Antonia Banderas

I've got a badge now, as you can see on the picture. Basically we have to wear it at work every day. If not.... You know. It is considered a serious offense if the teachers do NOT wear their badge at work!!

School life here is much more controlled and less independent for the students, it seems. First of all, teachers have to hand in a homework plan to their Head of Department every week! Students who fail to do their homework gets a warning. If they don't do it for the next day, then there's detention. Yes, you heard me: detention. When I think of detention, I think of that film with Antonia Banderas where he was in charge of after school detention and taught them ballroom dancing. Here at Aloha it's kind of different: Detention for senior school students means sitting in silence for half an hour during lunch! And who's supervising the detention? The teachers, of course. Do we get extra paid for that? Oh no. Also, we have to cover for each other in case of absence. No extra pay. And... each teacher has duties three times a week. Such as supervising the yards etc. Wow! Students are rewarded for academic performances every week. Fascinating. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this works. It may actually result in more academically mature pupils. Who knows? The system is really different from Norwegian school life.

The teachers in the English department are lovely! Females only. We are seven teachers, and me and a South African girl are the youngest ones. They're all very sweet, and there seems to be a great culture of sharing teaching material here. Great!

The college was established by parents back in 1982. This morning, the Chairman of the Board held a speech to all the teachers to explain the changes in the management. He, and everyone in the management, really emphasised the role of the parents. They are heavily involved, apparently. Will be exciting to see how this works!

Lisa and I went down to the post office (Correos) after work today to pick up my books. I didn't even realise that I had sent 6 boxes with books and shoes. Oh la la! Had to queue up for about an hour... But we got them at last. Muchos libros! You can see me and all the books outside the abajo entrada to La Maestranza, where I live.

Getting a bank account here is also a challenge! Banks here are open from 8.15 to 14. That makes the opening hours of the Norwegian banks look like heaven:)

So, as soon as I get a bank account (maybe tomorrow morning before work??) I will have my car insured. And then I can actually pick up the car! Wow! People still drive like crazy here, but I'll get a lot of practise on the roads between my home and the college.

Btw, someone asked me why I'm writing this blog in English. The reason is simply that I have to practise my English while I'm living here. After all, I'm a teacher of English, or Profesora de Ingles, as they say:)

Going for a night swim in the pool now. Lovely!

First time

There's been a lot of "first times" this week. First time to work. First time to the beach. First time to the market. First time to the police. And now it's my first Saturday in Spain!

The market: Went to the local market this morning, and what a market! They sold everything you could think of there, and most of it is probably fake. Haha! I tried to control myself, and didn't buy anything but flowers for the terrace. And hey, I bought them IN SPANISH. The man that sold the flowers and the soil ("tierra") didn't understand English, so I had to go on in Spanish. I even asked if the flowers could be out in the sun for long etc. - in Spanish. Felt kind of proud of that. Will do soem gardening this afternoon, and after getting some advice from Jamie earlier today, I feel I have an idea of what to do. Maybe my white fingers will develop into green fingers after all? I promise I'll upload photos once the garden is improved.

The beach: Spent the entire afternoon on the beach in Puerto Banus (oh la la!) with Lisa and Amy after work yesterday. Well, there's just one word that can describe the beaches and Puerto Banus: SNOBBISH!! Wow! Plenty of dishy Carloses and Pedros there as well:) We ended up talking to some English blokes on the beach, and I think it slowly started to sink that we're actually here for work, not for holidaying. Exciting, I must say. And a rather strange feeling.

The police: Isabel (one of the secretaries at Aloha) took all the new teachers down to the local police station yesterday to sort out our NIE numbers. The NIE number is like the Norwegian fødsels- og personnummer. You can't do anything without it. (Well, I'm exaggerating a bit now, cause there's a lot of things you can do, but in order to get a bank account, a mobile phole deal etc., you'll need a NIE number). So with Isael's efficiency (she's been doing this with new teachers for years!) we managed to get it all sorted in an hour and a half, which is quite amazing! I have to admit that waiting in line with people from all over the world made me feel very privileged. Kept thinking of the long lines in front of the UDI in Oslo.... Suddenly I was one of the people waiting in line for a ticket, and then for a place in the queue, and then finally the NIE number. Thanks to Isabel and school for helping us out with this!

The college: Had a great day at the college yesterday, after we returned from the police. All the teachers seem really nice. Havee got a lot of reading to do this weekend. Learning all the school rules and the sanctions is just one aspect of it all. There's just one word that can describe the way this school is organised: DISCIPLINE!! I'll give you a taste of it now, and describe it in detail once I've clearly understood all the aspects of the school rules. Here's a taste:
- exit passes
- homework can be returned if the handwriting is messy
- prefects (makes me think of Harry Potter again!)

The weather: I still love it, although it's hot! Luckily the apartment is quite cold. Every morning when I wake up I think "oh no, it must be sooo cold today", only to find that the weather outside is lovely!

The language: One of my aims for this year is of course to improve my English. And I must admit I feel my English is already becoming more British-like. Some of the other English teachers are really posh in the way they speak, and somehow I do enjoy listening to their lovely English. I also feel very motivated to learn Spanish. Unfortunately my books haven't arrived yet, so I haven't got my Spanish course books here, but I'll definitely work hard on my Spanish. The only challenge is: You can get by with English almost everywhere here. But I don't want to end up like one of the teachers who'd been here 8-10 years and said her Spanish was crap. So here's a promise to Vivian, Solveig, Marisol, Renee and other friends of mine in Norway that speak Spanish: When I come home for Christmas, I will speak Spanish with you! Ok??
!Hablo Español muy bien! Oh yes! (haha...)

This is Lisa in her car yesterday, in Puerto Banus, on our way to the beach:)

First day at Aloha College

Have got a great first impression of Aloha College! Mrs. Elizabeth Batchelor, the new Director of Senior school (Year 7-13) seems great! She used to be director of Junior school. The school buildings are really nice. All the new teachers (one Irish, five from England, and me) met the Directors, the IT people and lots of teachers at Aloha this morning. The other new teachers are nice, and for some (strange?) reason rather British. Had a coffee with two of them after work today; Lisa and Amy. We all live in the same area.

The cutest thing I've learned today is that I'll get my own class room!! I can't believe it! I'm so excited! All the students will come to me, instead of me having to run around the whole school building for different classes, as I'm used to in Norway. So I've got my own class room with my own computer, my own book shelves etc. Fantastic! It is next to the IB Coordinator's office, so I'd better behave very well at all times...

I have also learnt that I'll be teaching six classes, 27 hours per week;
- year 7, 8, 9 (they sit the Cambridge Checkpoint exam by the end of year 9),
- year 10 (IGCSE exams at the end of year 11), and
- year 12 and 13 (IB Diploma - English B - the same syllabus I've been teaching at Berg vgs). They use lots of different terms here: Key Stage 3 (KS3) is the same is year 7-9, Key stage 4 (KS4) is the same as year 10-11, and Sixth Form is the same is the IB Diploma Programme. Confused? I'm not.

Another new thing is the assembly, which I think is held twice a week. Don't know what happens during the assemblies yet. Luckily, they promised that my tutor group (yes, I'll be a form tutor/kontaktlærer/home room teacher) will not be responsible the first couple of weeks. Thank you!! Also, the teachers have lunch in the same cafeteria as the students. And apparently there's a table reserved for us. Wonder if it's like in the Harry Potter films? Ha ha:) Lunch is rather late, from 1.20-2.20. However, someone claimed this was early seeing as we're in Spain.

So life in Spain is still good. I'm excited about all the new things I experience every day.

The LAW in Spain and other things

Life in Spain is good!!!

Today I went for a walk up to the college where I will be teaching. Tomorrow morning there will be a meeting with the new director of senior school (Mrs. Elizabeth Batchelor) and the new teachers, and seeing as I'm a control freak (at least according to my dentist and some of my friends...) I thought I'd better find my way up there today so I don't have to rush tomorrow morning(the meeting starts at 10am). It is a nice walk, about 25 minutes.

On my way up to Aloha College I saw plenty of extremely fashionable houses!! Sometimes I felt as if I was walking up a grande version of Wisteria Lane. There were gardeners everywhere. Big, fancy cars. Houses that look like mansions. So I guess I will be teaching kids who live in this area. Interesting! (Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera.)

So apparently there's a lot of paper work that must be done before I can pick up the car. Insurance, insurance, insurance. Taxes etc. Doesn't look very promising, but I'll prioritise getting settled at Aloha first of all. People tell me I should read a book called The Law in Spain before I do anything else that involves the Spanish authorities! Interesting. I'm definitely not the first foreigner moving to Spain.

On my way to Aloha I found a news agent that sold both the law in Spain-book, and a copy of today's morning edition of Aftenposten for 4,50 EUROS (37 NOK). How interesting! They also sold VG, something which made me kind of embarrassed. But hey, that's life, isn't it?

This picture shows the communal areas outside my apartment. Looks nice nice, doesn't it? (Will upload more pictures as soon as I learn how to make a slideshow.)

I will soon go to the big pool. Have learnt that there are less people there in the afternoon. Nevertheless, the sun is still very strong, and the water is amazingly comfortable!

On Saturday morning I will go to a market in somewhere nearby where I live and maybe buy a few flowers for my garden. Hihi:)

Garden diva with green fingers?

I think I may develop green fingers while living in Spain!! I've got a lovely veranda outside my bedroom and living room. It is fitted with brown terracotta tiles, and looks really nice.












Well, it looks like shit right now, but I'll upgrade it. I promise! So, to document the upcoming improvement, I've added some pictures taken this morning after cleaning the plastic furniture. According to the real estate agent (Jamie) there's even some basil plants in there. Wow!

The whole apartment complex is really nice, and well taken care of. Some ladies were cleaning the "streets" this morning. Their outfit reminded me of what I had to wear when working as a nurse assistant at Hjemmet for Døve.

You need a key to get inside the apartment complex, and all the doors are fitted with security things (don't know what it's called in English). I'll just totally ignore the resemblance to a prison...
There's 24 hours security here, and everything seems very much in order.

People are nice and friendly, and I'm surprised to see the amount of British people here! Incredible!

Estoy en España - dias numero 1

I'm here!!! My first blog entry from Spain. Now! Have just had a nice dinner at a local cafe. The cafe also offers free internet access, so I guess I'll visit this place quite often...

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the experiences I've had the last couple of days, and now I'm suddenly here! It's incredibly lovely to finally be here, and be ready to get on with my new life here in Spain.
- The flat is lovely! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms,
- Jamie (the real estate agent and as of now my only friend here) is kind and helpful and funny
- The weather is fantastic
- The taxi driver was crazy - he reached 150 km/h, and those of you who have had a lift with me will know that I'll match the Spanish way of driving "just fine"..... (haha!) He also offered me a chewing gum. Strange guy.
- The apartment complex is nice and kind of Spanish
- There are British people everywhere
- The local supermarket seems to be a Spanish copy of a tiny Tesco (for those of you who've been to the UK with me...)

So, life is good down here in Spain!
Have had some rather emotional goodbyes the last 24 hours, so now it's good to be here and open up a new chapter of the book of my life:)

Will write more later.

Hola España! Ciao Oslo!

I've said my goodbyes, packed my suitcases (in plural, unfortunately...), sent off all my books (50 kilos), bought a new laptop, played with my niece and nephew in Frognerparken, packed my formal clothes, and now (I think) I'm ready for Spain! So, in twelve hours I'll be on the plane, actually. I'm ready!! Bring it on! :)

Five days to go

I'm moving to Spain in five days. Wow, it's really starting to sink in now, the fact that in a week I won't be here in Oslo. I will be in Spain. This is my dream come true: working in another country, in an English-speaking environment!! :)

Vivian had invited me for dinner last Friday, and I turned up at 7pm as promised, scruffy-looking and exhausted. And what a great dinner!! She had invited lots of friends to a surprise-farewell-party in her back yard! I didn't know anything about it, and was totally taken by surprise!! A perfect night and a great memory:) Thank you so much!

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous, and to be honest, I'm not nervous. Yet. I'm sure it will change once I arrive in Spain, but I will manage! My greatest concern now is all the books I'd like to bring. As of now, I've got 40 kilos of books waiting to be shipped down to Spain.. And there's more to come...

My to do-list is much shorter now, and one big issue that is sorted out is the flat at Etterstad. I moved out on Sunday, and thanks to Cathrine, the cleaning process went ok: we spent only 4,5 hours cleaning! Thank you:) Can't even think about what time I would've been done if I'd have to do it alone.