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Back in Brown's Britain and NOT Smoking

I arrived back on the 19th December after having to deal with a 90 minute flight delay due to bad weather in Amsterdam. I don't know how that effects a flight from London to Madrid, but there you go.
For over two weeks, I can sit and relax without having to push myself on crowded Metro trains and running around a big city with photocopied pieces of paper to simply 'entertain' business people for a couple of hours. I don't have to think if there is going to be a class or not. I also don't have to worry about having to travel at all if I don't feel like it. I live For these two weeks, I don't have to worry about trying to communicate with people in another Language. Almost everyone in my home town speaks the same language.

What's more, I can sit in a pub or cafe without being in a haze of foul cigarette smoke. I can sit in pubs with carpets and nice comfortable chairs, as opposed to rickety bar stools.

One of the main things I miss about Britain is being able to go for a drink without sitting in massive clouds of smoke. The smoking ban is working and makes life more comfortable for the majority of us. In Spain, it seems that everyone smokes wherever you go. It seems that smoking is a classless habit in Spain. It doesn't matter what the age or class of that person is. If that person is an adult, he or she is more likely to smoke than people from Britain or the US. There have been attempts to bring in a similar ban on smoking in Spain. However, they openly gave bars the choice whether to allow smoking or not. Most bars simply decided that they were not going to allow their customers to break a habit of a lifetime.

Spanish Flu

The weather is pretty mild here as one can imagine. however, the evenings are getting pretty cold. This means that there are lots of horrible viruses spreading around the city. Whenever I tavel on the metro, I find that at least 10 people are coughing their guts up. i have been a victim of this myself, as I´ve had a cough for over 3 weeks.

Spanish pronunciation

It is said that Spain and Portugal hvae the lowest number of English speakers in Europe. Speaking Spanish is essential to survive here.
The Spanish who do speak English often have problems with pronunciation. Many cannot make the ´sh´sound or the ´j´sound. The ´zh´sound is also another one. These sounds don´t exist in Spanish.
Whatsmore, some students have problems sounding some vowels. I recently had a student who couldn´t say the word ´sheet´without saying ´shit.´ After 15 minutes of trying to get him to make the ee sound, the guy just simply went back to saying ´shit.´

Teaching in Madrid

Spain is one of the most popular places in Europe to teach. According to tefl.com over 26% of jobseekers who have their CVs posted on their website is looking for a position there. Apparently, there are now more people entering Spain than leaving the country.
Why?
1. It probably hasthe best weather in Europe. Everyone wants a place in the sun.
2. Many people have a romanticised vision of the country. People have an image of the country being laid-back and relaxed.
3. The language is easier than Korean, Japanese, Slovak or Polish.
4. There is a large ex-pat community here. Apparently, according to the last count, 1,000,000 Britons live here. There are also a fair number of Germans, Canadians and Americans.
5. Thanks to low-cost airlines, it is cheap, quick and accessible to get here.
6. Spain is not too much of a culture shock.



Spain has always had many English language schools. Most of them are relatively dodgy outfits, which have a high turnover of teachers. Due to the demand of people wanting to live in Spain, they can keep wages relatively low. The current average wage in Spain is 1000 Euros a month for a teacher. This is only just enough to survive.
In Madrid, the salary is not much better, despite the additional costs.

Autumn in Madrid

It´s November and the clocks have finally gone back. It now gets light at 7.49 in the morning and the sun sets at 18.15. This isn´t as half as depressing as the UK when the clocks go back. What´s more, it is still relatively hot here with daytime temperatures of +20.

I thought I´d take advantage of the warm weather to take some pictures of Madrid´s finest landmarks such as this one: the Temple de Deboda, which was kindly donated to Franco´s government of the 1960s by the Egyptians. Apparently this building is over 2000 years old.

doce de octobure

October 12th is an important day for the people of Spain. It is Spain´s national holiday and gives people a chance wave Spanish flags with pride. I don´t know exactly why October 12th was chosen to be the national day, but I heard that Franco decided for some reason that this day would be Spain´s day.

The day is marked by a massive military parade on Plaza de Castallana. The whole boulevard is filled with tanks, armoured cars and other weapons of mass destruciton to show Spain´s military might. This mighty display would not look out of place in a country with a totalitarian regime.

As I struggled to get through the patriotic million strong crowd, I noticed how passionate people were about their country. As the jet fighters roared through the city centre, a number of people happily shouted Vive Espana!!!!

Welcome to Madrid

Madrid is apparently the fifth most visited place in Europe. Despite its popularity, it is a modern city with little to offer in the way of striking architecture. Yet people love Madrid for its vibrance and the fact that Madrilenos know how to enjoy themselves: By partying till 7 in the morning.

I am not actually living in Madrid, but in a town outside Madrid called Fuenlabrada. This town consists of red brick council flats and a large immigrant population. Chinese, Hispanics, North Africans and Black Africans live here as the rent is cheaper and there has been an overspill from the city.

Living in Fuenlabrada is fine as public transport to the city centre is excellent. Trains run every 10 minutes. It takes about 35 minutes into the city centre.

My apartment is really noisy as it is at some busy crossroads. There is no double glazing in my apartment, so I can hear cars, motorcycles and drunken Spaniards all night long. Earplugs are essential.

Mad in Madrid

I´m working at an academy, teaching businesses around Madrid. Unlike other places where I have worked, I´m practically self-employed, which means that I don´t get the perks such as flights and travel passes paid for by the academy.
The school, which will remain nameless, is meant to b one of the most prestigious academies in Madrid. However, this doesn´t stop the academy from being disorganised. They don´t seem to know who the teachers are or who the clients are or what levels of English they have.