Hola amigos!
So, December, and 2012, are drawing to a close and I have recently passed the 3 month and 100 day marks here in Spain. Christmas was so different here than it is with my family in Canada. Some things like a big family meal were similar, but most things were different. Christmas was a very difficult time, as it is very important in my family and it is one of the few times of the year I get to see everyone. My host family, immediate and extended, is amazing. Yesterday Arthur (host brother) and I returned from 2 days in Valencia with his cousin and her boyfriend. The cousin is around 55 ish and the same for the boyfriend, and apparently they come every year around Christmas. It was so much fun, we saw the beautiful buildings of La Ciudad de Las Artes Y Ciencias, the huge park in the city, the main plazas, and of course, the beach. Never have I seen such beautiful architecture.
I move families in a little over a week, which I am both sad and excited about. I love my current family, they have been so great to me, but at the same time I will be happy to live with an all Spanish family and really get the language drilled into my head some more. I think I will still keep in touch with my first family though, maybe have lunch with them once every week or two.
Well friends, it is 4am and tomorrow is New Years Eve so I need my beauty sleep. Feliz año and felices fiestas a todos! Os quiero, besos!
Friday, 30 December 2011
Friday, 25 November 2011
Sorry Blogland!!
Hey there Users of the Interweb!!
I apologize for not updating my blog lately, but I am going to do my best to do it more regularily from now on.
So I have been in Spain for almost 10 weeks now and life is... life. It is incredible how much everything changes over a few months. When I first came here I was a loud mouth with enough self confidence for a few people. I've realized a few things since getting here. Losing weight isn't about looking better as I've learned, it is about feeling better and living a longer, happier life. I've also learned that holding my tongue is a virtue that everyone appreciates. I love my life here, and I wish I could say it is all amazing, but I can't. Don't get me wrong, life is incredible as an exchange student, but some things are happening a lot differently than I expected.
Learning a language is a lot harder that it seems in the classroom, and having people around me that speak english is a blessing. It is incredible how easy it is for things to become tedious and routine. I had dreams of travelling all the time, speaking beautiful spanish to beautiful people and living the dream life. I do travel occassionally, and I speak choppy spanish to some beautiful people, and my life is a dream, just not what I had in mind.
Nothing compares to doing this exchange. It never really hits that you are so far away until something big happens. For me, it was someone in my family becoming very sick. Trying to cope with a coming death is hard enough, having to do it on the other side of the world is nearly impossible. I know I need to be here, too many people worked too hard, especially me, but what I wouldn't do from a hug from my real mom, or my sister. I have some amazing friends and better families here, but there is no replacement for our family. Writing has helped me a lot, and I have even shared a few pieces with friends, which was almost as hard as writing them.
I am happy here. Life is peaceful and calm. My families are friendly, and I love them dearly. There have been miscommunications, stumbles and hiccups but that is normal for every family. I feel like this is my home away from home now.
Bye bye for now blogworld. Stay tuned for another update coming soon! :D
I apologize for not updating my blog lately, but I am going to do my best to do it more regularily from now on.
So I have been in Spain for almost 10 weeks now and life is... life. It is incredible how much everything changes over a few months. When I first came here I was a loud mouth with enough self confidence for a few people. I've realized a few things since getting here. Losing weight isn't about looking better as I've learned, it is about feeling better and living a longer, happier life. I've also learned that holding my tongue is a virtue that everyone appreciates. I love my life here, and I wish I could say it is all amazing, but I can't. Don't get me wrong, life is incredible as an exchange student, but some things are happening a lot differently than I expected.
Learning a language is a lot harder that it seems in the classroom, and having people around me that speak english is a blessing. It is incredible how easy it is for things to become tedious and routine. I had dreams of travelling all the time, speaking beautiful spanish to beautiful people and living the dream life. I do travel occassionally, and I speak choppy spanish to some beautiful people, and my life is a dream, just not what I had in mind.
Nothing compares to doing this exchange. It never really hits that you are so far away until something big happens. For me, it was someone in my family becoming very sick. Trying to cope with a coming death is hard enough, having to do it on the other side of the world is nearly impossible. I know I need to be here, too many people worked too hard, especially me, but what I wouldn't do from a hug from my real mom, or my sister. I have some amazing friends and better families here, but there is no replacement for our family. Writing has helped me a lot, and I have even shared a few pieces with friends, which was almost as hard as writing them.
I am happy here. Life is peaceful and calm. My families are friendly, and I love them dearly. There have been miscommunications, stumbles and hiccups but that is normal for every family. I feel like this is my home away from home now.
Bye bye for now blogworld. Stay tuned for another update coming soon! :D
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
8 Days
Spain. La Costa Blanca. Altea/La Villa Blanca. My new home is so beautiful. Altea is the most amazing place I have ever seen. From my second story balcony I can see parts of the "Old Town", a vast expanse of ocean, part of the next city north of me, and most spectacularily, the church. The church is very large and made of brown bricks and stone with two domes that both have a blue and white tile roof.
So, the city itself is wonderful. The old part of the town is incredible, there are tall, white buildings everywhere and tiny, winding little paths that are so easy to get lost in. AH! It is so hard to even do this place justice. All of the buildings have to be white, by law, and in the old town if you tear down one of the buildings you have to put everything on the outside in exactly the same spot.
People here walk almost everywhere. In my 8 days I have probably averaged almost 8 - 10 km of walking a day, a lot of which is uphill. So far all of the people I have met have been very friendly and super nice. I love my host family. Life is very different but they have been doing a great job helping me settle in.
This is all I have time for right now, but I will start updating my blog more regularily!
So, the city itself is wonderful. The old part of the town is incredible, there are tall, white buildings everywhere and tiny, winding little paths that are so easy to get lost in. AH! It is so hard to even do this place justice. All of the buildings have to be white, by law, and in the old town if you tear down one of the buildings you have to put everything on the outside in exactly the same spot.
People here walk almost everywhere. In my 8 days I have probably averaged almost 8 - 10 km of walking a day, a lot of which is uphill. So far all of the people I have met have been very friendly and super nice. I love my host family. Life is very different but they have been doing a great job helping me settle in.
This is all I have time for right now, but I will start updating my blog more regularily!
Sunday, 7 August 2011
SO MUCH TO DO!
Holy Cow!
So get this blog land. When I sent in my Visa application (the document not the credit card) I only sent in a photocopy of my passport instead of the actual thing. Well apparently I messed up and the Spanish Consulate phoned me up to let me know that I really needed to get my passport there (Toronto) soon. So, obviously I rushed down to the Canada Post thing in the mall and paid the $15.67 to express it to Toronto. Little did I know that the Consulate had changed addresses. Lovely Canada Post decided to send my passport back to me instead of just forwarding to the new address which just so happens to be on the same street. As soon as my passport is back I rush to the post office to pick it up and send it to the new address. I get my package AND THEY CHARGED ME AGAIN! Canada Post charged me another $15.67 for their mistake of not forwarding my package. I was quite frustrated because I still had to pay to resend my passport. So that is about $47 just for my passport. UGH. Plus, I am still waiting for my Visa!!
PINS. An exchange students main ID. Those things on our jackets that scream "LOOK AT ME!! I'M WEARING COLOURFUL CHAINMAIL!!". Well being the smarty pants that I am, I still haven't gone to get any for my city or Canadian ones. Item number 1 on my to do list. Number 2 is gifts and cards. Things to give to my families and Rotarians in my host city. i have no idea what to get. I want gifts they will truly like and use, not just some gaudy Canada posters or signs.
So my countdown is at 19 days. I hope everyone out there on the interweb and around the world is having a grand time wherever they are. Hasta pronto!
So get this blog land. When I sent in my Visa application (the document not the credit card) I only sent in a photocopy of my passport instead of the actual thing. Well apparently I messed up and the Spanish Consulate phoned me up to let me know that I really needed to get my passport there (Toronto) soon. So, obviously I rushed down to the Canada Post thing in the mall and paid the $15.67 to express it to Toronto. Little did I know that the Consulate had changed addresses. Lovely Canada Post decided to send my passport back to me instead of just forwarding to the new address which just so happens to be on the same street. As soon as my passport is back I rush to the post office to pick it up and send it to the new address. I get my package AND THEY CHARGED ME AGAIN! Canada Post charged me another $15.67 for their mistake of not forwarding my package. I was quite frustrated because I still had to pay to resend my passport. So that is about $47 just for my passport. UGH. Plus, I am still waiting for my Visa!!
PINS. An exchange students main ID. Those things on our jackets that scream "LOOK AT ME!! I'M WEARING COLOURFUL CHAINMAIL!!". Well being the smarty pants that I am, I still haven't gone to get any for my city or Canadian ones. Item number 1 on my to do list. Number 2 is gifts and cards. Things to give to my families and Rotarians in my host city. i have no idea what to get. I want gifts they will truly like and use, not just some gaudy Canada posters or signs.
So my countdown is at 19 days. I hope everyone out there on the interweb and around the world is having a grand time wherever they are. Hasta pronto!
Monday, 25 July 2011
SPAIN
Hi!
So my name is Clayton Hill and I am a Rotary Youth Exchange Student! I am 16 years old and in 32 days and 21 hours I am going to Spain for a whole year!
My first year of this crazy adventure is drawing to a very long close. Year one of course is when you apply, get accepted, choose a country, meet other exchangers and most of all, wait for things. This has been a very long year for me because I am doing everything I can to pay for my own trip. Since August of 2010 (before I was accepted) I got two jobs and worked. A lot. Working and keeping up a straight A average at school was tiresome. Not overly hard, just a lot of late nights. Aside from working I have done two fundraisers that I organized pretty much alone, and ran with the help of my supportive and loving parents.
As I said earlier I am going to Spain, specifically to a small fishing village of about 23,000 people called Altea. Being from a town of about the same size in B.C. I was ecstatic that I wasn't going to be in some giant city that I was probably going to get myself lost in.
This past year I have had the pleasure of meeting a ton of new people. I started going to Rotary meetings in my home town, I got to meet students that are in B.C. and Washington State from all over the world. I went to RYLA which is a leadership camp and so far is one of my fondest memories, and I also got to meet all of the students leaving my district in B.C. for other countries. So many great friends, so many people I will never forget. People that I hope to see again, no matter where in the world we meet.
So at RYLA I had the best team ever, properly named the Dream Team. We had a cheer and pretty much had an amazing time. I found out my team leader did a Rotary Exchange a few years ago and we really bonded. She requested to be my mentor for the year I am going to be away. Her, myself and this awesome girl named Teri-Rose are the "Rosebuds". We are the Rosebuds because we all have Rose somewhere in a name. Esme Rose, Teri-Rose and my alter ego, Rosie. These two girls, women, babes, chicas, whatever you want to call them, are two of the best friends anyone coud ever have and I love em both. LIKE A LOT.
Back to the exchange. August 27th. SO SOON. I am getting more and more excited every single day. I have a countdown on my cell phone and I've been caught a few times by my dad just staring at it, watching the seconds go by. He always swiftly reminds me that I am not gone yet and I need to focus on what is going on around me. As I mentioned above I have been working and fundraising quite a bit. So far I have managed to scrape up around $9000 since October or November, far surpassing what I initially thought I could do.
That is all for tonight. I hope y'all keep reading. I will post again as soon as I can! Thanks for reading, have a great night.
P.S.
I'll fill everyone in about the name of my blog in another post.
Good night and have a crazy good day!
So my name is Clayton Hill and I am a Rotary Youth Exchange Student! I am 16 years old and in 32 days and 21 hours I am going to Spain for a whole year!
My first year of this crazy adventure is drawing to a very long close. Year one of course is when you apply, get accepted, choose a country, meet other exchangers and most of all, wait for things. This has been a very long year for me because I am doing everything I can to pay for my own trip. Since August of 2010 (before I was accepted) I got two jobs and worked. A lot. Working and keeping up a straight A average at school was tiresome. Not overly hard, just a lot of late nights. Aside from working I have done two fundraisers that I organized pretty much alone, and ran with the help of my supportive and loving parents.
As I said earlier I am going to Spain, specifically to a small fishing village of about 23,000 people called Altea. Being from a town of about the same size in B.C. I was ecstatic that I wasn't going to be in some giant city that I was probably going to get myself lost in.
This past year I have had the pleasure of meeting a ton of new people. I started going to Rotary meetings in my home town, I got to meet students that are in B.C. and Washington State from all over the world. I went to RYLA which is a leadership camp and so far is one of my fondest memories, and I also got to meet all of the students leaving my district in B.C. for other countries. So many great friends, so many people I will never forget. People that I hope to see again, no matter where in the world we meet.
So at RYLA I had the best team ever, properly named the Dream Team. We had a cheer and pretty much had an amazing time. I found out my team leader did a Rotary Exchange a few years ago and we really bonded. She requested to be my mentor for the year I am going to be away. Her, myself and this awesome girl named Teri-Rose are the "Rosebuds". We are the Rosebuds because we all have Rose somewhere in a name. Esme Rose, Teri-Rose and my alter ego, Rosie. These two girls, women, babes, chicas, whatever you want to call them, are two of the best friends anyone coud ever have and I love em both. LIKE A LOT.
Back to the exchange. August 27th. SO SOON. I am getting more and more excited every single day. I have a countdown on my cell phone and I've been caught a few times by my dad just staring at it, watching the seconds go by. He always swiftly reminds me that I am not gone yet and I need to focus on what is going on around me. As I mentioned above I have been working and fundraising quite a bit. So far I have managed to scrape up around $9000 since October or November, far surpassing what I initially thought I could do.
That is all for tonight. I hope y'all keep reading. I will post again as soon as I can! Thanks for reading, have a great night.
P.S.
I'll fill everyone in about the name of my blog in another post.
Good night and have a crazy good day!
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