From the Costa Blanca to the Sunshine Coast

Having lived in Spain for more than a decade I was used to the Spanish way of life, of course.  Moving back to the Costa Del Sol of good old England was indeed a bit of a shock to the system, and I'm not just talking about the weather.  The differences are HUGE. 

I'll start with everybody's mate, Joe Public.  While it has been amazing to catch up with old friends I had left behind all those years ago, not everyone is so friendly.  In Spain, I'd wander along the street and  say "Hola" to random people and was usually greeted with a warm "Hola" back.  Here, at first, if I'd say  "Good morning" I was glared at, like a stranger in my own town.  There are of course a couple of women at the school gate who I went to school with, now dropping off the next generation at the very same school we went to.  Even now, five months down the line, there are only one or two mums (previously strangers) who will actually say hello...and the occasional dog walker.

On the other hand, us Brits in Blighty say "sorry" an awful lot.  To the point where it was starting to get right up one's nostrils.  I was at the train station one morning, and from out of nowhere a man just said "Sorry!"
"Why, what have you done, mate?"
And  I was glared at like I was strange?   

I'll move on to my next favourite subject...food.  Good old fashioned pub meals.  Proper milk in your PG Tips.  A pound for a loaf of Kingsmill.  That's what I'm talking about.  Eating out is cheaper than I thought it'd be, actually.  The restaurants around here don't take the mickey with their prices and the kids are always up for a lunch out.  The pubs in Spain are cheap too, but everybody who said that moving back wouldn't be easy haven't tried it, obviously.  I know of lots of people who have moved back to the UK who are doing all right, some more than all right. 

I'm not saying it's the easiest thing I've ever done, but no way is as hard as some tried to make it out to be.  Those  expats who are happy to pay through the nose for their teabags and loaf of Jackson's bread in Iceland in Torry should ask themselves: how can they justify charging THAT much for a loaf of bread when the cost of fuel hasn't been as high as it once was?

Of course it was a struggle at first, you can't claim jobseekers allowance for 3 months, fair enough, but, the claims I made for my children all went through ok, and thankfully I didn't need jobseekers allowance because after about three months I landed myself a little part time job, the girls are happy and settled at school, I'm close to family and friends and I have all the help I need.  I'm rebuilding my social life, I'm going away for the odd weekend, and I'm really glad I'm back.  I made some fantastic friends in Spain and I didn't have a massive 'adios' party, I didn't even say goodbye.  (I'll even bet that some haven't even noticed I'm gone!)

Do I miss it?  I don't miss the mozzies, Spanish drivers, the sweltering nights or the crowded beaches, so what do I miss?  Well,  I miss the people, the Spanish and the expats, for all their quirks, the fiestas, the sun?  Well, you can't really compare the weather, different kind of heat, and all that, but all in all...
No regrets.

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My Struggle To Speak Spanish

Being able to converse in another language is an amazing achievement, and anyone who can do so fluently definitely deserve a huge round of applause in my humble opinion.  You see, I'm never going to be fluent in Spanish. There were times when I thought I'd NEVER get to grips with the language, and just trying to comprehend the verbs is in itself another language!

But, it CAN be done.

I have a bit of a head start because my kids go to non English speaking schools and just have a couple of English classes a week. Helping them with homework has helped me learn new things too.

For example:

There are lots of words with more than one meaning. I know it's the same in English, but here's a couple to think about: somebody may be talking about a broken doll until you notice the plaster cast on their wrist. I also thought it unusual to call the marca blanca (own brand) in the local supermarket 'four stations', then I realised that estación also means season. Yes, four seasons sounds better.  'Cola' is another one, not only is it the popular fizzy drink down this way, it also means the following: are you ready? A queue of people, a tail (of a cat or a dog, for example) and glue, you know, what I would  call 'gloopy' glue.  And there's carrera, which is a race or a journey, and of course, there's the caña, which is, as we all know, a small beer, but it's also a fishing reel! Same words, VERY different meanings! My favourite things to say in Spanish are things like "Como se llama" and "que es la palabra yo busco" because even after all this time I STILL can't speak fluent Spanish. I say "OK" a lot instead of "vale" and "right" instead of "claro". I'm not even sure why I say these things. It's no secret that I'm one of the few foreigners on town. We watch English TV in the house and always speak in English to each other. The kids read stories from English books and make up stories to tell each other in English. My eldest has been to the doctor with my husband to translate before now!

Speaking Spanish fluently at a young age is such an achievement for my girls and I am so so proud of them both, but, English is also very important. My eldest insists she knows it all when of comes to learning English at school so doesn't really pay attention in class, but as I found out when I was studying English to teach as a second language, there is so much of it I take for granted and I tried explaining to her that actually English is complicated! As I mentioned earlier, I have the greatest of admiration for anybody who speaks more than one language, but sometimes the struggle is real.  I say "hello" to the kiddies at the school gate, because I'm known as the 'English' lady. I love to speak in English and there are lots of people around these parts who are studying our beautiful language, for work etc, and I've said to all those that I know of, "si quieres hablar en inglés, puedes hablar conmigo"

Always happy to help!

Can anybody relate? Or is it just me?

K
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