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:)