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| Dublin :) |
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| Kane and non-Kanes not in Spain. I've missed these guys. |
You see, if I was only on Erasmus for one term and was therefore only going back after Christmas for studying and exams and then leaving in February, I'd be feeling a bit regretful about how I've spent my time in Seville. Although I have a great feel for the city now, there are so many places not that far away that I haven't seen. Rather than think about flying to Germany or Paris to see how other people are enjoying their Erasmus times I think it's important to actually enjoy Andalucia while I have the opportunity. So here's my first resolution:
Travel More
There are a number of places only a bus ride away from Seville that I simply haven't been organized enough to get to. It's shocking how many weekends I have wasted mooching around. Off the top of my head, in the new year I want to visit Córdoba, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Málaga, and Ronda. It's just a matter of getting on a bus and going there. Morocco is obviously something that everyone does when they're on Erasmus in the south of Spain but to be honest I wouldn't mind missing it if I saw the cities around me. I have friends in Salamanca, but that's awfully complicated to get to. I would like to see them, perhaps meeting in Madrid seeing as December's trip didn't happen. So yes, it's all about not being so bloody laid back that I get nothing done.
Eat Actual Food
Crisps is not dinner. Nor is a plate of broccoli. Nor even is some scrambled eggs. I haven't been eating terribly unhealthily in Spain considering it's my first attempt at fending for myself and could easily go mad on the freedom and eat nothing but sweets, but I haven't been eating proper meals and to be honest it's down to laziness and not planning ahead. So, in 2013 I will pretend to be a normal human being and feed myself accordingly. I've had my mother force feeding me to the point of sickness for the past week because apparently I look drawn... hopefully paying attention to what I'm eating will help me not keel over :)
Get Out More
During my first few months I was homesick and then I was actually sick and then I was just sick of the place and ready to go home for Christmas. As a result I haven't been doing things as much as I'd like. There are so many people here to be friends with and what with Erasmus being such an intensely social experience I should probably embrace that. It's fine to not like going out when you're at home, but in another country it's either get up and go or spend a lot of time alone... at the risk of going a bit mad I think I'll go for the former :)
Speak The Language I Was Sent Here To Learn
My Spanish has improved over the last few months, no question, and while it is difficult to track progress in language learning (you don't wake up one morning and realise you know 50 more words than you did a week ago) I know it hasn't improved as much as it could have. Just living day to day in the country isn't enough to make you fluent; negotiating public transport, grocery shopping and paying your rent involve using the same vocabulary over and over. So my big goal for the remaining 6 months of Erasmus is to Speak Spanish, improve my grammar and basically to come home feeling like I achieved what I set out to do. The fact that English is the universal language among Erasmus students makes this difficult sometimes, but with a bit of discipline and effort it can be done.
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| The actual food thing starts when I go back to Spain |
Those are the big four, other than that I'd like to aim for sleeping before 2am when I have a nine o clock class, not failing my exams and being better about keeping in touch with friends at home. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and has a happy New Year :)
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