A Very Happy Birthday!

Hey people!

So something that has recently happened is my Birthday! never celebrated my birthday outside of my country and away from family! (that i can remember) so it was a little unnerving not knowing what i was gona do for i but nonetheless i had a super fantastic one!

Really my Bday celebrations started on Wednesday! i meet up with my friend Marta and we went to Nueva Condimina! Murcia's largest shopping center which i've been looking forward to going to for aaaaaaaages! and after 2 months i have now officialy been there! it was really nice! Marta surprised me and gave me a very cool One Piece figurine for my bday and some pictures!

Anyways at the Mall we went to the cinemas to see In Time! was an alright movie! i suppose it would have been better if it were in english! i understood what was going on in the movie but some parts completely went over my head! XD the movies seem cheap! was something like 6.50! but then when i went to buy refreshments i was a little shocked! i asked for 2 regular cokes and the lasy was like 12euros and i was like serious? 6euros for a drink? then she told me i could get a combo with popcorn and 2 drinks for 11euro and i was like that's better! hahaha anyways i had such a fun time and really enjoyed it!

 Proof that i was there! hahahaha XD

Ok part 2 really happened on thursday (my actual bday) but started on wed! while i was at the movies i got a text from Maria asking if i could come early to the english dept meeting so we could have a private carol session for teachers so was like yup cool! then in the morning i turned up a little too early and got sent away at the door and was like hmmmmmm that was weird hahaha but anyways i went to print off some christmas carol sheets for everyone! then when i go back they all gave me a surprise when i walked into a room with lots of smiling faces, cake and candles! i was sooooo stoked! and they all gave me a beautiful jersey to keep warm this winter! hahahahaha then i actually asked: "So we're not gona sing Christmas Carols?" hahahahahaha Ooooooooh Dear >.<

All my classes after that were really nice! one class gave me a Card for my birthday, Lot's of classes sang happy birthday to me (which was rather embarrasing) and then everyone wished me a happy birthday which was awesome! Also when i checked my FB and tuenti i had A LOT of birthday messages which was really nice! it made my day! And an awesome friend drew me a picture from a book series i've recently read! :D

My flatmates and i were suppose to go out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate but one of my flatmate's dad had an accident and they had to go home for the weekend! so that was all g! we've decided we will do something this wednesday instead, and also to say farewell to Mariavi (another flattie) who is leaving to Portugal!

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!

A week of Activity

Hello lovely people! long time no see!

Well really not that long but people have been requesting i update my blog and what better time to do it then now! i have had a full on week this week and have been doing lots of different things! there is much to tell and i fear i've probly forgetton some of it! but bear with me!

Let's start at the beginning of the week! this week i only had 2 days of classes!!! hahah was super stoked! classes are good but at times i freak out if i don't know what i'm suppose to be doing! anyways i have now obtained the email addresses of all the teachers i will be working with so i can email them and see what the go is! the key to teaching is being prepared! preperation preperation preperation! i'm sure some of you may all ready know that! i may have mentioned it before but i prefer older classes! simply because the younger classes have lower level english and it's a mish trying to communicate in english without speaking spanish! But i have to say i love the younger classes enthusiasm! they're so excited all the time (maybe not about learning) but at least they have no fear in asking questions and giving things a go! that i love! the older classes understand everything alot better but don't want to talk so it's like Come on guys!!!!!! get excited would ya! XD

This week in one class we did a listening excercise and the kids had to fill in the missing words to a song! cry me a river by justin timberlake. Of course i knew it and half the girls did but otherwise it was fairly unfamiliar XD so this week i am going to do a similar exercise but with a nz song! so should be really fun! :D

Moving on! on Wednesday was Columbus day! the day that Christopher Columbus arrived in America! But here in Spain it is celebrated as Dia de Hispanidad! and thus everyone gets a day off! so i was stoked with that! So wednes day night i went out with my flatmate Juan and a couple of his friends and we drove around in a car to park some random place on the other side of Murcia and we looked for a certain bar place that was suppose to be near the Plaza de Toros and we finally found it so we got hot drinks and i have to say hot chocolate is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay different here! Unlike the NZ version of hot chocolate the spanish version actually adheres to it's name! Literally just Hot Chocolate! XD lovely thick melted chocolate! but thankfully it comes in a smaller cup cause i don't think i could handle a big mug full XD then after that we all went in searc of 'Billar' or Pool! we found 1 place but it was busy and by this time is was getting late so we decided to head back to the car! In all honesty i think it might have been quicker to walk back to our flat! because we got hopelessly lost, which seems to be a normal thing for me lately >.<

When we got back to the flat, a friend of our flatmate Mariavi had broken down outside, seemed like a flat battery! i was just like hang! i'm so glad i don't have to worry about that! XD

Ok so Thursday! Well on thursday i had another orientation! this time it was just for language assistants in Murcia! you know there are far more of us then i ever expected! in Murcia alone there has to be at least 50+ Anyways this time i went with Maria! So that was good! they talked alot about things i already know so it was long winded! But on our break we joined up with a bunch of other teachers and another language assistant and went for drinks and toast! was sooooooooo nice! hahaha even toast is different here! We had it with like blended tomato paste then you cover it with oil and salt! amazing!

I think this might be a good point to talk about english here in Murcia! Ok so by no means do alot of people speak it but it's far more spoken then spanish is in New Zealand! English is a cumpolsory subject for like 4 years! so most peoeple will be able to say a few things and help you out! they run at my school and alot of others bilingual programs! which is what i'm involved in! so all their classes are given by teachers who speak english to them! and i'm like flip! no wonder the english level is so much better then spanish in NZ! Even after my studies at uni my spanish was soooooo lacking!

Ok moving on! ready for some pictures? :D thought i'd put in some pictures of typical food here! but by no means is this anywhere near all they have here! just a snipet

 A Bocadillo! Spanish style sandwich

 Chorizo - Here pronounced Choritho XD bet you've never seen it like this before? Oooooh it's so tasty!

 Here in Murcia they are know for their Jamon - Ham

 I think i might have talked about this already but this is Ensalada Murciana! Murcian Salad! Other then the boiled eggs omgosh i love it! :D

 Another one of my favourites! These are pasteles de carne! Meat pies! but not like any meat pie from NZ! hahaha

 Pickled herring! And here they have everything with lemons which is fine by me! love it!

Pickled Olives! yum! So it would seem the spanish are almost fearful of spicy food! some1 told me to be careful because something i was about to eat was spicy but it wasn't hardly spicy at all XD but they love their salty food! and i'm just like Yus! :D

No prize for guessing what these are! or why they are here! hahah XD Chips! everyone keeps telling me not to say Papas! they are Patatas Fritas! >.< but you'd eat these with lemon juice, olives, herrings etc

Tortilla de Patatas - Litterally just a potato omlet kinda thing!

omgosh after all that i'm hungry!!!!! XD

Where were we? Ok moving on to Friday! Fridays i get off because all my classes have been scheduled for mon-thurs! Stoked! :D anyways i went out and joined a bunch of the teachers after school for a drink (don't worry i don't drink alcohol) and a bite to eat! Was really cool! enjoyed just sitting there chatting! not that i understood alot >.< ok so i'm warming up to the accent but there's still alot that i plain don't know which can make things hard! if some1 is talking to me it's not too bad i can understand them! in groups it's alot harder following the conversation! i can pick up the general gist of what's happening like they'll be talking about a movie or something but i'm really bad at picking out the subject! like what is the movie they're talking about! but i'm learning! little by little!

I'm afriad the pics are rather limited this entry! i wish i had taken my camera with me everywhere but alas i didn't XD Last nights, being saturday i meet up with a friend to go to church! hahaha i think we finally arrived over an hour later, after getting well lost some1 came to pick us up in the end! Thank goodness i didn't try getting there by myself! Church was really cool! i'm gutted we missed out on the singing tho >.<

Anyways that's about it for this week! Hope you are all doing well! Love to hear from you all!

P.S

Good job All Blacks! :D

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!