Lifelong Learning

Sometimes I wish that "student" could truly be a profession. I sometimes wish that I could be paid to go to school. Of course, what would be the purpose of that education then?

When I started High School, I wanted to be an author. I wanted to write children's books. Then I discovered journalism. By my junior year, I was writing for my school newspaper. When I graduated, I chose a school based on my desired major: journalism. I even received a journalism scholarship my first year there.

It had its ups and downs. I loved (and still do) writing. I started out as hard news and wrote a variety of articles including features, opinions and even sports on occasion. I interned at the Army News Service in Washington, D.C. at the end of my junior year. By that point, I was losing confidence in my own abilities. Is it just a thing that writers have where they hate their own work even when others say it is great? I definitely wasn't sure I wanted to follow through with journalism. But what choice did I have? I was almost through with college. If I switched my major then, I would be there for another year or two without scholarships to help me make it through.

I stuck with Journalism, knowing that the communication background could come in handy even in another field. More and more, I wanted to make a difference. I thought maybe I could do in depth stories with the homeless and try to bring light to their stories. But I didn't even know how to get started. My senior year of college, I found a way to make a difference.

My professor and newspaper adviser forwarded the class an email advertising a communications internship at an organization I had learned about a few years prior. It was an organization that, although I didn't know a lot about, I knew enough that I supported their mission. I even hoped I might be able to work there one day. Little did I know that two days after I graduated, I would begin a communications internship at Heifer International.

Before graduating I had also added a second major, Spanish. I had a few opportunities during the internship to speak Spanish with some of the international staff from Latin America. I never took any classes in video production or editing, but quickly learned some on the job and was able to help teach some other coworkers. I continued learning.

Later, I went to Spain for almost a year. Once again, that was an experience full of lessons and learning. Some lessons were a little tougher than others. Not only did I learn my Spanish was no where nearly as good as I thought it was, I learned a little more about Embassies and consulates after losing my passport on a trip to England. I also learned how big a difference just having someone to talk to can make in a person's life after spending countless hours alone in my apartment  Then there were the cultural lessons. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was in perseverance  After three months, it was hard to leave for Christmas. And then in June it was hard to come home, knowing that I was leaving many new friends behind and didn't even have a job to go back to.

Less than a month after arriving home in the United States, I was offered a temporary position working in Human Resources at Heifer. I had no experience in that field. My task was working with company polices, reviewing and updating them. I learned. It has been a continuing learning experience all together as I researched what types of things should be policies, what policy manuals should contain etc. I have even helped with other tasks and have already learned a ton about Excel. What has surprised me the most is what I have learned about myself.

In tracking information, I have found that I actually enjoy some of the tedious work. I enjoy looking at the statistics, making charts and graphs. Even if I wasn't a math major and never had an interest in it. Applied to the real world it is interesting. I have been working in the Human Resources department for a little over three months now and am still learning. Of course, learning continues for a lifetime.

A walk in history's footsteps

Note: I have been attempting to write this blog for a week now and keep having technical difficulties.

I do not enjoy sitting down and reading a history book. Most of what I read I forget soon after a test. But I love being able to walk through a place where history happened. Recently I walked through place (although I am currently living in a place that was under that same empire) with a lot of history. I was walking in a city where people such as Julius Caesar, and St. Peter had been (just to name a few). And of course, what would a trip to Rome be without seeing the Colloseo?

One of the first major attractions I saw in Rome was Circus Maximus, the old chariot racing grounds, and nearby the Roman Colosseum. I wish we had payed extra for an audioguide or a tour guide. Later we went to Palastino  and the Roman Forum. The entrance to all three of these places was paid for with the same ticket which was valid for two days.

I wished I had remembered more about the history of the Roman Empire from high school. I remembered very little from the text book. And unfortunately I did not have a lot of time to research the background of Rome before going. Instead I would have to look it up when I returned to Huelva.

The second full day I saw the Vatican. The journey began about 8:45 in the morning, standing in line to visit St. Peter's Basilica. Cost to climb the stairs: 5 euros. After descending the stairs exited into the Basilica. After walking around for a little bit there was a door with museum written above it. Thinking that was the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel is located I paid another five euros only to find out it was the treasure room. Not something I wanted to pay for when I had seen the same stuff in other basilicas for free. After leaving the treasury and walking through the bible history museum (free) it was time for lunch. Very small amounts of food still cost a lot of money in Rome. Two of us ended up sharing food meant for one person so that we could bring the lunch cost down to 40 euros. A small plate of lasagna, green beans, potatoes and a bottle of water cost a fortune.

After lunch, it was time to seriously find the museum. It didn't take long and soon I was paying another 8 euros to enter. It was already 1 p.m. by the time I was seeing the museum. I just wanted too see the Chapel and look around quickly before leaving to see more of Rome. But they wouldn't have any of that. Although signs said, "Sistine Chapel this way" and pointed down a hallway, the path was always blocked. Instead they forced visitors through every one of the 7 kilometers of galleries. Or just about every one of them I guess. It was about 3:30 before finally getting out of the Vatican and heading back to Rome. Which brings me to a quick side note.

The first night in Rome I threw two coins into the Trevi Fountain. The legend has it that if you throw a coin in over your shoulder you will visit Rome again. And indeed, I left Rome to go to the Vatican and once again returned to Rome. But I hope that doesn't count because there is so much more that I have yet to see there.

Anyway, after heading back to Rome I wanted to see a film which was advertised on the tourist map and told some of the history of the Roman Empire. It would be nice to see the re-creation of some of the buildings I was seeing throughout the city. It was hard to imagine what the ruins I was seeing might have actually looked like 2,000 years ago. The movie helped and was definitely interesting. It answered some of my questions and left me with new questions. After the movie I made my way to several other locations but unfortunately it was after 6 p.m. and they had closed. As I said above, I hope I can go back to Rome some day. The following morning it was time to catch a flight to Milan.

The biggest attraction for me there was "The Last Supper," yet another famous painting. However, upon arrival I found that they only allowed 25 visitors per hour. That was about 10 a.m. and they had already sold out of tickets for the day. I was not able to see the painting but I guess I can say I have stood in the same building. The rest of my time in Milan wasn't of much interest. At about 9:30 p.m. I was getting off a train in Venice. And three hours later finally arrived at the hotel. Venice was a maze at night.

The next day is when I got my first real glance at Venice. This is the city I had seen in so many movies and had come to have a romantic connotation with it. I didn't know of a lot of things to do in Venice except for St. Mark's Square. I also wanted to find at least one geocache and visit the Hard Rock Cafe. And once again, what would visiting Venice be without a ride in one of the gondolas? Even better, I got a 40 euro discount from the normal 100 euro cost.

Thursday evening after sightseeing I got to witness a live concert. The tickets only cost 20 euros. The first piece was Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I had heard "Spring" many times before but never the entire work. It was nice.

Then Friday came and it was back to Spain where it was raining on and off, of course. But it was a great trip. Once I returned to my appartment in Huelva I was able to upload pictures and finally do a little more searching about the Roman Empire.

Here are two videos I found and enjoyed on Youtube:





And finally, here are a few other videos from Rome and Venice.

1. Musicians and other street performers are in no shortage in the plazas.

2. Venice has a "metro" made up of boats.

3. One of many street performers in Venice

Practica Makes Perfecto

Practice may make perfect but some things take more practice than others. Learning a new language is something that takes a lot of time, patience, practice and immersion. I think every university student should be required to live abroad for at least four to five months, whether they are learning a new language or not.

Living opens up a new way of looking at the world and the people living in it. For four years I sat in a classroom, listening to teachers talk about history and culture. In September 2011, I began living it. In the classroom it was apparent there were some differences but more or less everything was the same with a different name. When I arrived I couldn't even find milk because it was boxed in a different way and sold off a non-refrigerated shelf. It was a lot more different than I had ever realized. I was dealing with culture shock and almost left the country after only four days.

Three months later the culture shock wore off. It just became "natural," or as natural as it could be for a foreigner. It was time to really focus on the practicing part. In October I began attending a weekly "Intercambio," or language exchange. It helped a lot and I began to be able to understand people a lot better. And then came Christmas break when I went back to the United States for two weeks. I expected to lose a lot during that time.

When I arrived back in Spain I was surprised that I still could speak and listen about as well as when I left Spain. I continued going to the language tandems. Of course, the teachers at the schools where I work are all very helpful and supportive as well. Several times the other assistant and I have talked to the bilingual coordinator about her experiences when she moved to Spain as a child. Both of us have noticed we will have a hard time coming up with words even in English sometimes.

A friend I made from the Intercambio who is from Whales and I went to Cadiz on Saturday. We generally speak Spanish together, with a few words in English if we don't know how to say something. Both of us feel awkward speaking a lot of English in the streets of Spain. On Saturday we began our journey at 6:30 in the morning. We checked in to a hostel in Sevilla at about 11 that night after missing the bus back to Huelva. During that time we spoke Spanish. Even by 3 p.m. when we met some Americans at the top of Torre Tavira I had a hard time speaking English to them. By the time we were in for the night I was pretty much thinking in Spanish.

My Spanish is far from perfect. That will require years and years of more practice. But it is definitely improving, even if I have a serious problem with prices. Nevertheless, I at least have something specific I know I need to work on. I need to go places just to ask the prices of items. Hopefully I can solve this problem soon. Yes, it is a problem. I am quite sure no one be so unreasonable as to say a soda costs 1,000 euros.

Living in Spain provides me the opportunity to experience a different culture and improve my language skills.

The Evolution of Language

If I ever write a serious research paper or book, I think it would most definately be about language. I find it interesting in how different accents and dialects can be. During my time in Spain, I am not only learning Spanish, but also learning more about my own language and it's history.

Most English tourism in Spain is probably from the United Kingdom. It is a whole lot cheaper to fly to Spain from there than the United States. Many of the auxiliares here in Huelva are also from the United Kingdom. Within the Kingdom there are several key accents, for example: British, Scottish and Irish. Some are easier to understand than others. However the accents from the UK are easier for Spanish people to understand than the american accent. Of course, we have at least three distinct accents ourselves with northern, southern and western.

In one of the classes yesterday the teacher began talking about some of the different Spanish dialects. That of course got the students onto slang from Latin America which was completely innocent in Spain. "Goma" literaly translates to rubber in English but in Spanish it can also mean eraser. Maybe in UK english as well. But if you go to the USA and ask for a rubber, you won't be getting an eraser. If you go to Australia or the UK and ask for chips you will be getting what we call French Fries.  And of course, these are only a few examples.

How do the meanings of words change over time? How do they change from country to country? How do accents change and/or develop? All of these questions would be very interesting to find an answer to.
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In other news, I had my first solo class today. It was with 3rd ESO in English. I used the pamphlets about Little Rock which I prepared last week (and have updated some since then). (I mixed classes up and went to class unprepared last Friday.) The second half of the class I had them writing a letter about a city they have visited and a city they would visit. That was to use both past and future tenses. The class went well, much better than I expected. I was very nervous entering the class but the students really surprised me. Usually with a substitute they try to get away with more, but today, I am not sure what the "guardia" told them before I arrived but I think they were more well-behaved today with the teacher absent than when she is there.

The Art of Learning a Language

During all of my time in secondary school I questioned, "When will I ever need to sit down and diagram a sentence?" I wanted to know why on earth I would need to label a verb or adverb. Then I found out how helpful it would have been to pay more attention and retain that knowledge when I studied Spanish.

I studied Spanish for three years in high school. My senior year of high school and freshman year of college I had no Spanish. I picked it back up in my sophomore year and then finally in my senior year declared it as a second major. Remembering how to diagram a sentence would be very helpful.

Now I am in Spain. I had my first private class on Thursday evening. It went well with only a few problems. One of those problems began with pronounciation. I went through the vowels and the sounds that each made. The problem was I couldn't really explain WHY they made the sounds they did. I learned in first grade when I was only six or seven years old. So now I have to research "phonics" again. Indeed I have a lot to relearn myself about my own language. I wonder if Spanish has similar problems?

Never Stop Learning

I heard that we never stop learning. Education is a life-long journey. I agree. If we aren't learning something, something is wrong.

Whether it be learning how to do something or a new fact, there should be something. One of the Human Resources employees asked me the other day how my internship was going. I responded, "Great!" And she asked if I was learning anything. I told her I think I learned something new every day. Whether it be a random fact, how to do something or just sharing ideas, there is always something.

Some of the lessons I have learned already include saving my work. Not only save it but copy the text before clicking save. I have had several times where I click save and everything locks up on me. I lose everything. Then there are other days where I learn something new about my job, the company, or computer programs.

Today I had the opportunity to do my job while learning at the same time. We went to the ranch to do a few interviews and we followed some of the participants around. Never did I think I would stand a foot from a beehive with them buzzing around. I was there to video and take photos but was able to listen in on the class being taught and learn a lot myself.

It really is nice to have a job you love.

The Letter!

Today I had an unexpected visitor at work. During lunch I was thinking about the topic. About 3 this afternoon I got a text from my Dad. Now, I don't usually use my phone while at work but because it was from my Dad and I happened to see it come through, I looked. He asked what time I got of work and told me he could come by at 4. I told him that was ok and if he talked to the security guard in the center of the building they would ring me.

Sure enough they did. Why visit me at work? The same reason I was thinking at lunch. I was thinking, "My dad works in Little Rock too. So, why not ask him to bring my mail to work with him and meet during lunch break or something."

Have you guessed what it is yet? For those who read regularly, you should. For anyone who hasn't--It was my letter from Spain. I held in the excitement until I got off at 5. But one of the first things I did when I got in my car after work was open the letter. I didn't read it but skimmed it to see what city I would be in. I will be in the city I really wanted, about an hour from Sevilla. A 30 euro round trip from Madrid. My city is: Huelva.

So, I get to teach in a somewhat small city. I get to be close to one of my favorite cities in Spain. I will have a few connections including during the second half, my girlfriend may be on the other side of the same city. Now if I can just get the Spanish Consulate in Houston (my designated consulate) to respond to an email or answer the phone...

The Letter

It has been a long wait. First, I had to wait four or five months to find out that I was accepted into the program. Then I had to wait for a letter from my region in order to go on with Visa Processing. Now I have a lot of work to get done and a few more waits.

The Spanish Consulate in Houston will not return my emails. Their office opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 1 p.m. I go to work at 7:30 a.m. and get home at 5:30 p.m. I tried to leave a voice message and it says there is no room. I do not know if I have to have certain documents so I will most likely have to wait

But hopefully those waits won't be as long. Hopefully I can get my visa processing done soon.

En espanol con Ingles

Bueno, este semestre tengo quince horas de espanol! Cuando salgo la clase, quiero hablar en espanol. Ya ha venido cerca a hablando con los trabajadores en la cafeteria en espanol. Es un semestre muy dificil. Con las clases de espanol tengo un curso en las relaciones publicas en el Internet.

[Well, this semester I have fifteen hours of Spanish! When I leave class, I want to speak in Spanish. I have already come close to speaking with the workers in the cafeteria in Spanish. It is a difficult semester. With the Spanish classes I have a course in public relations online.]

Los dos dias principios, estudie con un amigo y companero de los clases en la biblioteca. Anoche, no podria concentrar. Pero, finalmente, a las tres en la madruga, termine la pelicula "Los Diarios Motocicletas," para mi clase de conversacion.

[The first two days, I studied con a friend and classmate in the library. Last night, I wasn't able to concentrate. But finally, at three in the morning, I finished the movie, "Motorcycle Diaries," for my conversation class.]

En el termino del semestre, quiero hablar espanol muy bien. Tengo que esperar para ver.

[At the end of the semester, I want to speak Spanish very good. I have to wait and see.]

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Se la gramatica problamente es horible. Lo Calificuen en un comentario si quieren.

[I know the grammar is probably horrible. Correct it en a comment if you want.]

Overachieve?

I've been called an over achiever on more than one occasion, but I think I may be living up to that this summer. School is out. No classes until June. No homework. Yet I am still studying. I started a little more than two weeks ago, in effort to not only keep up with what I already know, but also learn more. Spanish. If you don't use a foreign language you forget it. And you forget it fast.

I took three years of Spanish in high school. My senior year I stopped taking the courses. I did not take another course in Spanish until my 4th semester of college. I started back at ground level. Last summer I took a course in Spanish online. This year I am interning in DC for the summer and will not have time to take a Spanish class online. I can only hope to use some Spanish while there.

Instead I have been keeping a notebook. Each day I write down an account of events in Spanish. Then I look up some song lyrics and translate them from English to Spanish, looking up words I do not know, underlining them and writing them on a vocabulary list. On the seventh day of each week I combine the vocabulary list and try to memorize the lists. This is the third week and I am still doing it. Hopefully it helps me remember what I already know, and if I am real lucky, maybe learn something in the process.

I go to Washington, D.C. a week from this Saturday.