Where has the sun gone?

Hey people!

How are you all doing? lol i have to say that sometimes these blog entries seem more like personal emails than actual blog entries, but that ok because i love sharing my life with you! i think it's a more of a personal style! i haven't been up to anything super uber exciting lately but i'll talk about some of the events that are worth noting in the last couple weeks! As you may have been able to tell by the title i'm wondering where the sun has gone! it's officially getting colder here! seems like it's already winter but i suppose it's just gona get colder! I think of everyone back in NZ and wish you would send me some warmth in a bottle! lol XD this last week been it was raining constantly and i have decided not to buy an umbrella because according to everyone it's so out of the norm and everyone is amazed by it's presence! so for the time being i've just gotten wet walking about places! but when i say rain it really is nothing like NZ rain! i have to laugh sometimes at how many people are walking around with umbrellas up in nothing but the slightest drizzle XD

With winter approaching i guess i should be thinking about buying some new clothes! one suitcase is not alot of space to bring your whole life with you! so since being here i've been cut down to 2 pairs of longs! one pair of trousers got a massive tear in them and one pair of jeans i've discouvered are too big and my belt is useless because it also is too big =( i'm hoping like heck the spanish clothe sizes are better suited to me! however there's the fact that i absolutely despise clothes shopping! =(

Speaking of shopping guess what i bought this week with the groceries! half a RABBIT!!! gah i saw it and was like omgosh they eat rabbits! so i asked the women about them and how to cook them etc and i was like ok let's do it! so i shell let you know how that goes hahaa i'm sure it will be interesting! Also another little story about grocery shopping! they have like a pick and mix thing going on but not with lollies but freshly baked sweets and pasteries of a bazillion different kinds so i filled up 2 big bags full of amazing looking chocolates and cakes etc! but i pretty soon realized i wasn't going to eat it all so i told my flatmates to help themselve and they were like Flippin heck Chris! you're crazy! XD in the end i had to take them to school just to get rid of it all! hahaha

And i suppose that leads into school! Well whats going on at school? Poor Maria is still off with her injured back! i have discouvered that she slipped over in the parking lot when it was raining! she says she's feeling better and can walk around house but at school with stairs and everything it will be too difficult! i have to admit the 2 classes i have the hardest time controlling are both the ones i have with her! lately i've been talking about Maori culture! and inevitably the idea has come up that we all learn the haka! i don't know why i thought i'd ever be able to avoid it >.< Also something i was super excited about was showing a video of a short animated film! the teacher said the kids were studying past tense and so i found a film told in past tense and then got a transcription of the entire thing and edited it so the kids would have to fill in the correct form of the verb in the past tense! but then that morning i watched the film all the way through and was like holy heck! i do not remember it being this violent! and thought better not show this film to such a young class lol so instead we tried doing some debating! which was all well and good but students who are just studying past tense it was waaaaaay to difficult an activity! haha one of the topics was parents should know where their children are at all times and it was almost impossible to explain the idea that one team had to argue for it and one team against it >.< so one girl starting saying how she loves the children and when she grows up she wanted to have 6! i'm going to give the debating another go only with an older class! should be really good! :D i am excited!

Something else that is going on lately at school is that the kids are going on 'huelgas' which is basically a strike! and when i came to class and there was no 1 there, firstly i couldn't believe why they were on strike or what on earth students would hope to accomplish by doing so and secondly how the heck did these kids become so organized! o.O It's beyond me that they would go on strike! they're not even being paid and don't they realize how lucky they are to be in school? apparently not! i think they just want days off school! XD

 Let's talk about one of the more exciting things that has happened! recently i gave my first conversation class! to be honest i didn't really care for it at all and felt a little pressured into giving it! Let's be clear! it wasn't the fact that i have to speak in english with some1, in fact i love the idea! but it was because the person with whom i was going to be giving lessons was 12 years old and needless to say english isn't very good! so i was absolutely freaking out thinking wtheck am i suppose to talk about for an entire hour! anyways for the conversation class i have to go to the girls house! the mother is a teacher at our school who i'd never meet before lol and finding my way to their house was a mish! i had an idea where is was but finding apartments here is sooooo impossible! thankfully i left myself lots of time and after about 30mins walking i stumbled my way into it! lol they mother and student came down to meet me which was nice! thankfully i've got the hand of understanding most things people say to me! but talking back is another thing lol XD anyways the lesson went really well! one of the activities i had prepared lasted the whole hour which was fantastic! so now when i go again 2moro i'll know what to expect! Oooh and i was lucky enough to be given a 2euro pay rise! haha we hadn't even talked about how much i was gona charge but she gave me 2 more euros then then what i had found out was the common rate!

This weekend has been good! the sun has come out which actually just makes life sooooooo much more enjoyable! so yesterday i went for a short car ride to La Ñora with my flatmate Juan to pick his friends up! then we went out for a hot chocolate which was nice! then this morning i managed to finally NOT miss my bus and went to church again! was cool! church goes for a long time tho! i leave about 10 45 and get back around 2 30-3 00 lol i love hearing some of the english songs i reconize in spanish but sometimes i have no idea what they pastor is talking about so i tend to switch off pretty quickly XD

I think i'll leave it there! i was going to talk a little bit about spanish vs english but i've written plenty already! sorry no photos this time but plenty of writting! This wednesday i'm going to a big shopping complex so it may be the ideal time to hunt me some clothes! if only they magically appeared for me everyday XD

Salon de Manga

Hi people!!!!!

Well this week i don't think there is a lot to write about unless i have forgotten everything! XD but i have called this weeks blog title after the main event of the week!

Anyways let's start with classes! Maria! one of the teachers at Miguel Espinosa, with whom i have 2 classes has hurt her back, and it sounds like she's ok but it has been serious enough to put her out of work last week and this week! So last week i didn't have any classes! i was all prepared to go but then the classes got shuffled round and the french teacher came an hour earlier to take them so i got to go home! this week a substitute teacher came and we did the activity i prepared! recently i have been talking talking about NZ geography ie important cities etc and then also with some classes i have begun looking at Maori culture, language, performing arts etc! it's really cool and a lot of fun! i have learnt a lot myself! Also i have come to the terms that classes will be unpredictable! you can never tell how the students will be from one day to the next! sometimes i get through more material then planned and then sometimes you get through hardly anything! at times i get annoyed at how loud the students are and trying to have to talk over them! so far i haven't noticed any sort of punishment system like we have in NZ, student's aren't sent out or given a detention etc! so after a while they get a little bored, but certain things work better then others! practical activities like learning how to count to 10 in Maori, or watching an interesting video clip work better then me talking about the history of Maori origins or something too complicated! Probly why i like the older classes because they understand and pay attention better! also they're smaller!

Moving on! this weekend was good! one of my flatmates left for home but on friday night we decided to watch a movie! so we went and got some lollies and popcorn and sat in the lounge and watched the movie 'the orphanage' here is a trailer!

It was terrifying but very good! and this was right after i had watched a movie called Julia's Eyes earlier in the day, another very scary but fantastic movie! here is the trailer! sorry this is only in spanish

Ok! let's get onto the main highlight of this blog! the Salon de Manga! which is pretty much an anime convention like armageddon in NZ! So on saturday i met up with my friend Marta and we went to the Salon! it was alot smaller than Armageddon with not a lot to do but it was still fun! there were incredible amounts of people there! very tight and compact! hard to move about lol anyways it was pretty much just alot of stalls selling various things that would appeal to anime lovers! and the other thing was that unlike armageddon in NZ there were a lot more cosplayers! costume roleplay! ie peoeple dressed up as their favourite cartoon characters lol it was really cool! so i took a bunch of photos and bought some posters to brighten up my room! below are some photos!

 I am wearing my awesome hat! :D

 The girl on the left is my friend Marta!

 My name in japanese (on the right) - Ku Ri Su

 Epic costume!

 Ok to explain! the sign says video games on a network and then they make the terrible mistake of saying land party in english! hahaha it should be LAN party! local area network! it's typical that they write something similar if they don't understand the real word XD

 This guy was made completely of paper! pretty awesome!

Marta and I

Today i was suppose to return to the extranjeria! the office of foreign affairs for visas etc to pick up my TIE! however it seems i got my days messed up and missed my ride =( i was sure i was going to meet my friend Irene at school 2moro to go but apparently not! she called me to ask where i was and i had to apologize! anyways we're going to go next week! here's hoping it's not too late! surely it should be fine! all i have to do is pick up a document! o.O

That's about it for this week! hope you are all well!

Settling Down

Hellooooo!

Yes i know it's been a very long time since my last post, and everyone keeps telling me that as well! So maybe this time's title is appropriate! i seem to be settling into life here and getting on with things! i feel like not too much has happened but will share with you what i can remember of the last couple weeks! and plenty of photos this time! ready set GO!

Ok so firstly i wana back track to my first week of school and show you a couple pics of one of my classes! these are the students from 1º ESO who are all about 12years old! this is one of my younger classes who all wrote me cards for my first day!

 

This is English Department

 And while we're backtracking i have a photo to share about our orientation here in Murcia

Ok so classes have been going well! lately i've been talking about NZ television, so typical shows we would watch! i even included a picture of coronation street! hahaha but tell all my students not to waste their time with it XD also i love to talk about tv ads! Here in Spain tv ads are horrendous! To begin with there is alot! in NZ we'd expect to put up with ads for maybe a few minutes but here ads can last like 15mins and i'm like WTHEck! also some of the ads are so stupid! i saw an ad which was talking about a product to make you taller and i thought it was a joke! but no! it was dead serious! hahahah anyways i've been showing my students my favourite tv ads from NZ (def not the one about the baby driving the car!) Also a while ago in classes we went through and named all the cities and countries of the British Isles so i went a head and made a map of NZ for the kids to fill in! accidentally wrote that Christchurch, Dunedin and Kaikoura were all on the West coast! fail XD but anyways i have prepared a presentation to go with the map so everyone can see what the cities are they're naming on the map! Then in my 1 Bachillerato classe (older students) i went through a theory lesson on the human bones/muscle structure/fitness/health/flexibility etc with the PE teacher! was cool! i could teach PE theory just not the practical side hahaha XD then my 2 Bach class i took a debate/discussion group which was really cool! these are probly my fav students (not that i have favs, it's just alot easier to relate to)

Ok so now a few day to day observations i would like to share! It is officially cold! hasn't been very good weather lately! so much for not raining much in Murcia >.< thank goodness for flatmates who have umbrellas! :D but yea i thought my days of walking to school in the rain were over! guess not lol, so what am i doing right now? i'm wearing shorts! hahah refusing to believe this horrible weather will continue! so maybe i should change! what else? Omgosh i cooked Chorizo the other day! one of the most tastiest foods EVER! so wish i could bring some back or get everyone to try it! it's nothing like the chorizo you'd find in the supermarkets in NZ, also the sliced chorizo you eat on sandwiches is incredible too! hahah XD

Before i continue i would like to make something very clear for everyone in NZ! we are now exactly 12 hours apart! if you have 4 30 in the afternoon it will be 4 30 in the morning here! we had our change for daylight savings the other day! Good thing my mate called me to tell me otherwise i would have turned up at school and hour early the following day XD

Ok so continuing with random things! i now officially have my Bacher of Arts qualification! came in the Mail! how awesome is that! shame i never got to go to a graduation ceremony but hey! life goes on! Thank you very much Mum and Dad for emailing it to me!

I have also now been to my first mall in Murcia! one called Thader! it's not huge but not small hahah can anyone say oxymoron? XD went with a friend! they have a massive electronics store there which is cool! electronics seem to be fairly cheap here, maybe that's because it's all priced in Euros! hopefully i get paid sometime this month! will have to make a trip back i think! Kinda gutted! one of my good friends from Murcia has gone to Bilbao to study which is on the other side of spain! a rather long bus trip >.< i'll have to go visit sometime tho! Every friday after classes the english department teachers go round the corner to a small outdoor bar thing and we just sit there and chat which is really cool but half the time i don't understand what's going on and am pretty quite! so hard to keep up when everyone is talking at the same time! O.o

Ok so something else i must say is i am incredibly surprised at how many public holidays there are here! maybe it's just me? i've only been here a month and already we've had 2! this sunday just been was Dia de todos los Santos or All saints day! it's the same holiday as Mexico's Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead! which occurs on the 1st of November! Needless to say i had the day off! was really good! the weekend just been all my flatmates returned home for the weekend so that was super boring >.< But day of the dead is a fairly big thing here! most people will go to their dead relatives graves and do them up and i asked, so what? you only go once a year? and they said no! we go all the time but this is a special day for it.

Last night i went out with a all my flatmates and some of their friends! was good! i don't really understand bar hoping but we went around different places and sometimes just stood talking without ordering any drinks lol it was good because there was another person who doesn't drink either last night which made me feel better! got back at 3am lol was fairly tired after thaT! i tell people in the in NZ people go out till about 11 and they think it's hillarious because they don't even leave till around 11! before we went out we just sat around in the flat eating pizza! i think after a while of trying to pay so much attention to people talking in spanish with ridiculous background noise i kinda just give up! XD

Oooooooook well you can probly guess what all these photos are about! lol Halloween! So in NZ Halloween isn't a big thing at all and people don't really care or celebrate it! but here in Spain it's a lot bigger! so on monday i turned up at school in my bright spongebob t-shirt and Maria says to me why aren't you wearing black! hahaha anyways the english department mustered up a costume for me to wear anyways! Wasn't too sure what i thought about halloween but i think really it's alot of harmless fun and that's all anyone really sees it as! anyways we did bobbing for apples and picking lollies out of flour with your mouth games during break! it was lots of fun! then in classes we did things like wordsearches and bingo! kids loved it!

That's about all for now! i am still alive, don't need to worry! Just finished trying to play trivial pursuits in spanish! if the questions weren't hard enough to  understand it's all about spanish things and i'm like WTHeck! who would know this >.< anyways that was a fail! had more fun playing a card game before thaT!

Hope all are well! what's happening on your side of the world? By the way if you look on the right side of this blog you'll be able to see a poll! please vote and let me know your thoughts! And i will leave you with that till next time!