anything you know in the 4 Gospels!

The best part of the visit, in my opinion, was taking the lift up in one of the towers in the facade to get a closer look of the sculptures and design and the view of Barcelona! Just when Francesco and other tourists were looking out on a balcony, I was walking up the tower by myself. The wind was blowing through the small windows. The stairs led up to another higher balcony that looks over Barcelona. And I was by myself. At the moment, I thought.

Wow.

I can't believe I'm actually here in Barcelona.
I can't believe I'm actually in Spain.
I can't believe I actually just went for my dream and did the exchange.
I felt as if I had Barcelona and Sagrada Familia all to myself.
I felt a great sense of joy, peace, satisfaction, fulfillment, and many more.
I was happy.
I did the right choice.
I wanted to cry with joy.

But it was interrupted by Francesco. "Ollie donde estas?"

:P

After 10 Years...

It was really cool, insane, weird, and very nice to meet up with Kelly after 10 years! The last time I saw her was when she left in 3rd/4th Grade back in Morrison. It's amazing how sites like Facebook work, lol!

Anywayyy... Kelly took me to see the Book of Kells exhibition, because it's free since she's a student. The funny thing was that she said she's been in Trinity for over 2 years, and yet she still hasn't seen the exhibition though it's located directly across from her lecture halls. WHAT??? If I were a student in Trinity I'd go there to take a break! Plus, the Old Library is so big and grand that I would be motivated to study!!!

After the Book of Kells, she showed me around the school in a bit more detail. But throughout that time we just talked about memories in 3rd grade, and updates on our lives after 3rd grade. Wow, it's really been a long time! We also talked about the news about Shane and Jeni (*TEAR*) and how we felt when we heard them. We pretty much had about the same feelings about their news...

What surprised me was that after she left Morrison in 3rd grade, she has frequently visited Taiwan during the summer, even till now!!! (Her dad still worked in Taiwan). I was like, WHAT????? Why didn't you visit Morrsion???

"Well, because I thought everyone in our class has left, or wouldn't remember me, and I'd feel so alone and weird visiting the school where no one would know me."

LOL!!!

Well, I informed her that there are couple of people in our class who would still know her and such. And that our 3rd grade teacher Miss Neff is still teaching. And she told me that after graduation she'd love to go to Taiwan to teach English, and learn Chinese. She just loves the environment, the food, and the people in Taiwan. I was so happy to hear that, not only that I would be able to see an old friend more often in the future, but also that a foreigner is so interested in Taiwan.

Even though our visit had to cut short, all I can say is that I made a great decision to visit Dublin, Ireland. At least we know that next time we meet won't be another 10 years!

Out and About in Dublin!

Here are some of the famous tourist attractions in Dublin. I recommend you to visit these places when you are in Dublin!

Trinity College

This is the oldest university in Ireland, built in 1592, during the Elizabethan age. It is very beautiful with cobbled-stone plazas, Georgian architecture, large green fields, and such. One of the most famous attractions of this institution is the Book of Kells, stored in the Old Library of Trinity College. The Book of Kells is one of the oldest surviving texts of the 4 Gospels (probably written in 800 AD), and it is also known for its sophisticated, detailed, and vibrant drawings and designs. If you are interested in art, history, books, religion, and such, you definitely have to visit the Book of Kells! (So far I haven't gone in to see it, because I'm waiting to go with Kelly so it'll be free! But when I do, it'll be an breath-taking experience!)

St. Stephen's Green

This is probably the largest park in Dublin, and it is really relaxing to walk in! It is not as sophisticated as a lot of Victorian Parks in England or Canada I've seen in books or person, but it was definitely nice place to take a walk after hours of site-seeing.

Grafton Street

Based on my observation this would be the fashion district in Dublin! Very busy street, with thousands of clothing stores! From Aldo to Foot Locker to Tommy Hilfiger to Diesel and Louis Vuitton! Brown Thomas is like Holt Renfrew in Canada, but it has more brands and clothing than Holt! In addtion, there were quite a few street performers entertaining the busy pedestrians.

Christ Church Cathedral

This is the oldest cathedral in Dublin built in 11th Century when the Vikings and Celtic tribes were still around, and the interior proves it all! I did an audio walking tour, and the audio explained every history and detail of the cathedral. The cathedral indeed had a lot of history and treasures too! So many eye-catching sculptures, stained glass windows, paintings, artifacts... etc.

Dublin Castle

I didn't really do the tour of the castle, because I was pretty tired by that time, but I did walk on the outside. The castle was first built in 13th Century, but it had been destroyed so you can see some later architecture mixed with the old stoned tower. I was a bit disappointed with this because I was expecting it to be old and gray and such, but instead it looked more like an aristocratic mansion with a large court in front of the building entrance. But it was nice to see it nevertheless!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

This cathedral came a bit later than Christ Church Cathedral, but for me it had a lot more history, decorations, and artifacts than Christ Church. There was a lot of monuments, statues, and sculptures commenmorating important Irish personnel. Plus, since this was named in honour of the patron saint of Ireland, this building is a lot more famous and has more significant activities.

St. Audoen's Church

The church is the oldest parish in Ireland. It is now converted to a museum, but sermons are still held in the more contemporary chapel behind the museum. Outside the museum are the remains of the older chapel, with some faded tombstones. It was a bit sad to see the ruins since it used to be a prominent and significant part of Dublin during the older times.

Guinness Brewery

This is definitely a must see!!! Like, hello, Guiness is world renowned Irish beer! The brewery is located on the western side of the city (a little bit sketchy to be honest). On the outside you can see the old and traditional brick walls of the brewery. It's a large area, and much of the brewery still brews Guiness, whereas another part is designed as a museum. Inside the museum you could tell the company is proud and committed in educating people about their beer! It's very high tech and each station is about each brewing stage. And most of all, you get a FREE pint at the end at the bar! Or you could repeatedly get small portions of the beer for free at the testing lab, lol! The bar was located on the top floor, and it over looked the entire city of Dublin!

Book of Kells


This is definitely the highlight of my visit in Dublin! Thanks to Kelly with her status as a student at Trinity, I was able to see the exhibition for free! And let me tell you, it is so worth going! Not only does the college exhibit the Book of Kells, it also had collections of old bibles (primarily the 4 Gospels in Latin) from other parts of Europe, like France, England, and Italy, written in the 11th or 12th Century! It was phenomenal that after more than 800 years the colour in the drawings are still vibrant! And what I didn't understand was how were people able to write the texts so neat as if they were printed? LIKE HOW??? Each book is as thick as those big door-stopper dictionary (and it only contains the 4 Gospels!). The font is very big and some pages are just drawings with very intricate details! There was one page in the Book of Kells they exhibited and the page was solely a drawing (or design) of the first word of the chapter or Gospel!!! Like, how in the world would you know what word it was with all those drawings, designs, details, and colour that covered the one whole page? (I was not allowed to take a picture so.. you might have to google it to know what I mean.) Anyway, Mr. Holton would be proud! And I highly highly highly advise you to see the Book of Kells when you are there because it is an representation and combination of culture, history, religion, art of Medieval Europe, especially that of British Isles!


Other Attractions

The remaining places that I'm going to list is not of less importance, but it's just very straighforward without further explanation.


St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is one of the larger malls in Dublin, but it's not as huge like Eaton Centre or Yorkdale with lots of shops in Toronto. However, I do enjoy the architecture, because the roof is transparent so it was really bright and cozy. There were a lot of high-end fashion or local designer shops that I will never see in Canada, but too bad that it's too expensive or else I would've shopped a lot!

The headquarters of the Bank of Ireland is located adjacent to the the front gate of Trinity College. It looks just like a traditional bank office in Europe, built in marble architecture with pillars, and the interior is large and filled with wooden furniture.

Like the bank, the General Post Office shares a similar architecture style. It is located on O'Connell Street, close to my hostel. It'll be convenient for me to mail the postcards back home!

My First Encounter with Dublin and Ireland

Dublin has been an amazing city! People here are so friendly and the weather right now reminds me of Canada a lot.

Well, when I got off the plane I had to go through passport control, and the stamp was BIG!! It pretty much took up like half a page... After getting my luggage I exited and was a bit lost with all the buses. Plus, I was panicking on the other hand because I totally forgot to buy an adaptor while I was in Madrid! I doubted that I would find it in downtown Dublin, so I searched EVERYWHERE (Arrival and Departure) in the airport, but just couldn't find it. Whatever, I thought, I'll just wish for all the best.

I got so confused with the buses too! I entered and exited and entered and exited the airport many times trying to find the bus line that goes directly to Dublin! So I went to the tourist centre, and the lady was so NICE!!! She showed me a map and wrote all the lines that go from airport to city centre and back, and the location of stops in the city centre. I bought a round-trip ticket and she kindly told me how to use it. That was a first good impression of the city for me! So I got on to the double-deck city bus (pretty much all the public buses in Dublin are like that!), and of course I chose the upper deck to get a better view! On the way to city centre, everywhere was so GREEN!!! :D

So I got to the city centre pretty soon, and the street I got off was really busy! So many people walking around, and there were so many tourist shops! All about stereotypical Irish things, like lucky charm, leprochaun, Guiness ... etc. I passed by the Spire of Dublin, and it was just this needle pointing in the air, lol! I thought it would as big and tall as CN Tower.

Anywayyyy, I got to the hostel, and people were really nice! I barely talk to people in my room whenever I live in hostels (so far a lot of people I've met in hostels aren't really nice...), but this time was different! I got to know a girl name Marta from Spain who was really interested in learning English, and I talked to her a bit in Spanish just to refresh :P, and she was kind of happy to hear that cause her English was really limited. I understood how she felt. She told me that all tourist shops had adaptor, which I later purchased (CRISIS AVERTED!!!). There's another guy named Shane from France, and he too was learning English. He was interested in going to Canada.

So... that night Shane invited me to go out for the night with other people in the hostel. I totally don't remember their names (cause I'm pretty stupid like that) but there were 1 Mexican, 1 Finnish, and 3 British. We walked around downtown, mostly where the bars were because we wanted to drink. Dublin was a lively at night!

There were a lot of street performers, and still some shops and restaurants were open and packed with people!

We went to this place that the British went the day before, but one of them thought it was too loud, so we walked up to the roof garden.

It was like 5 floors up... Well, when we got there apparently we weren't supposed to be there! It's like private location and only people with invitation could go in. Well, there was NO ONE but one bartender, and he was really nice so he allowed us to stay for a drink. PERFECT!!!

The roof garden actually has a roof that opens and you could see the stars and sky!

Since I was in Ireland, of course I had to order a Guiness!

The 7 of us just talked about anything, but the place was still dead after 23:00. The bartender said Wednesday is usually dead. Not a surprise. So we decided to leave after our drinks, and went for another bar, which was supposedly the cheapest in Dublin.

We were there for a while, and later some people went to get Indian food. After getting food we walked back to the hostel and ended our day. Not bad for a first night in Dublin!

School Stuff Again

I am currently in Dublin, Ireland, but before going through the details and fun of the city, allow me to update on school enrollment.

So... I decided to go back to the International Office and ask them what I really need to do. This time was a different lady, and she told me I just need to go to the faculty office and ask the administrators for the letter.

And so I did. And got even more confused. I showed the administrator the application form and the reason why I needed the letter, and she asked other people about it. Just as I was waiting, two local students said to me that, "The school just doesn't function that efficient." Oh, like I didn't know already? Good grief... The administrator came back and told me I actually had to go BACK to the International Office and get the letter. Well, obviously I know that wasn't true because the office doesn't confirm my studies and length of study.

I didn't want to argue so I walked back to the office and told them everything. This time it was a different lady, and she was a bit quirky but REALLY HELPFUL. After listening to my situation she decided to call the faculty to ask what the hell was going on. So apparently here are the steps for me to finalize my visa extension:

1. On September 21, go to the administration office (secretaria) exactly at 11:00 am for information on enrollment. After that I'll be able to get a letter confirming my studies.

2. Bring the letter, my passport and visa to the International Office. They would then send like an application fee or such to my address

3. Once I get the fee, I need to go to the bank and pay it, keep the receipt

4. I then go to the Comisaria with the receipt, passport, and they'll take two pictures of me, and then DONE.

At least theoretically it is so...

And just yesterday I got the email from the coordinator that he's in office Wednesday and Thursday. Ay ay ay... Whatever, I'll just go to him and explain everything... Hope by then he can help.

School Stuff

Well in case you guys don't remember, I'm here to study, not party or on vacation.

So... after going to the International Office on Friday, I went to my faculty as advised to meet my coordinator to go over courses and details and mucho mas...

Well, I went there and it was CONFUSING. I asked the fronk desk where I could find the coordinator, without remembering his name. She asked "Se llama Domingo?" and for a second that kind of sounded like the coordinator's name, so I said yes. She later said turn right towards the stairs and go up.

And I did. And got even more confused and lost. Like, hello, to WHICH floor??? There were FIVE floors, and I obviously did not have much time to look through EVERY floor. I went back down to the lobby to see the map of the building. Hmm... Spanish deparment was on the third floor. So I went there and it was hallways of very small offices for professors. Each office does not have its own room. Poor professors. I thought York Professors had a bad deal... But the offices did not have signs on so I didn't know where to go to find the coordinator... AY. You may wonder why I didn't ask the fronk desk again? Well, I was not in a mood, and the lady wasn't very kind and helpful to start off...

To avoid more disappointment and confusion, I went to get more groceries while going home. After getting home and having lunch, I checked the list of coordinators that the International Office had given me. The coordinator's name was actually Javier Santorre Grau... no way did it sound like Domingo at all... Whereas, Domingo was the coordinator of the French department. WTF. DO I LOOK LIKE I KNOW AND STUDY FRENCH????? Maybe the French are seen as... dumb by the Spanish? Just a thought...

And I thought York was pretty bad already with its bureaucracy.

I KNOW YOU WANT ME, YOU KNOW I WANT YOU!!!

After talking to Erika, I felt so much better. And as I was about to take a shower, Danillo called me in to the living room and asked me if I wanted to go out for the night just for a drink. HELL YES!!! It was around 10:30 pm, and they were leaving at 12:00 am. After shower I got dressed and we headed out to meet 3 friends (2 Brazilian and 1 Portuguese) of Danillo. We dropped a bar for a drink, and during the time I pretty much just listened, LOL. I did my best to understand what they were saying, and it’s either me or their slower Spanish (because it’d be their second language) I was able to understand more than what I had expected!

Just when I thought we were going back to our house to sleep (it was like 1:30?), they decided to go to another bar/lounge to dance and drink more. On the way, Danillo made fun of the song, “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho),” saying it was stupid and didn’t make sense, yet kept on singing it on the way… We got there, and really… the music was pretty bad… Weird mixes and short songs… We met more friends over there too, but we were at the lounge place for like 2 hours??? I was exhausted already considering I had the Canadian mentality of partying… I would be sleeping by then.

So after sufficient music and dancing, the group decided to go to an after-party place. OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I was about to DIE. But maybe because of the street lights in the city, it was soooo bright that I didn’t feel like sleeping. And everywhere we walked there were people, but they weren’t loud. We got to the place, but something went wrong. I didn’t quite understand what was going in on because I was so tired, but I guess… we had to pay for alcohol in order to get in, but Lorenzo didn’t want to because he didn’t want to spend any more money on drinks? The girls wanted to go, but the guys just didn’t. In the end they spent like 30 minutes outside of the place deciding where else to go. Towards the end we decided we would go home, so we started walking. But 5 meters later at an intersection they talked again, for like 20 minutes. 2 people left, and we crossed the road and talked AGAIN for 15 minutes about things I didn’t comprehend. Okay, so later we started walking for like 3 meters and passed by taxis for the girls, and there they talked AGAINNN for another 10 minutes. OMG PEOPLE WHY SO UNDECISIVE??? DIDN’T YOU SAY YOU WERE GOING HOME TO SLEEP????? So after saying farewell to them my roommates and I walked back. It was peaceful walk through the old cathedrals and towers but I was way too exhausted to appreciate the beauty of the night. I got back home and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…

Language Barrier

Lorenzo has been really nice talking, asking, and listening to me, but at times I feel bad because I know I have trouble talking in Spanish and he seemed confused with my words … Even when they are talking to each other I would know some things they are saying, but I’d have trouble to join in the discussion in Spanish.

I know I’ve only been here for 3 days, and I will pick up soon (Lorenzo has confidence that after 1 month, especially after school starts, I’ll be speaking it well), but I just wish the barrier just wasn’t there…

After dinner I went online and talked to Erika about Spain. It was nice talking to friends again and to be able to express in English. It’s not that I don’t like speaking Spanish, it’s just at times when I want to express things, questions, ideas, opinions, or feelings … etc, it’s so much easier to do so in English than Spanish.

Alojamiento

I woke up Friday morning, and went to the student housing company to finish up some details, get the keys, and move in. I could have taken the bus, but I didn’t know how it worked so I just walked. The office was a bit far, but it was on a main road in the city so I wasn’t lost. But it was definitely hot walking…

Anyway, I got to the office, signed papers, and the key. But I had to go out to bank to withdraw money because I had to pay first month’s rent at that moment. Well, I was informed that Spain was somewhat notorious for pick-pocketing and theft, so I was a bit scared walking back with like bills and bills of Euros in my wallet. (Just for the information, I passed by a school, I think, and the students looked pretty ghetto and sketchy…). So I paid my rent, and that time the office told me about my roommates. I currently have 3 (2 Italians and 1 Portuguese, all guys), but they are moving out at the end of the month. They told me they’ve been there for like a year or two? And they had their contract set at that date, so they’re just moving to a different apartment in the city. I felt weird hearing that. Oh well, I do know that I have another roommate (Spanish) moving in like next week or two, so that’s not bad.

I walked back to the hostel, packed a small-duffel load of clothes, and went to the apartment. The apartment was exactly where I had seen days earlier! The entrance and lobby was nice and had a securing feeling. I got to my apartment floor, and kind of struggled opening the door because there were 2 doors, and I had 3 keys to use… But eventually I opened it! The door opened to the kitchen and to the left is the laundry area. There’s another door towards the left of the kitchen, so I opened it, and it lead to corridor… with more doors…

Just as I was walking to figure out which room was mine, I passed by the first bathroom and TAH DAH my roommate was washing his face… in the dark. I introduced myself to him, and his name’s Francesco, de Italia (Sicily). Another roommate came out, and he was Lorenzo, from Portugal. They guided me to my room, which was on the right side of the kitchen door. My room door looks like a living room door, wooden and with a sophisticated lock! And the room looked just like I had seen in the photos, but better and brighter! Fireplace (I wonder why???), small chandelier, big window, long green drapes (somewhat broken, but it’s going to be fixed by the company), and a nice view of the park and city!

I started to unpack and went back to the hostel to get more things (it wasn’t that far; and I get to see the narrow and tranquil alleys during siesta). I came back and just when I was going to take a nap (or have my own little siesta) my other roommate Danillo (from Sicily, Italy too!) came in and greeted me. He has been here the longest, so he showed me around some of the things in the house and a basic rule: no noise or open doors before 11:00 am or during siesta because they’d be sleeping. LOL. That’s not a hard rule for me.

I skipped siesta and went to do grocery shopping. Now there is a difference between Spanish groceries and Canadian ones. First thing, it’s CHEAPER, especially with seafood (compared to seafood prices in Toronto). I got all kinds of fish fillet (salmon, cod … etc), and they were good portion and each is less than 2 Euros!!! Another difference is with fresh produce. You know how you put fruits or vegetables in the plastic bag and have them weighed and priced at the cashier, right? Well, in Spain the cashiers don’t do that. You had to do it yourself with a scale that’s in the area. When I got to the cashier she told me I had to go back and weigh them, but first I have to pay the things first because there were like 7 people behind me (another EMBARRASSMENT). I did that, went back to the cashier, paid, and walked back home to cook. The stove was interesting. It’s gas, but instead of the stove starting the fire, it only gives out gas, so you’d had to use a lighter to light it. WTF… I’ve played with fire but NEVER with gas because it’ll be dangerous!!! So I asked Lorenzo for help…

En el primer

Departure

It was really hard to leave Canada. I’ve made so many friends, and got acquainted with the city so much that I felt I’ve only started to enjoy. But, going abroad and improving my Spanish are my dreams I’ve wanted to fulfill. So I must leave things behind for a year.

Thanks to Silang for driving me to the airport even though she was dead tired from all the overtime work for the past few days. When the car got close to the airport, I wanted to cry. When I unloaded the car and gave her a good-bye hug, I wanted to cry. As if I won’t see my friends ever more. But I didn’t. She wished me all the best, and I entered the terminal. I guess I just needed blessings and reassurance.

The line to check in was pretty fast, but I got charged for overweight luggage ($100 CD). ARGH. At first they wouldn’t let me check in because it was 34 kg (the limit is 32 kg), so I had to transfer some to my other luggage. Good grief. Now I’m concerned about my luggage when I come back. But I now have an idea of how to arrange my luggage when I return.

Anywaaaaaay, since my flight was until 22:00, I went to restaurant for dinner, while calling many friends on the phone about my departure. Some either didn’t know or forgot that I was going to Spain. There were some that I was so happy that I called them. Honestly, just talking to my friends and receiving blessings from them is such a reassuring feeling. Thanks to you all Luce-Yole, Karina, Jenn, Josh, Amy, Erika, Pacifica, and Silang. I apologize for others that I didn’t have the chance to give you guys a call because by that time the plane took off.

Flight

The flight to Madrid itself wasn’t too bad. But because it took off at night, so I was really tired. I tried sleeping but was so tempted by the free movies I’ve always wanted to watch (Wolverine, I Love You Man, Ice Age: Meltdown, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Star Trek … etc). I watched some of it but got tired and ended it early. I fell asleep while watching Ice Age: Meltdown, and woke up with drools around my mouth. Yea, it was definitely disgusting (and that’s a problem I have when I sleep upright), but thankfully there was no one sitting next to me, or else it would have been a great embarrassment!

When the plane flew over Spain I was so excited! It flew over Santiago de Compostela (Josh! Josh! Josh!) and other cities too. I felt most of Spain in that area was somewhat dry, because it didn’t have much forests or green vegetation. But the plane flew over some mountains, and it was gorgeous! And of course, Madrid too!

Arrival in España

The Madrid Airport was pretty nice, just a bit busy and somewhat unorganized. My concern was going through customs, because I was entering early as a tourist not with my student visa. When I got to the counter, honestly, it took like less than 2 seconds for the officer to stamp and take my immigration form. SWEET! I had to go through security again, take a shuttle bus to another terminal. It was HOTTTT when I exited the door for the shuttle. It reminded me of Taiwan a lot, just minus the humidity. The surrounding area was really dry, almost like a desert, which is something I’m not used to because I’ve lived in places with so much green space (Taiwan and Canada).

So I got to the second terminal, and checked the monitor to see which gate my flight was located. The departure time was there, but the gate was not listed. WTF. The flight was 15:40, and the time then was 12:00. So I went to the information desk at Spanair, and the representative was like, “Oh it’s too early to know but I’ll check. Hmm… nope, it’s too early. Just walk around and check the monitor frequently.” WTF. What kind of organization is this????? Whatever, I walked around duty free shops. It was fine. (The best duty free shop I’ve been to is Tokyo Narita Airport. The terminal itself was a mall). I bought an adaptor for my electronics.

Once it was time to board, I walked through the tunnel to a shuttle bus. HUH? I didn’t understand. The bus just drove us to the plane, and during the entire time I was wondering which plane was my flight. I really felt we were off for some concentration camp. So I got to the plane, which had SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) logo on it. WTF??? I wondered if the driver knew. I walked in and the seats had Spanair logo on it. Okay, that was really confusing. Weird. Anyway, the flight was short and fell asleep again.

VALENCIA BABY!

Getting the luggage was fast, and the taxi drive to the hostel was fast too! I experienced my language barrier when I was paying the driver. He was giving me change, but I didn’t know how to say, “I don’t need change, just keep it” in Spanish, LOL. (It was like 12.50 Euros, but since he was so nice and helpful I just gave him 20 Euros). I was like, “Es todo para usted (blah blah blah)” and he became a happy driver. Most of the roads in Valencia are one way, and there is a special lane for taxis and buses only, so my driver couldn’t drive me to the side of my hostel. With 4 things to carry, I ventured to cross the road when there was no traffic. But in the middle of the way my luggage fell, so I had to pick it up quickly before the cars came (and trust me there were a lot of pedestrians so it was utterly EMBARRASSING; that’s the first impression the locals have with me already, LOL).

The hostel was really nice and comfortable. I was sweating like no other by carrying my luggage around. So I went to take a shower, and went back to the room to sleep at 5 pm. I woke up around 8, and decided to go out for a walk and maybe food (I wasn’t that hungry because of so much food on the plane and stuff).

The city is ridiculously gorgeous. I love the narrow alleys; so romantic, comfortable, and mysterious at the same time. All the street lights in the small streets are built on buildings, not roads. And there’s one for like every 3 meters. Therefore, it was so bright! Almost as bright as it was during the day. There were so many old buildings, like cathedrals and medieval towers around the hostel, so it was nice! But it was still hot. I was sweating pretty badly after walking for 5 minutes. At least I know I’ll lose weight after living here for a year! I was looking for food, but there were so many selections and I didn’t know how to order in Spanish, so… I went for Starbucks instead which was 10 meters from the hostel. It’s sad I know. Starbucks was dead quiet. I was like one of the 3 customers.

I came back to take a shower, and I went to the shower room I was in earlier, and there was a girl in it and she said, “Um… sorry, the guy’s shower room is over there.” OMG. I felt so embarrassed that I used the girls shower room earlier without knowing it! Thank goodness there weren’t any girls in the room during that time. Plus, the door and sign was not facing me, so how the hell would I know? And thanks to living in co-ed dorms for like 2 years and sharing bathrooms with girls in the apartment during the summer, I just have the mentality that bathrooms are shared in accommodation areas.

The wireless was not working, so the front desk gave me an account that allowed me to access the internet on the computer for 1 hour (They charge you 1 Euro per hour for internet use on their computer, but since it was their fault that they didn’t have wireless, I got a deal…). Thanks for all the comments and likes on my Facebook status people! I’ll definitely keep you guys posted with photos and stuff. I chatted with Rowan, who apparently is moving to London!!! Now I have free accommodation when I go for London MUN!!! :D

I went to bed around 11:00, because I had an appointment at 10 with the university. However, I woke up at 5:00 am thanks to jet lag. I went to get water cause it is ridiculously dry in Spain. I tried to put myself to sleep by listening to iPod. I fell back to sleep again and woke up (DUN DUN DUN) at 10:40 am. OMG!!! I WAS IN A PANIC!!! I darted out to the university immediately. Even though I had a map, it was still confusing to get to the school. But I passed by the park and royal garden, which was so relaxing and marvellous! By the time I got to the university it was like, 11:30? But there was someone calling out, “Anyone named Oliver Shen?” WHEW. I apologized for being late, but she was very kind saying it’s fine cause the important thing was that I did come to the office after all. The appointment was quick and easy, but I forgot my passport………… so I had to go back to my hostel and return again.

Rather than going back the same route, I passed by my potential apartment! OMG IT WAS SO NICE!!! The area was nice, and it had security/front desk! I was unable to go in, but I saw the first floor lobby was handsomely furnished!!! Now I’m really excited to move in!

I got my passport and went back to the university. The office just had to photocopy my visa in case I lose it (which is very ………… possible since I throw things everywhere). I went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch, since I felt more comfortable with my own people, LOL. Now I’m here typing everything above, and off to have my own little siesta. I’ll probably explore the area again and beyond, and maybe just get something light for dinner. Tomorrow I must go to the student housing company for last details and move in some things.