Am I going to get home....

The bad weather across Europe has caused mass delays ewverywhere. Saturday saw Eurostar trains being stranded for 15 hours. Easyjet flights everywhere have been cancelled.
While it may be nice to see snow over the Christmas period, it is still a realy pain in the arse to those whose loves have been disrupted. My flight back to London Gatwick is due to leave at 7.30 tomorrow morning. However, I am admant that this flight is going to leave on time... If it does, then Jesus (and the easyjet crew and Civil Aviation Authority) will have performed a miracle.
Fingers crossed

Order out of Chaos

I have been given two junior classes at my academy. I have two groups of 8-12 year olds. I love it. I love the fact that the kids are highly motivated individuals who love being in a class with a chaotic, scatterbrained teacher like myself. I love the fact that they throw things at eachother, have no sense of discipline, and do as they please.

Welcome to the world of teaching kids in Spain.

Working for a well-known international academy

I´m fed-up with working for unknown outfits that advertise block-hours when you are lucky they only have three hours a week for you. I´m fed-up with the tedium of turning up to large companies when no-one is there. I´m tired of women from such agencies phoning me to say that my class has been cancelled, therefore, you lose money. I´m tired of having very boring conversations with business executives who I have absolutely nothing in common whatsoever. I hate having to make endless photocopies that are goinhg to be thrown in the bin by the student(s) at the end of the day.
I´ve decided to work for a well-known academy that offers me guaranteed classes with very little travel. I´m guaranteed good hours and don´t have to run around like a headless chicken on the metro all day. I don´t have to carry heavy bags in a backpàck that is gradually falling apart. I can put all my beloved books into one locker. I know I´m going to receive the same amount of money every month.
However, the hours can be quite unsociable. When all my pals are down the pub on a friday night, I´m stuck in a classroom till 9.30pm. Afterwards, I can´t go out like most teachers, get blind drunk and whinge about the state of academies in Spain. No, I have to be up to teach 10-12-year-old kids who´d rather be somewhere else? So, why do I do it? I like the lifestyle. It beats the rat-race at home. I have more light in the winter in Madrid and am more likely to run into people I know than I am in my hometown.

Digging up Madrid

Madrid is getting ready for the possibility to host the 2016 Olympics. It is reorganising the city and installing new fast rail connections. What's more they are digging up every single space and taking ages. Calle Velazquez is a great example. It is now almost impossible to walk on as there aren't many pavements left.

Madrid:The Noisiest City in Europe?

I find very difficult to get to sleep here, especially with the endless noise I have to put up with. I hate having to deal with the vibrations of the metro under my floor and the endless noise of people talking ´normally´next door.
When I play frogger´ in the traffic in Paseo de Castellana, trying to get from one side of the street to another, I find myself covering my ears to blot out the drivers horns. In Madrid, it seems that people love the sounds of their horns, even though they have no effect when the road is totally gridlocked. The police try and deal with the gridlocked street by blowing their whistles and throwing their arms into different directions. This doesn´t solve anything. It just makes my ears bleed. An ambululance and Civil Guardia patrol car whail their sirens to try and get through the daily disaster zone.
On the number 27 bus, there are 3 old-age pensioners talking extremely loudly to eachother as if they´re having a big argument. No, they´re not arguing. They´re having a normal conversation. Next to me, there is a man on his mobile revealing his entrire plans and life story to the whole bus..
The Production Line (Line 10 or the dark blue one) has its fair share of irritating buskers who disturb your pleasurable read or tune on your mp3 player.
I try and get some peace in the tranquility of one of Madrid´s parks. Again, my peace is disturbed by a Romanian playing When the Saints Go Marching in and pestering people for money afterwards.
So, why is it that Madrid is noisier than any other city in Europe? What can be done to eliminate some of this noise? How many Madrilenos are deaf as a result??





http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/out-of-spain-worlds-noisiest-city-turns-deaf-ear-to-acoustic-alarmists-1485957.html