After a huge kerfuffle in the Madrid airport, not being able to board the plane because of suposed "missing" documents, me saying i had my plane ticket from Hong Kong to Auckland which is all i needed, but all the time the guy was meaning my return plane ticket from Auckland, which of course does not exist. Carrying a Dutch passport i can understand the confusion, but showing him my NZ residents visa made him sweat!!!!! All that time for nothing.......... at least he upgraded me to business class.
Though i had only 2 minutes to say goodbye to Susi, us both in tears. Complete ratshit if you ask me. Here comes 2008.......
Anyway, got home, finally!!! Dad picked me up, and all was sweet, went to my job interview within 2 hours in Auckland, and got the EF job!! Yay!!! So i´ll be visiting Hamiltron schools in the near future promoting a high school year overseas!! I have a few other jobs in the pipeline also, hopefully!! (http://www.ef.co.nz/master/hsy/index_asia.asp)
The photo is taken from an old bike in Amsterdam, i have just put up a lot of new photos, mostly scanned ones from an old olympus film camera that i have from my grandmother. i´ve really enjoyed using it!!
Into the second week at uni, and things are looking good so far!!
Do i really need to use this anymore?
Please comment........
Travelling, Part 2
Last Few Days On The Other Side Of The World
Mid june: I finished up teaching my 70 or so rascals, and my last 2 weeks were converted into holidays with a fantastic end-of-contract bonus. I wanted to spend my last weeks lazing on the beach, but typical Basque weather set in and it rained nearly everyday. Bummer.
Slowly I packed up my beautiful room, taking many memories off the wall, and carefully stuffing them into my bulging hiking pack. Luckily i had taken back a bunch of thinkgs at Easter, but even so, i had to leave a lot of clothes/things behind, and send a few packages also.
I left my flat on Friday morning, rather hungover from the farewell party the night before - my last time seeing my friends!!! Took a plane with Susi and Gema to Madrid, where Susi and i stayed the night with her cousin Vanessa and María José. We all went out that night....
Coincidence would have it that it was the European Gay Pride Festival that weekend, and the place, namely Chueca (Madrids gay suburb) was packed!!! We all had so much fun drinking on the terraces and watching a concert and absorbing the nightlife in general. A shame that we missed out on the huge parade the next day!
On Saturday Susi and i went to Segovia, 2 hours from Madrid in train, for our final opportunity for time together relaxing. We had a beautiful hotel - a mini palace with cool views and a patio restaurant in the middle. Another unplanned coincidence was that that weekend was a Segovia Folk Festival, so we had devine music wafting up into our room, and various concerts spread out around the city. Segovia itself is precious, with a big and tall Roman aquaduct, a huge cathedral, and enormous fortressed castle with (empty) moat included!! We were there 2 nights, and it was an enchanting and unforgettable few days alone. If only it could have lasted forever.
Went back to Madrid on monday, and all too quickly, Tuesday the 3rd of July 2007 arrived. The day I´d been dreading for nearly 2 years suddenly loomed upon me and swallowed me whole.
Though I almost wasn´t allowed on the plane......more of that in part 2.
I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport at the moment, and my laptop is about to dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
See you all tomorrow.....................................................
Janine
On My Way Home
| Well, this is my last night in Spain. I´m staying with some spanish friends, and tomorrow afternoon my plane leaves for Amsterdam, then to Hong Kong the next day, and the friday morning I´m HOMEEEEEEEEEEEE. I don´t have time to be pensive about all this at the moment, i want to get it over and done with, and come home. But at the same time no, i want to stay here and enjoy everything all over again. Sigh. Time to check for dangerous items/liquid bottles over 100ml etc etc crap in my luggage. I do appologise for not keeping the world more informed of my comings and goings. What i will tell you, and later on show you in photos, is that i am very much in love and it tears me apart to leave here. I don´t want to think about tomorrow. But i do want to think about friday (i have a job interview that day even!). Ya veremos. tq guapa. mucho. The fantastic "Janine In Spain" (soy super chula) |
World Map
Counting down the days, half wanting to, half not wanting to. 27 days until my feet are on solid ground, sweet NZ. 24 days until I leave Spain, I don´t want that day to come......
Photo Time
Went to Barcelona the other weekend because susi had won tickets for the Gran Prix Formula One racing. We went supporting Fernando Alonso from Spain, of course. I didn´t go on race day because she went with her sister, but i went to the saturday timed races, which was loud and interesting!!! I took sunday to walk around ALL of barcelona and snap up a few photos, using my mums/grandma´s camera, as shown in the photo. My three companions for the day were my cameras and my ipod! Such a nice hot day!!! Unfortunately Fernando came in 3rd.
Apart from that... not much has been happening here.... preparing for exams in the academy. Of my 70 students, i´d say that 50-60 will pass their exams. I´ll give you the details when they do them in 2 weeks. I finish work soon!!!! after today and tomorrow, i have 3 weeks to go!!!! and the last week is watching videos and playing games, so i´m pretty happy about that!!! we recently went to an english teachers conference here in bilbao, so i am armed to my teeth with games to play... phrasal verbs, irregular verbs, 1st,2nd,3rd conditionals.... does this make any sense to you??? hehehe.
looking forward to starting B semester in july, 2 papers, one of which is internet based, and i´ll have to get around to sorting out my 499 investigation paper also.
well. we said goodbye to ceci, our flatmate, yesterday, she´s off to bolivia. gema had her 27th birthday last week (we made a great cake!). markel and brandon are back in spain now and will be meeting them for the first time in ages tonight. i have started getting a little, slight tan. the weather here is a little crap, tho should get better soon. willoughby my brother is living it up in wyoming, arkansas, anywhere where there is a storm in the USA!!! he´s there storm chasing, and judging by his photos, is having a great time!!!
I´m here only another 40 days. will go now to make the most of it :-)
love you all
your favourite Kiwi
English Essay
Mark could never imagine that this telephone call would change his life forever.....
When Mark Lewis Harlinton Stone pick his small and beautifull phone, heard a lot of strange voices and noises, one of them the highest and strongest one said:
- Hello, my name is Katty, I´m 23 years old, my boyfrien is Eden, I´ve two brothes, I live in Furniture Street in the number three but I´ll change my house and I´m going to kill you!!
Two days later:
Mark Lewis Harlinton Stone was smiling, however he had lived his two last days closed and horrified in the toilet.
When he went out of the toilet the phone rang again and Mark run towards his neighbour home who was cleaning the flor and it was wet. Just in that moment Mark slided and fell dow to the flor. Inmediately arrives an ambulance which took him to the hospital in wich dead.
Cristian, 14.
Where do i begin to correct?????
Tokyo
Well, after a calm, relaxing week in Hamilton, with a visit to Rotorua to see Nan, though not going too far due to the injections that i needed for my back (now its much better). The hot air balloons were ... non existant, though i did try to see them! Even the dawn raid didn´t happen which i got up for especially for. But anyway, bad weather at the end of the week prevented them from flying.
I left the 14th for Tokyo, for a one night stop over, which was way too quick. With so much to see, it was a shame to have to miss the main stuff. In the end i was only there from 5pm (arrived at the hostel at 7pm), until the next morning when i left the Ueno train station at 8am. I slept, though not much.
Arrived, armed with my little page of Japanese phrases (to remind me, which i was surprised at how much i remembered) i set out to discover Tokyo. My hostel was really cool, it had traditional japanese tatami mats (take your shoes off etc), and a japanese feel to it. Even a futon mattress! Tho in bunkbed style. Left there but only had time before the metro closed to grab a bite to eat, a sanwich, and look around one district a little bit. I chose the big lights of Ginza, Tokyo´s most expensive street full of electronics. Not that many people about, it was a saturday night, tho early in the night and i suppose there weren´t any clubs or anything around. Went back to the hostel and grabbed some noodle pasta stuff (japanese food) and ate it happily before falling asleep rapidly.
Woke up super early, not wanting to waste time sleeping (plenty of time in the plane later on), and went to Ueno park, next to the train station i needed. It was a really beautiful park, apart from the homeless people wandering around, really rich with nature and religion. I liked it a lot. Ate my breakfast happy with japans infamous cherry blossoms in view. Really surreal to think after having studied japanese for almost 10 years, that there i was!!!! I wasn´t able to absorb it all, it was sooooo different to what i´m used to, and differente to what i expected also. Actually, i´m not quite sure what i expected.
Had a good flight, watched 5 movies in 10.5 hours (from Auckland to Tokyo i watched 4), and only had 45 mins in Amsterdam airport (Schiphol).... ah, which was delayed for another hour (thereby making me miss my bus from Madrid to Bilbao that night...). Arrived home at 7am, monday the 16th, straight to bed (for 3 hours...... then i had to get up to go to work and prepare my classes for that afternoon!!!
Now things are back to normal. I´m settled back in. I like my life here, i also adore my life in hamilton. We´ll see how i adjust to the permanent move in july.... until then, i´m gonna enjoy myself here!!!!
adiossssssssss
lots of kisses in the direction of NZ --- for everyone there. I had a fantastic time and i thankyou very much for welcoming me again ... what a surprise!!!
Janine
Afterthought
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
.~.
Beaches
We've had some brilliant weather, i bought a new dress and here i am showing it off. i didn't get cold during the whole day, though i didn't get int o the water.
Here we are in a little bay next to Waihi, got there after a 30 minute walk with Hamish, Renelle and Ellie. My back held up so I'm thankful for that!
Raglan the other day with Mum Willoughby and Erica was also a great treat, followed by fish 'n' chips which brought back memories!!!
I'm going through at least 1 V (an energy drink) a day. its good stuff, i'm gonna load it up in my suitcase!!!!
There has been lots of lazing around. Read Whitehorn by Bryce Courtenay, good book, though a very disappointing ending. I expected better, i wanted The Power Of One type stuff, but never eventuated.
Off to bed now, going shopping tomorrow :-)
buenas noches mi amor, eres mi cielo
Surprise......
Just on holiday, just for Easter!
My ticket got into a use or loose it situation, and so here I am in tshirt weather enjoying being with friends, family, and familiar haunts. Really weird to be here....... hard to explain.
Its not reverse culture shock, because even though its my hometown, i feel like a tourist discovering things again.... like the Hilly tavern being ripped down, The Base, a whole load of new buses, mums completely new house, renovations on dads house, renelles new house, not as many people here, no boyfriend, no bike, mums new boyfriend, uni modifications........... so many things. I guess adjusting in July when i start B semester will be trickier.
I had a lovely afternoon in London on my way here (also went via South Korea) with my cousin Eduard from Holland and Irene from NZ, and London put on fantastic weather. Perfect for cruising in a convertible past Buckingham Palace, and walking around Big Ben, the Thames, The London Eye (tho unfortunately no time to go on it), and getting a really rushed but interesting tour of inner London. I enjoyed it inmensly, I can't wait to go there again in June for 5 days for a proper look.
So I'm chilling at home now, have already bumped into quite a few people, and looking to take it easy.
I miss Spain.
Y te echo de menos mucho tambien mi cielo, ya nos vemos, te quiero muchisimo. mil besos y mas.
Janine
Petra, The Rose Red City
*clears throat*
Not quite, but I like the photo, I took it in Oviedo, Asturias, where I went for the day with Gema, Juan (her bf), and Susi. (Ok, I admit I played with it in photoshop...)
Apart from that excursion, I haven´t been doing much. Just finished today photocopying 96 exams...... they will be fun to mark on Monday/Tuesday!!! Sigh.... and then the reports........ nooooooooooooooo!!!!! At least the 2nd term is coming to an end. And thankgoodness there is only 1 more term to go!! Yupiiii!!!
Spring is starting, tho we´ve just had a dumping of snow on the hills around the area, nothing here in Getxo though!!! q putada! Can´t wait for the warmer weather that Easter should bring.
I´ve been throwing myself into a lot of photography lately, and digital retouching also. I love it. It helps also that its Susi´s field of speciality. Although I´ve done everything on my own its nice to have an eye over my shoulder. If only I was able to save up for a digital SLR, but living here is so expensive!!!!
Life as usual around here.....
Whats up over there???????????
xxooxx
This Is Bilbao
Had the anniversary in mid February which was nice, the photo here is from where we stayed in a cute hotel above Bilbao.
Don´t know what more to say.......... life goes by.
I wouldn´t say my life at the moment is boring, but its not the most thrilling thing in the world.... reports, exams to come.....
Getting up at 7am to go to therapy with my legs isn´t pleasant, but at least they´re getting a bit better. Not as much pain, but still poor on the range i can move.
And, well, nothing more. Its Las Fallas these days in Valencia, and i wish i was there again with all the Fallas and the fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire!!!!!
Ciao
S, t q y sé q m q tb. Vale la pena.
2 + 2 = 22!
According to some spaniards, this is the birthday of the two swans, seeing as the number 2 looks like a swan. Anyway.....
I don´t feel that old..... and i can´t believe that i came here to Spain when I was 20........ I have grown in so many ways thats its impossible to share them with you here, which is what i had intended to share now. but i sit here infront of the computer and the page is still empty, its something very surreal, to realise that i´ve grown so much yet not be able to say how.
Has been the coldest days of the year recently, hitting the minuses. No snow in Getxo which i´m disappointed about, but i can see it on the foothills around me.
well, time to cut the cake now...!!
love from your favourite girl overseas
Janine
High Cuisine
The 6th of January was the day that the 3 Kings (3 Wise men) give their gifts to the Spanish children, its like Sinterklaas in Holland on the 6th of December, and this is when we interchanged presents here in our flat and it was really special. I got some gorgeous heart shaped silver earings with a triskel on it (the celtic symbol of asturias) from susi.
Just had the 1st week back at work, and it was pretty good, though by Friday i was pretty tired. Saturday came around and it was a big piss-up with my saturday morning teachers during the night! We went to a very very expensive restaurant and had the chef cooking right infront of us! very nice japanese/chinese food, and for the first time in a while i went out with english speakers!!!
Our new flatmate arrived today, she is from Bolivia (so speaks spanish) and has been studying in Arkansas. She seems really cool so we´ll have a good time the 4 of us in our apartment.
Sigh, Monday tomorrow!
Kisses to all
Welcome To 2007
Passing by in the New Year, the Old Port of Algorta, with roaring waves and a beautiful sunset.A few days before New Years I went to a concert in Madrid of a group called Fito & Fitipaldis. Great music, though the 4 hour drive down, then 5 hours back up at 3am in the morning was a killer! And we went knowing that the concert was sold out (15,000+ people) without tickets. We bought some off people for thier face value (tho had people offering us double), and went inside. The 4 of us that went (Mari & Mari José & José (yeah, the real names)) all had different seating arrangements on the tickets, but José who worked there managed to get us onto the floor (you needed floor tickets (which we didn´t have) to get there). Very cool concert (but you can´t beat Coldplay.....).
Spent New Years in the bars but before that, at 00:00, the fireworks went off. And wow, that was loud. I´m not talking about spectacular fireworks like you´d see in London or Sydney or Hamilton even, but i´m talking about homemade fireworks designed for one purpose only - NOISE. <<-- (my phone camera video!) It was like a war zone!! And it went on for 25 minutes, then sporadically through the night until 8am which was when I went to bed. A good night!
So now i´m enjoying the last week of my holidays, I start again with my students on monday. Not looking forward to it really.............
Until then, I hope you have all recovered from your hangovers :-)