Online Diary: TEFL in Seville from our Scholarship winner! (4)
Tuesday, 1st July 2008
Anna Prime, winner of the Suzanne Furstner Scholarship 07, reports back from Week 4 of her TEFL & Spanish course in Seville (Week 4 of 6)
Over the last week the pressure of work subsided somewhat because I only had one lesson to teach and I got it out the way at the beginning of the week, which thankfully left a lot of time for going out and enjoying myself.
I think Seville is the friendliest place I have ever been. I have never seen even one word of hostility or aggression anywhere (maybe it’s too hot to get angry) and it is so easy to make friends with lovely Spanish people that I would quite happily go to a bar alone and just strike up a conversation with someone.
I love the culture of going out that they have as well, because everybody is together out on the streets instead of divided in different genres of club and bar as though the type of place you drink in defines the type of person you are. Here, people don’t seem to classify or segregate themselves too much, they just do what they do with everybody else who wants to do it. I also often see people out at bars with their dogs or small children and I think that’s really lovely as well. I sincerely wish I could live here indefinitely and I can’t believe I only have 2 weeks left before I have to go to France and set up a new life all over again.
The end of the course left me quite drained, I’m glad it wasn’t any longer than 4 weeks. There is only so much time you can spend planning and analysing your work, because that seems to be what we did much more than actually teach practically. Now I’m looking forward to teaching without having someone at the back of the classroom writing comments on everything I do and say. On the last day of school we went out for a celebratory lunch all together and it was a lovely goodbye to the group who I’d spent so many insane hours with over the course. It’s a shame to see everybody dispersed, but a few friends are sticking around in Seville for a while now.
Friday was also the hottest day I’ve ever experienced, it was like walking around in an oven, praying for a breeze but receiving only hair-dryer style gusts of intense heat. The heat together with the alcohol and the culmination of 4 weeks intense hard work made me go a little crazy I think, and I wasn’t the only one. In the evening all the teachers went out with our Spanish students and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy and yet so much on the edge of my sanity. I think all TEFL teachers go mad and stay that way, but wouldn’t change it for the world.
On Sunday, of course, Spain won the football. It was unbelievable. There was chaos on the streets all night. I went with some friends to Puerta de Jerez where there were thousands of people dancing, shouting, jumping in the fountain, singing, running around naked, setting off fireworks and all sorts of other random anarchical acts. It was fantastic, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun, or seen so many people have so much fun together. Spaniards definitely know how to party.
I can’t believe how lucky I am to have won this competition. I said in my essay that I would ‘cherish each day’ of the 6 weeks, and I definitely am. I’ve got more out of this whole experience than I could ever have imagined, and it’s still only 2/3 of the way through!
Read more of Anna’s TEFL diary:
Week 1 ¦ Week 2 ¦ Week 3 ¦ Week 4 ¦ Weeks 5 & 6
Tags: english, spanish, culture, tefl, spain, efl, suzanne furstner scholarship, seville
Posted by Anna Prime under Teaching Languages, Case Studies,
Permalink