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!

1 Week Anniversary

Heeeeeeey All!

Well as the title suggests today marks my 1st week anniversary here in Murcia! so what better way to celebrate then to update this blog and let you know a bit about what has happened! Warning: i have a feeling this is going to be a long entry >.<

Let's start with school shell we? Well i have now meet all my classes! the school system is a little different here so at times i'm confused! they have what's called ESO which is compulsory secondary school which i think is from 12-15 and then Bachillerato which is 16-18 but we teach both at Miguel Espinosa! The school runs a bilingual programme so 2 classes from each year level have to have all there classes in both english and spanish so about have the teachers there have some degree of english! I'm blessed to be at Miguel Espinosa! it's by no means a wealthy or modern school but the teachers are all very kind and friendly! OMgosh i don't think anything could have prepared me for spanish kids tho! Maybe it's just been a while since i've been in school but they all seem very loud and noisy! i suppose they're just super excited about learning! XD

Some of my classes prepared me beautiful cards welcome me to Spain and Murcia! it was very nice surprise and they made me feel very welcome! I hate to be biast but i have to say my favourite class is 2nd Bach (bachillerato) which is my last class on thursdays! They are the oldest class and obviously are the best behaved! Also they are alot closer to my own age and are very interested in what i have to say! Because you don't usually eat lunch until after school here and our class finished after 3 a couple students and the teacher brought some beautiful spanish food to eat! i have to say, other then the eggs i am reaaaaaaally loving spanish food! it's so delicious! i just wish i knew what half of the stuff was called >.< A typical food here is Murcian salad which is tuna, boiled eggs, olives and canned tomatoes! really nice and they are dessert specialists here! lol :D

Moving on! at school on thrusday morning we had a english department meeting! and as english is compulsary at a highschool of 450 students there are alot more english teachers then say spanish teachers in a NZ highschool! so i thought it was pretty crazy when 4 were speaking at once! when that happens in a group everything just turns to noise to me! that's one of the hardest parts of a new langauge! i was talking to some1 who has been learning english for 20 years and they say they still don't understand what's going on when more then 1 person is talking.

But then! if i thought that was bad yesterday (friday) we had a party for all the new teachers at Miguel Espinosa! i had completely forgotten and looked like such a retard when i got a text from Maria asking me where i was?! i felt soooo bad but i quickly got up and promptly rushed to school to join the party! there was alot of nice food there and was very cool to meet people! but like i say i barely understood anything! i was like WHAT is going on! o.O

Another very exciting part of my week was applying for my NIE which is a foreigner identification number! because the visa that i spent so much effort getting is only valid for 60 days >.< but anyways a girl called Irene from my school drove me to the office for foriegners and helped me out! i was soooooo glad she was there to explain things to me because it was sooo complicated and stressful! i had to go see sooooo many people and wait in lines and talk with people at different desks! Then i got my NIE but had to also apply for a TIE which is a special card for foreigners, so we were just about to do that and had everything ready when the guy told us my passport photos were too big! and i was like really? so we raced around to some random shop to get some new ones because the guy told us to hurry! we raced back and the guy gave us a number to meet with another person and said we were the last people to be processed so that was incredibly lucky! long story short i got my NIE and processed everything for my TIE which i will need to return in 40 days to pick up!

Yesterday i went to open a bank account! which by the way is NOT easy! i wonder if it's just as difficult for foreigners in NZ? anyways i finally got that open with my passport, my NIE and my letter from the ministry of education of Spain! so i have a card coming soon and alo internet access! or at least i hope so XD but there is a CajaMurcia (my new back) just around the corner! and i have now sent all my details to the ministry to recieve my pay! let's hope it comes a lot earlier then planned! :D

That's about it for now! I went out with my friend Marta again around Murcia, visited an art store and bought a sketch book! ^^ also visited yet another manga store! stoked! lol :D Here are a couple pictures for you all!

 Corte Ingles! this is like their main department store here! none of the shops here are the same except like BK and no1 can believe i've never heard of any of there shops lol

 Swing bridge to walk over the Segura River

 The 'Old Bridge' lol what a name! XD

 Marta and I! gosh don't we look happy! >.<

 A small market in Murcia

 Manga Store

 Do you see that Green! :D

A statue in the Plaza de Flores - the flower square! for a rather dry place i have seen some very impressive flowers for sale!



A Career in Teaching

Heeeeeeeeeeey all! I know how much you desperately await my blog updates so here is another one for ya’ll! And the great news is that it is coming to you from my own internet! Wooooooooooo! Everything has been setup! It’s a great comfort just knowing that I can contact friends and family from back home! I do miss you all!

First of all! I’m going to have to apologize that there will be no photos in this blog entry! I’m gona run out of things to take pics of really quickly! Hahaha I’m sure I can find stuff! I’ll try make this entry quick! It’s 11pm and I’m tired!

Ok a couple things to write to you about! Firstly let’s talk about the time here and my general life from now on! It seems here that everything is done later! I.e. you get up late, you eat late and you go to bed late! Hahaha which suits me pretty good really! Hard to adjust to at first but I understand the reasoning behind it all! Here it’s still light out late into the night so anything before 9pm they call the afternoon here! I get up and eat breakfast at around 9 then lunch is around 2-4pm and then dinner around 9-10 and bed should be around 12-1 but lately I go early cause I’m tired!

Here is the time rule for people in NZ! Take your time and add 1 hour! That’s where I am but the other end of the day! For example in NZ it is 8pm, so add 1 hour = 9pm and that’s where I am but the other end of the day so 9am! Easy right? But it can be super annoying being at opposite times of the day cause it’s hard to talk!

Anyways I want to back track a little to my journey from Madrid to Murcia which I forgot to tell you about which were the windmills I saw! They were incredible! Literally hundreds of windmills spread out across the country side and we drove right down the middle of them all! They were so awesome! I wish I were sitting on a window seat so I could have taken some pics for you all! Suppose it’s not that exciting but there were soooooooo many! :D

So far Murcia is a great city! I like it a lot and am slowly getting to know it! I think I’ve done more walking in the last week around Murcia than ever before! You’d be proud of me! Although every day I am sooooooo worn out!

Murcia is a rather hot place! And now I understand why they all tell me it’s a desert! Lol so yesterday I went out at 5pm (afternoon) and it was still 31C and then last night just before I went to sleep it was 27C in my room! So the heat can be fairly intense here! Our classes at school swelter without air conditioning! One lady told me today that just last week they had 38C so I’m relieved I’ve come just in time for autumn! ^^ another thing that has been rather strange for me is the smell around town! At times it smells like you’re walking past an open sewer line! I think it must be the heat and it’s like woah! That was yuk! XD

Ok so the main part of this entry is to tell you a little bit about my school! So a 20 min walk will put me right at Miguel Espinosa! My new school! I have about 9 different classes which is about 225+ students so hang if I can remember all the names and that’s with about 8 different teachers! I had my first day yesterday and I am teaching kids between 12-15 and their knowledge of English in some cases is veeeery little! I’ve only has 4 of my 8 classes so I haven’t meet everyone yet! So far I’ve been giving the slide show presentation that I prepared and answering questions! The students are very excited and extremely noisy! Hahhaha but they are all very happy to have me! Today when I came to a class they all applauded me which was very cool! And had written me welcome cards! :’D

Most of their questions are along the lines of do you like Spain? Do you like Murcia? Do you have a girlfriend? Do you like soccer? Do I support Real Madrid? Do you speak Spanish? Lol etc.!

I do prefer the older classes because they are more controlled and they speak English better! I have to tell all the students that I don’t know a word of Spanish! And sometimes it’s really hard because they’ll yell out things in Spanish and I’ll understand perfectly fine but have to pretend like I don’t! and I have to be careful not to say anything is Spanish which is pretty easy to do when everything else is in Spanish! XD

The other exciting news is I meet up with my friend from Spain Marta! It was really cool catching up! Hahaha maybe it’s just me but all the girls I know here honestly speak at the speed of light! But I get the gist of the overall conversation, still doing my best to pick up that Murcian accent! >.< we found a store that had a piano in it and I was so excited but then there was a sign that said do not touch and I was like stuuuuuuuuuuuuupid! But I shell go commandeer the one at my school sometime! :D some1 said something bout me playing Christmas carols and I was like hmmmmm yea I dunno, you know who I feel bout Christmas carols! Hahahha jokes! You couldn’t keep me away if you tried! :D

The other great thing you’ll be excited to know if I have found the Manga shop here in Murcia! Aaaaaaaaaaah it was awesome! Lots of Spanish manga! I think it’s a lot more known here and popular then NZ! Quite a few of my students like it which is cool!

Finally to cap it all off I found a store that sells salt and vinegar chips! My happiness level went up bout about 10! Was really sad with the range of chips they have in Spain! Not a strong point but at least now I’ll have salt and vinegar chips to remind me of home! Ooooooooh and another thing is the Fanta orange here looks waaaaaaaaay more like actual orange juice then fluorescent orange liquid! Also they have Fanta lemon which is my favourite!

Still have a terrible cough which isn’t going away! Appreciate your prayers! :D