We are very pleased to announce the Committee have recently awarded four new bursaries.
Congratulations to our new scholars on receiving a John Speak Trust Scholarship!
Keep checking the website for regular updates on how our new scholars are doing.
If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, please click here for information about the Trust or contact us if you have any questions.
端午节
端午节最初是中国人祛病防疫的节日，早期有在农历五月初五以龙舟竞渡举行部落祭祀的习俗。后因诗人屈原在这一天死去，便成了中国汉族纪念屈原的传统节。 因为屈原是跳河而自尽,人们借划龙舟驱散江中之鱼，以免鱼吃掉屈原的尸体。端午节有吃粽子，喝雄黄酒，挂菖蒲等有香气的草木，赛龙舟的习俗。这些习俗都起源于端午节本来的防疫驱邪习俗。
什刹海龙舟赛
端午节那一天我们去北京的什刹海看龙舟赛，这个习俗已流传两千多年。沿湖岸，几十条龙舟。每舟一个鼓手，一个舵手，另有水手约15名。舟上齐唱“嗨哟 嗨哟 嗨哟”。鼓点声响起，喊声震天，龙舟便如一支离弦的箭,在平静无波的塘河上来去如飞.水手动作整齐划一,坚实的肌肉随着动作一起一伏。赛到紧张处,更是精彩异常,两只龙舟齐头并进,争先恐后,岸上的呼声一阵盖过一阵,待到分出胜负,又是一阵的欢呼声夹杂几声懊丧的叹息声.我第一次看龙舟带真是好的一番景象。也是让我想起我在剑桥大学看过的划船比赛。世界各地的人举办基本上一样的习俗! 我那一天也爱上甜甜的小粽子（北方的甜，南方的咸）。
接下来我想讲述位于湖南汩罗市的龙舟厂，下面照片中能看到工人们将几艘已经制作好的龙舟从车间抬出，不久就将装车运往各地。
今年56岁的许桂生出在中国龙舟发愿地汩罗的“龙舟世家”，是这里的厂长。“每年临近端午节都是最忙的，我们请了很多工人，日夜赶工，基本上2天就可以造一个出来。”许桂生说。
显而易见，每一艘龙舟经过好几天的努力才能下水参加比赛。因为特别的面貌而历史上的特征，我想多了解龙舟的来源并文化。希望大家从我的报告中也学到了一些新的关于端午节的事情。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival originates from China, and in the beginning was a festival where people for preventing and driving away disease. In early China, dragon boat races were a held by tribes to offer sacrifice to the ancestors on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Later, it became a traditional festival for the Han people to commemorate the death of the poet Qu Yuan, who died on this date. They took the practice of dragon boat racing to scatter the fish in the river where he killed himself, so the fish would not eat his dead body. People traditionally eat sticky rice dumplings on this day, as well as drinking realgar wine , hanging sweetflag and other potent herbs, and also race dragon boats. These all still relate to the original origins of driving out bad spirits and bringing about good energy.
The boat race on Shichahai lake
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, we went to Shichahai lake in Beijing to watch the 2,000 year old tradition of dragon boat racing. On the bank of the lake were roughly ten boats. Each one has a drummer, a helmsman and about 15 rowers. In unison they chanted “Hey ho – hey ho- hey ho”. When the drums began to sound, the crowd sent out an earth shaking roar. The boats set off like an arrow being released from a taught bow string. In the still water they glided as if flying. The rowers movements were on and the same, flexing their muscles in complete unison.
As the race reached its climax, the atmosphere bristled with excitement. Two boats were neck and neck, striving to be the first and terrified of coming second. The shouts from the shore came in waves. When it came to the deciding moment, the cheers of the winning team were interspersed with a few despondent sighs from their opponents. This first time watching the dragon boat race was a real sight to be seen. It also made me think of the rowing races back in Cambridge. It seems that people the world over enjoy similar traditions! I also really enjoyed the sweet dumplings (they are sweet in the north of China, and savory in the south).
I would now like to describe the dragon boat factory in Guluo town, Hunnan county. In the photo beneath you can see the factory workers carrying some finished boats outside, where they are soon to be transported all over the country.
The factory head is a 56 year old man names Xu Gui, who was born into the well known “Dragon Boat Family”, in the birthplace of dragon boats themselves, GuLuo. He loved dragon boats from a young age, and committed himself to being his father ‘s/dragon boat master’s (Xu Yueyun) apprentice. “Every year we become rushed off our feet when it approaches the dragon boat festival. We bring in a lot of outside hands to help, working day and night. We can make one boat in approximately 2 days”, he said.
It is evident that a boat is only ready to take part in the race after many days of careful engineering. I am interested to understand more about their origins and culture, one because of their unusual appearance, and also because of their historical significance. I hope others can learn something new about the dragon boat festival from my report, too.
In March 2015 I travelled to Jena, a small city in the former Eastern part of Germany in order to study business and German at the local university. I am currently a 2nd year student at Sheffield Hallam and initially I chose to take part in a study abroad period in order to enhance my German skills, but it has been so much more. I have learnt so many valuable life skills, experienced real German culture; I have overcome barriers and been lucky enough to travel around many parts of Germany and Europe.
Living abroad has been hard at times; the first few weeks were definitely an experience, a negative one at that. However the good times have been enough to make it all worth it. I would absolutely recommend studying abroad to any student. I have made friends for life, from around the world and I have had an experience I could only dream about if I had stayed at my home university.
I will now go on to work in Hamburg for 12 months as a marketing assistant in a chemical and disinfectant company. As I have been lucky enough to study in Germany, my German has reached a standard that I feel comfortable in a professional environment, and obviously this will be a great advantage in placement in Hamburg and also my future career. I hope that once I graduate and start a career of my own I will still use my German, but I will certainly never let my skills fade.
I would like to thank the John Speak trust for giving me this opportunity. I have been able to properly immerse myself in the German way of life.
Pendant le dernier mois, je me suis rendu deux des plus célèbres galeries d’art de Paris. Il faut dire que je suis certainement pas un fan de l’art, mais je me demandais si le monde célèbre musée du Louvre ou au Centre Pompidou pourraient changer mon esprit. Tout d’abord, je suis allé au Louvre, qui est reconnaissable par la pyramide de verre à l’extérieur (ainsi que les milliers de touristes !!). Quand nous étions à l’intérieur, je était très surpris par la taille du musée-il serait certainement prendre quelques jours pour voir toutes les pièces. Je était également surpris par la gamme d’expositions, monuments allant de l’âge du bronze à la peinture classique Mona Lisa. Dans l’ensemble, je était très déçu par le galerie- il y avait trop de monde et, tandis que je comprends que les oeuvres d’art étaient vieux, je ne les trouvait pas très intéressant. En outre, l’image de Mona Lisa était un let complète aval elle est très petite et je l’ai entendu beaucoup de gens murmurent ‘c’est tout?’.
Le week-end suivant, je suis allé au centre Pompidou. Quand je dis à mes collègues au sujet de mon voyage, ils ont répondit: «C’est moche, non?», Ce qui m’a fait rire. Cette galerie est une galère d’art moderne et contemporain, qui est complètement différent au Louvre. J’ai trouvé les œuvres d’art beaucoup plus intéressant ici, beaucoup de pièces étaient interactive. Cependant, il y avait quelques morceaux de «l’art» qui étaient tout à fait étrange, par exemple une caisse de ciment qui a été tout simplement laissé dans le milieu de la pièce.
Je suis heureux que je suis allé à ces musées, cependant- je ne visiterais pas encore une fois. Pour moi, l’art le plus attractif à Paris est sur le terrain du Parc des Princes, mais ca peut-être parce que je n’aime pas l’art?
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
This month, I visited 2 of Paris’ most famous art galleries. I must say that I am definitely not an art fan, but I wondered if the World famous Louvre or the Centre Pompidou could change my mind. Firstly, I went to the Louvre, which is recognisable by the glass pyramid outside (as well as the thousands of tourists!!). When we were inside, I was very surprised by the size of the museum- it would definitely take a few days to see all of the exhibits. I was also surprised by the range of exhibits, ranging from Bronze Age monuments to the classic Mona Lisa painting. Overall, I was very disappointed by the gallery- it was very crowded and, whilst I appreciate that the artworks were old, I didn’t find the very interesting. Furthermore, the Mona Lisa picture was a complete let down- it is very small and I heard many people mutter ‘is that it?’.
The following weekend, I went to the Pompidou centre. When I told my colleagues about my trip, the replied- ‘it’s ugly isn’t it?’, which made me laugh. This gallery is a modern contemporary art galley, which is completely different to the louvre. I found the pieces of art much more interesting here, a lot of pieces were interactive so you could add to them. However, there were a few pieces of ‘art’ which were quite strange, for example a crate full of cement mix which was just left in the middle of the room.
I am really glad that I visited both of these museums, however- I wouldn’t be in a rush to visit either of them again. For me, the best piece of art in Paris is on the pitch at the Parc des Princes, but maybe that because I’m not an arty person?
虽然在‘一国两制’政策下香港和中国是名义上“一国”的，这两个领土之间的差别很大。我一走下了飞机就发现北京和香港的许多明显区别—从湿乎乎的气候到盖住山丘的郁郁葱葱的植物，再到人们都说广东话。
可是毫无疑问最值得注意的区别是许多白色摊子设在市中心。站着在这些摊子的人当众主张民主以及鼓励过路人来签署一份主张民主的请愿书。我在北京住了一年，这个时期中一个当众主张民主的人我也没遇到，我佩服这些敢于主张民主的人。我很快地发现香港人为香港人独立的身份感到很自豪。我用普通话跟出租司机说话的时候，他愤怒地告诉我他认为香港和 ‘蒙昧’的大陆截然不同。
我坐船去澳门 —中国的拉斯维加斯。在那儿盘桓一天游览了各处名胜。澳门的葡萄牙历史的痕迹还残留着—尤其在漂亮的古老市中心—但是历史遗产是在某种程度上被巨大的娱乐场黯然失色的。花里胡哨的庞大娱乐场的营业额比拉斯维加斯的多五倍。最大的娱乐场叫 ‘The Venetian’。因为里面有3000多个老虎机，这家娱乐场本身变得 旅游景点。娱乐场的内部看起来和威尼斯一样。你要坐贡多拉船横渡运河河网来进去娱乐场。毫无疑问这是我一辈子最奇怪，最荒唐的经历之一， 娱乐场的豪华和铺张让我啧啧称奇。大部分玩着在娱乐场的人是中国大陆人。这个经历一定展示 巨富中国人的消费文化。
澳门和香港有很多共同之处 — 两个都名义上 属于中国，可是两个领土的独立足够得选择和中国不同的发展道路。值得注意的是是否将来中国政府会维持现状或者会决定加强对香港和澳门独立的控制来让这两个领土和中国大陆的关系更密切。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Hong Kong and Macau
While supposedly in the same state under the Chinese government’s “One country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong and China could not be more different. As soon as I stepped off the plane the contrasts between Hong Kong and Beijing became very apparent – from the sticky humid heat, the lush green of the surrounding hills and of course, the multitude of voices speaking unintelligible Cantonese.
The most poignant difference, however, is the white stalls scattered in the central area collecting signatures for pro-democracy petitions. Having lived in Beijing for almost a year without encountering any trace of resistance or support for democracy, I can only admire the bravery of those daring to champion democratic change.
I soon discovered that Hong Kongers are fiercely proud of this separate identity. When I tried speaking to a taxi driver in Mandarin, he angrily informed me in English that Hong Kong is separate to the ‘uncivilised’ Chinese mainland.
I took a short boat ride to go on a day trip to Macau – the Las Vegas of China. While signs of Macau’s colonial Portugese heritage still remain in the old town, with pretty villas and beautiful mosaic pavements, the vast casinos have somewhat eclipsed the historical heritage. These gargantuan structures with gaudy gold exteriors have roughly 5 times the annual turnover than those in Las Vegas. The largest of the casinos – The Venetian – is an attraction in itself with over 3000 slot machines. Designed to resemble Venice, you enter the casino by gondola on a network of canals. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it, the luxury and extravagance is other worldly and the sheer number of mainland Chinese in the casino offers an interesting glimpse into the culture of new Chinese wealth.
Macau and Hong Kong have much in common – both are nominally a part of China, but have maintained a degree of independence to take different, and hugely prosperous paths. It will be interesting to see if the government pushes for further integration with the mainland in the next few years, or allows them to maintain the status quo.
Interning in Beijing 北京实习生
那是5月初的一个晴天，我开始在德国戴姆勒（奔驰）公司实习了。
戴姆勒已经在中国100多年了，早在1913年，戴姆勒集团在青岛开设了第一家经销店，之后在1937年组装了800台梅赛德斯-奔驰载重车。时间来到1983年，中国汽车行业第一家中外合资企业北京吉普汽车有限公司成立，后来成为北京奔驰的前身。
现代的戴姆勒大中华区则成立于2001年，总部也位于北京北部。到目前为止，戴姆勒集团在华已涉足包括了乘用车、轻型商务车、卡车、纯电动车、零部件以及金融服务等不同领域。数年来，秉承着“在中国制造，为中国而生”的发展理念，梅赛德斯-奔驰国产C级轿车，E级轿车以及国GLK级豪华中型越野车也在陆续在北京奔驰下线。
我被分到金融部门，主管是戴姆勒大中华CFO的行政助理。我主要是担任内部活动策划、写文件，邮件，电子表格，的草稿、海报设计、找其他部门签字、写实时通讯的新闻等不同的责任。公司官方适用英文，所有邮件和文件都适用英文，可是工作人员90%是中国人，所以平时公司的环境是中文的。我最近发现我这两门语言都有进步。我汉语口语说得更流利，并且更理解怎么去写正式英文，怎么维护戴姆勒的标准。
我还和几个其他实习生交上了朋友，大多也是大学生，有的已经考上了研究生了。我已经安排了跟另外一个金融实习生这个周末去世界上最“孤独的图书馆”，位于 河北省秦皇岛北戴河新区国际滑沙中心北边的海边。 透过落地窗可以看到远处的大海。 这所图书馆提供了一个回归读书本真的场所，让自己安静下来， 而这是嘈杂而又喧嚣的北京没有的。
我特为珍惜这次实习经验，不仅仅是因为能提高我对国际机构的工作流程的理解，而还给我机会接触到新的一群人，那就是白领，而且体验中国的工作环境。我觉得在这份实习工作也会交许多好点的关系，对前途有好处。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
It was a fine clear day in May that I began interning at the German company Daimler (who own Mercedes-Benz).
Daimler has already been in China for over 100 years now. As early as 1913, Daimler Group opened a dealership in Qingdao, and by 1937 they had already assembled over 800 vehicles. In 1983, China’s first China-oversees joint vehicle venture Jeep Ltd. was established, the forbearer to Mercedes.
Modern day Daimler Greater China was established in January 2001 and headquartered in the North of Beijing, Daimler Greater China Ltd. The Daimler Group has already grown to include passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trucks, hybrid vehicles, spare parts and financial services. In recent years, the company has been promoting the philosophy of “Made in China, for China”. Mercedes-Benz C-Class, E-Class, GLK and the luxury SUV were all manufactured in Beijing.
I was allocated to the finance department, and my supervisor is executive assistant to the Daimler Greater China CFO. I am mainly responsible for internal event planning, drafting emails, Excel documents and other items, designing posters, getting signatures from other departments, and writing articles for the newsletter among other things. The company’s official language is English, and all emails and documents are written in English, although the office is 90% Chinese staff, so normally the working environment is in Chinese. Recently I have discovered I have made progress in both languages. My spoken Chinese is more fluent, and I have a better understanding of how to write formal English, and how to uphold Daimler’s standards.
I have also made friends with some other interns here. Most of them are also university students, some being graduate students. I have already arranged to go to the world’s “loneliest library” this weekend with one other finance intern. The library is situated on the seafront of Beidaihe, a resort district in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. Through the windows you can see the expansive ocean. The library offers a space to return to the basics of reading, to be calm. It is something that cannot be found in noisy clamorous Beijing.
I feel that this internship experience is really precious, not only because it is giving me a better understanding of the workings of an international cooperation, but is also giving me the chance to meet a whole new group of people – white collar workers. I am also experiencing a Chinese working environment.
I believe that this internship position will also allow me to make good connections that may be beneficial in the future.
2015年五月
由于我的回国日期迅速接近，我现在需要每天有安排来保证我体验尽量。我有限的时间鼓励 我参加新的活动，比如跟朋友住在长城旁边的农场。我们从北京开车几个小时，来到非常安静，漂亮长城的破旧部分。主人特别友好，给我们很好吃的家常晚饭。那晚上，我跟朋友一起爬上陡峭的山坡，穿过浓密的枝叶来在长城上看日落。爬过痛苦的灌木丛一个小时后，我们达到长城，看到最美的日落。不过，我们的喜悦很快成为烦恼因为我们发现从长城径直到农场的道路。道路非常有用，让我们很快回家但是我们意愿我们更早已经知道！第二天，我们在长城上走路六个小时，非常好的运动，回家后我感觉象是参加了马拉松，因为我的腿太疼了。但是，好的风景使得这一切很值得。
唱歌最近成为我新的活动。我跟一些中国朋友去卡拉OK酒吧。KTV很好玩，由于文化原因也很有意思 。人民在英国常常太羞怯了来跟朋友或者家人唱歌，但是在中国大家参加。我希望我们可以到英国进口这个习俗因为卡拉OK气氛比较轻松。我唱歌的练习最终是用得上的因为我与同学们一起得参加中文系唱歌比赛。我们决定唱‘茉莉花’，我们与口技混合这首传统歌曲来创造现代版，和美国动画片‘冰雪奇缘’的歌曲‘随它吧’。我们受到“最佳演唱”奖品，出人意料！
我们在英国大使家看英国大选结果。很多中国朋友对英国大选浓厚兴趣。他们特别吃惊因为20岁苏格兰学生被当选，现在有议会席位。讨论改革我们大选系统，采取比例代表机构的好处和缺点一定测试了我的汉语！
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Summertime in Beijing
We watched the recent UK general election results at the British Ambassador’s Residence. Many of my Chinese friends were very interested in the British elections. They were particularly surprised that a 20 year old Scottish student was elected to Parliament. It has certainly been a test of my Chinese having to discuss the benefits and downsides of reforming our electoral system and introducing proportional representation.
Singing has also been a new activity for me recently. I went with some Chinese friends to a karaoke bar. It was very fun but also interesting for cultural reasons. In Britain, people are often too shy to sing in front of their friends or family but in China everyone gets involved. I hope this is something we can import to Britain as the atmosphere is much more relaxed. My singing practice came in useful as our class had to take part in a Chinese faculty singing competition. We decided to sing ‘Molihua’, a traditional Chinese song which we mixed with some beatboxing, and ‘Let It Go’ from the American animated film ‘Frozen’. We won the award for most entertaining song which was better than we expected!
As my return date quickly approaches, I now have to plan every day to make sure I experience as much as possible. My limited time has encouraged me to take part in new activities, for example staying on a farm with friends by the Great Wall. We drove for a couple hours outside of Beijing and arrived at a very quiet, beautiful and dilapidated section of the wall. Our hosts were extremely friendly and kind, giving us a delicious home cooked meal. That evening, a friend and myself climbed up a steep hill through thick foliage in order to reach the wall to watch the sunset. After an hour of climbing through very painful bushes, we arrived at the wall and saw an amazing sunset. Our joy however quickly became annoyance when we found a path that went straight from the wall to
the farm. It was very useful for returning home but we wish we had known before! The next day we spent 6 hours hiking on the wall which was great exercise, I felt like I had run a marathon afterwards as my legs were so sore. However, the scenery was of course worth the pain.
上个星期，我在咖啡馆里等我的学生的时候，坐在我斜对面的人居然向我介绍了自己。我以为这个外地人有四十多岁左右，而且基于他穿的名牌服装我觉得他也是比较有钱的人。他最初用英文对我说话，后来我们一意识到我们都会日语，我们就转到了日语。最初我们的对话没有什么值得注意的，但我之所以提这件事是因为他对汉字和宗教关系的想法给我留下了印象。他问我几个问题：你知不知道“禁”这个字的来源，“船”呢？还有“乱”。我告诉他我完全不知道。我的无知使他开心，接着他解释说这些汉字和圣经的故事有密切关系。比如，他声称“禁”的林字头来自创世纪亚当和夏娃的故事。为了解释“船”和“乱”这两个字，他指出了诺亚方丹和巴别塔故事的一些细节。虽然他的理论很有意思，也让我反思我在北大学习的古代汉语，但他的想法有一些明显的问题。特别是年表和地里的问题。宗教和中文什么时候接触，在哪儿？那时已经存不存在上面的汉字？不出所料，他后来透露他是个耶和华见证人。我们聊了半个小时，谈话很愉快。
我跟四个朋友一起去了桂林和阳朔，旅行了一个星期。我们坐19个小时硬卧的火车去了桂林。没想到这列火车挺舒服的，但回北京时我们决定坐三个小时的飞机回来更方便。桂林和阳朔都非常美丽，尤其是阳朔的月亮山和介于两个城市的丽江。后者有二十块纸币上描绘的风景。我还参加了一个烹饪课程（我跟四个女生旅游了），学习了怎么做各种地道美味的阳朔风菜—我已经给妈妈有关的食谱了。的确，对我来说阳朔的特点就是其多种食品。我强烈推荐你尝那里的啤酒鱼和铁管鸡。
上周北大举办了第一场汉语大赛，所有班要参加表演。我门唱的两首歌—加说唱的茉莉花和随它吧—都受欢迎。最后，即使我们大多数的人都唱得真差，我们还得到了最佳演唱奖。
位于北京的英国大使馆举办了英国大选的现场活动。由于时差，我有机会参观大使馆看选举结果的直播。那时很热闹的气氛，以及好吃的香肠卷和红茶让我想家乡。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Last week, as I was waiting for my English student to turn up in our usual café spot, the man sitting diagonally opposite me suddenly introduced himself. I thought he looked about 40 years old and based on his designer clothes I assumed him to be reasonably wealthy. He started in English, but later when we realised we both speak Japanese, we switched. At first our conversation contained nothing of note, but the reason I mention this incident is because his views on the relationship between Chinese characters and Christianity left an impression. He asked me a few questions, such as, do you know the origin of the character ‘to ban’, or the one for ‘boat’? How about the character for ‘disorder’? I replied honestly and my ignorance seemed to make him happy, as he went on to explain the close relationship between these characters and the Bible. For example, he claimed the tree radical in ‘to ban’ derives from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. For ‘boat’ and ‘disorder’ (which has the tongue radical) he referred to Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel respectively. Although his theory was very interesting, and it made me reflect on the classical Chinese I’ve been doing at Peking University, there were some obvious flaws that had to be addressed; in particular, problems of chronology and geography. When and where did the Chinese language come into contact with Christianity? At that time, didn’t the characters above already exist? Not unexpectedly, he later revealed he was a Jehovah’s Witness. By the time my student came, we had chatted pleasantly for about half an hour.
I went last month with four friends to Guilin and Yangshuo, where we travelled for a week. We took the 19 hour hard sleeper to Guilin from Beijing. Surprisingly the hard sleeper was reasonably comfortable, though we decided in the end a three hour flight back would be more convenient. Guilin and Yangshuo are both beautiful destinations, and I would highlight the Moonlight Hills and Li River in particular. The latter having the scene depicted on the back of the 20 kuai note. I also took part in a cooking class (I was travelling with four girls), where I learnt (tenuous use of the verb) to cook various authentic local dishes – the relevant recipes have already been passed on to my mum. Indeed, in my view, the highlight of these places is simply the food. I especially recommend you to try the beer fish and steel pipe chicken, if you have the chance.
Last week was also Beijing University’s Chinese Performance Competition. All classes had to participate and perform. We went for two songs – the traditional song Molihua accompanied by beatboxing and a Chinese rendition of Disney’s ‘let it go’ – both of which were well received. Even though the majority of us sing truly awfully, we still picked up the prize for best sung performance (don’t actually remember anyone else singing).
The British Embassy in Beijing hosted an event for the election, where they televised the live BBC broadcast of the results. The lively atmosphere and more importantly the delicious sausage rolls and Earl Grey tea made me a little homesick.
Que rápido ha pasado este mes en Palma, hace tres meses llegado aquí y me lo siento como dos minutos! Actualmente estoy muy contenta con todo, mi trabajo esta va muy bien, he conocido mucha nueva gente y creo que mi nivel de español ha mejorado mucho. También, el tiempo está muy bien y se va continuar a mejorar cada semana así que estamos acercando el verano!
Mi trabajo está muy variada que me agrada mucho porque cada semana hay cosas diferente para hacer, hay siempre nueva gente para conocer y mis tareas diarias no están tan aburridos. Me lleva muy bien con mi jefe, ella está muy flexible y amable, además, en general todos los otros empleadores están amistoso y he hecho un montón de nuevos amigos españoles, franceses y alemanes también. La oficina está muy grande, creo que hay un total de 500 empleadores, así que hay una variedad de personas de diferentes origines , eso me gusta mucho.
La semana pasada viene mi novio por el fin de semana porque en Inglaterra era día festivo entonces estuve el ocasión perfecto para aprovechar un fin de semana un pocito más largo. Decidimos de alquilar un coche para explorar la isla un poco, nos visitamos muchas lugares diferentes a través de su estancia, por ejemplo, fuimos al este de la isla el sábado y nos visitamos 3 calas diferentes todos cuales eran tan bonitas, una se llama Caló des Moro que tiene una pequeñita playa con muchas rocas pero lo bueno es el mar es tan claro y tiene un hermoso entorno.
El domingo conducimos al norte de la isla para ver el Cabo de Formentor que ofrece vistas panorámicas increíbles de la isla. Hacia sol y mucho calor que era perfecto para tomando fotos. Nos visitamos el puerto de Sóller antes de volvimos, aquí caminamos mucho y comimos un helado en frente de todos los barcos en el puerto. Teníamos una fin de semana increíble y era tan bueno para ver nuevos lugares en la isla.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
This month has gone so fast in Palma, I arrived here 3 months ago and it seems like 2 minutes! At the moment I’m really happy with everything, my job is going really well and I’ve met lots a new people and I feel that my Spanish has improved lots. Also, the weather is so nice now and it’s going to continue to get better as were approaching summer!
My job is really varied which is really great because each week there are different things to do, there’s always new people to meet and my daily tasks are not too boring. I get on really well with my boss, she´s really flexible and friendly, furthermore, in general the rest of the employees are nice and I have made lots of new Spanish, French and German friends. The office is really big, I think there’s about 500 people, so there’s a variety of people from different backgrounds, this is I like a lot.
Last week my boyfriend came for the weekend because in England it was bank holiday so it was the perfect occasion to make the most of a bit of a longer weekend. We decided to rent a car to explore the island a little bit, we visited lots of different places through his stay, for example, we went to the east of the island and visited 3 different coves all of which were so pretty, one is called Caló des Moro which has a small beach with lots of rocks but the good thing is the sea is so clear and it has beautiful surroundings.
On Sunday we drove to the north of the island to see the Cabo de Formentor which offers incredible panoramic views of the island. It was sunny and really hot which was perfect for taking photos. We visited the Puerto de Sóller before we went back, here we walked for a while and ate an ice cream in front of all the boats in the port. We had such an amazing weekend and it was so good to see new places on the island.
Pues, eso es mi último informe para John Speak y me gustaría daros muchísimas gracias por darme la oportunidad de escribir sobre mis experiencias de cada mes y tener las oportunidades de viajar o hacer unas actividades cuando no estoy trabajando. Este mes fui a Murcia para el festival SOS.
El festival era completamente diferente a cualquier festival de Inglaterra- sandalias, monos y gafas de sol. Ninguna bota de agua y, definitivamente, no habían abrigos. Cogí un autobús de noche a Murcia después de trabajar y el jueves nos fuimos a Alicante para tomar el sol en la playa (hicimos unas trenzas de pelo) y luego por la noche mi amiga me enseño la vida nocturna de Murcia. Es muy diferente a Madrid. Hay más estudiantes y nadie habla español.
El viernes fue un tormento para levantarme, no pude dormir mucho en el autobús de noche y no tuve mucho tiempo para dormir el jueves. Por suerte el festival no comenzó hasta el mediodía, así que tuvimos un montón de tiempo para dormir y prepáranos. El festival no era tan lejos del piso y nos lleguemos justo para ver a Morrisey. Aunque soy una gran seguidora de The Smiths. También vimos a Metronomy y a Las Vaccines que eran increíbles vivos. La comida no era demasiada cara y la cerveza tampoco, aunque tuvimos que comprar todas las cosas con fichas que fue un poco complicado porque estábamos de prisa a llegar a todos los conjuntos a tiempo.
El festival era dos días de duración por lo que el sábado fuimos a comer algo muy rápidamente en el sol e hicimos una pequeña visita por la ciudad de Murcia y después fuimos corriendo al piso de mi amiga para estar listas para la segunda parte del festival. Yo no sabía a ninguno de los grupos de música que tocaban el sábado pero lo disfrutamos aún con todas las personas que estaban allí. Incluso unos compañeros de trabajo fueron al festival SOS. Solo podía solicitar un día de vacaciones entonces volví a Madrid el domingo pero ha sido un tiempo increíble y sin duda volvería a Murcia otro fin de semana.
Sólo me quedan siete semanas de mis prácticas en Madrid y siento muy emocionante. Mis dieciocho meses en el extranjero casi han terminado y ha sido el mejor recuerdo de mi vida. Ya estoy planeando otro viaje al extranjero después de terminar la carrera pero a algún sitio más lejos, como los Estados Unidos. Mi tiempo en el extranjero ha aumentado la confianza increíblemente y me siento más independiente como una persona. Ya no tengo miedo de hablar con desconocidos o para pedir ayuda. No voy a tener miedo de ir a un bar sola que nunca habría hecho en casa. En general, esta experiencia ha tenido un gran impacto en mi vida y nunca lo olvidaré.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
So this is my last ever report for John Speak and I’d like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to write about my experiences every month and being able to do some extra travelling or activities when I’m not working!
This month I went to Murcia for the SOS festival.
It was completely different to any English festival – sandals, playsuits and sunglasses. No wellies and definitely no raincoats!! I took a night bus to Murcia after work and on the Thursday we went to Alicante to sunbathe on the beach (got a hair braid) and then in the evening my friend showed me the night life. It is completely different to Madrid. There are so many more students and nobody speaks Spanish!
Friday was a nightmare getting up, I didn’t really get any sleep on the night bus and I didn’t have much time to sleep on the Thursday. Luckily the festival didn’t start till mid-afternoon so we had plenty of time to sleep and get ready. The festival was walking distance and we made it just on time for Morrisey!!! Although I’m a bigger fan of The Smiths. We also watched Metronomy and the Vaccines who were both incredible live. The food wasn’t too overpriced and neither was the beer although you had to buy everything in tokens which made things a little complicated because we were rushing to get to all the sets on time.
The festival was two days long so on the Saturday we had a quick lunch in the sun and a little tour of the city and rushed home to get ready for part two. I didn’t know any of the bands that played on the Saturday but I still had so much fun with everybody. Even a couple of work colleagues went to the festival. I could only book one day off work so I went back to Madrid on the Sunday but I still had an amazing time and would definitely go back for another weekend.
I only have seven weeks of my internship left in Madrid which is quite emotional. My eighteen months abroad is almost over and it has been the best time of my life. I’m already planning another trip abroad after I graduate but to somewhere further away, maybe America.
My time abroad has incredibly boosted my confidence and I am more independent as a person.
I’m no longer scared to talk to strangers or ask for help. I won’t be afraid to sit in a café by myself which I would never have done back at home.
Overall, this experience has had a huge impact on my life and I will never forget it.