I ALWAYS SAW myself a good traveller; trips across Europe and America during my college days helped back that up. The key: organisation and simple research. This time, however, was different. This time I was going for longer than a week, a fortnight or a month. I was ending one chapter and beginning a new one. What’s more, I was beginning the chapter by myself.
They say it often takes at least a month to begin to fully settle in any new setting. I’d be lying if I said that the first fortnight was a breeze. I thought before leaving that by hitting the ground running by starting work almost immediately that I’d settle quicker. In hindsight, being thrown into work no more than two days after arriving was an experience I’d rather not repeat.
Beginning work so soon after arriving was a challenge. Between daily lesson plans and teaching the classes themselves I found myself working up to full time hours in the first fortnight. Add to that a new surroundings, climate and language barrier, homesickness did its best to jump on my back. ‘Will I even make it to Christmas?’, I thought as I lay on my bed following my second week. As I type this, I can now confidently dismiss it.
A month later, I feel more settled than ever. I attribute to this to A) getting on top of work and being organised and B) winning over my students. My students are happy to see me each class, and that’s more than half the battle. Despite only being here a few weeks, some are even inviting me for drinks and asking me what am I doing at the weekend…and they say we Irish are often lauded for our friendliness!
Let’s just hope the following months can be just as productive.
Uploaded by Oisin Gregorian
Oisin Gregorian is an Irish multimedia journalist currently working as a teacher in Seville, Andalusia. He worked previously a sports writer and production assistant. Follow him on Twitter @Oisgreg.
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