So it has been a couple of days since I last blogged. I'll give you all dear readers a quick update of the past couple of days and then go into the main focus of my blog which is the starting of my classes and my internship interview.
Thursday we continued with our orientation. We visited the university for the first time to get our pictures taken for our ids, walked the campus to get an idea of the different buildings, met with the internship coordinator to confirm what we would want our internship to be (Mine was really easy to set up and find. They said I was very clear in what I wanted.), and had our very first Spanish class. (Since I am in a beginning Spanish level, I only have class with one of the seven girls that are on the trip with me. It's almost like a tutoring session.) After the day at the university we went to one of the major stores to shop at. It's called Carrefour and is more like a Walmart or Kmart. (Here is where I bought a hair dryer! There was no way I was going to bring my hair dryer from home and blow a fuse or have it catch fire and explode.) Friday was the last day of orientation, we had individual academic sessions where we talked about our school schedules and also had a session where we discussed all of the different excursions that we would be going on throughout the semester. After the day at the school we went to a dinner for all international students. All of the girls that I am on the trip with and I pretty much stayed together at the dinner. So we didn't really meet anyone new. It was here at the dinner where I had my first glass wine since I've been here. It was just a small glass of red wine, but when I drink my face usually gets pretty flushed no matter how much I drink. Apparently over here in Spain, that means you are drunk. So I got asked twice if I was drunk. (Which just then made my face get more red because I was embarrassed. Haha.) Saturday, we went to a medieval castle called Castillo de Bellver. It was breathtakingly beautiful when we reached the top. To reach the top we had to climb over 400 stairs. Needless to say, I got a lot of steps in that day. After we visited the castle I went home for a couple of hours then met up with my friends to walk around the city and go to a pastry shop (which has since then become our favorite one here). The clothes here are so cheap now because it is their rebajas (sales). So it is very similar to Black Friday but it extends for a few weeks. So I purchased my first clothing item that day at a store called Mango. The blouse was only 6,99 Euro! People dress so nicely over here! Yesterday we went biking around Palma Bay. I must say this excursion has been my favorite so far. Biking was so peaceful. The weather has finally reached mid fifties to low sixties. In total we biked around 4 miles. We were able to stop at Playa de Arenal for about an hour. So my friends (Lillian, Melissa, Angie, and Emily) and I of course went searching for a gelateria. The place that we found had so many different flavors to choose from! I ended up getting a strawberry gelato in a cone. The cool thing about Play de Arenal is that it seemed like a lot of Germans stayed there. There were many German signs and the gelato shop was even owned by a couple of Germans. So I was able to practice a little bit of my German speaking skills! I felt more comfortable and relaxed with being able to understand the language here.
So now you are all caught up. The classes that I will be taking this semester are beginning Spanish, International Meeting and Event Planning, International Tourism Development, and an internship seminar. I started my day at 5:50 AM due to my first class starting at 8 AM and leaving enough time for transportation to get to the university. Luckily I will not have to wake up early like this. The reason is because I was originally scheduled to take a class called Public Law of Tourism at this time. Thankfully I was able to switch out of this class. First off let me just say that if a class says it starts at 8 AM it actually doesn't start until 8:15. So my friend Emily and I were sitting in this classroom from about 7:50 to 8:05. We were so confused why no one was sitting in the class. So we went to the reception area and asked where the class was meeting. It turns out we were sitting in the classroom so when we went back upstairs all of the students that were hanging out in the hallway were then in the classroom. We walked in and being good students that we were sat in the front row. All of the students sat from the third row on back. So when the professor walked in in a suit, he talked basically to the third row on back. The class was awful. The professor was super serious and did not allow any note taking. When I went to write something in my notebook, he gave me the hand and said no. He said that he gets nervous when people take notes. (I thought this was really odd because every class that I have been in, the professors urge us and want us to write notes.) The last thing that made this class bad was that all of the exams would be oral. So Emily and I switched out of there as fast as we could. Now we are enrolled in International Tourism Development which does not start until the 26th of February. I had Spanish class shortly after the law class and that went really well. I'm glad that I had some knowledge of Spanish before coming here. I am able to understand a little bit more than the other student that is in the class with me and even have been translating what our professor says for her. So I am typing this while waiting for my next class to start. My next class, International Meeting and Event Planning does not start until 6 PM and lasts until 9 PM on Mondays. (I have a 6 hour break!) I made the decision to stay at the school so I wouldn't have to travel back home and get all comfortable to just have to come back for class. The bus ride is around 20 minutes and then I have another 5 minute walk to my home stay. Today is my busiest class day at the university. I don't have class on Tuesdays and Fridays and only have two on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The most exciting news I have to share is that I officially have my interview with the hotel that is interested in having me as an intern. My meeting is this Wednesday at noon at the Nixe Palace. (Everyone has to look this hotel up! It is a five star hotel and looks gorgeous online.) The hotel is located in Cala Mayor which I am told is more of the british area in Palma de Mallorca. I will be working at the front desk area and possibly helping at events that the hotel books.
I am going to try and post every few days to give everyone an update of what I am up to. Also look at the photo tab on here for some new pictures that go along with this blog and of course you can see all of the photos on Facebook that I will be posting. So from my side of the world Hasta luego! (See ya later!)
Thursday we continued with our orientation. We visited the university for the first time to get our pictures taken for our ids, walked the campus to get an idea of the different buildings, met with the internship coordinator to confirm what we would want our internship to be (Mine was really easy to set up and find. They said I was very clear in what I wanted.), and had our very first Spanish class. (Since I am in a beginning Spanish level, I only have class with one of the seven girls that are on the trip with me. It's almost like a tutoring session.) After the day at the university we went to one of the major stores to shop at. It's called Carrefour and is more like a Walmart or Kmart. (Here is where I bought a hair dryer! There was no way I was going to bring my hair dryer from home and blow a fuse or have it catch fire and explode.) Friday was the last day of orientation, we had individual academic sessions where we talked about our school schedules and also had a session where we discussed all of the different excursions that we would be going on throughout the semester. After the day at the school we went to a dinner for all international students. All of the girls that I am on the trip with and I pretty much stayed together at the dinner. So we didn't really meet anyone new. It was here at the dinner where I had my first glass wine since I've been here. It was just a small glass of red wine, but when I drink my face usually gets pretty flushed no matter how much I drink. Apparently over here in Spain, that means you are drunk. So I got asked twice if I was drunk. (Which just then made my face get more red because I was embarrassed. Haha.) Saturday, we went to a medieval castle called Castillo de Bellver. It was breathtakingly beautiful when we reached the top. To reach the top we had to climb over 400 stairs. Needless to say, I got a lot of steps in that day. After we visited the castle I went home for a couple of hours then met up with my friends to walk around the city and go to a pastry shop (which has since then become our favorite one here). The clothes here are so cheap now because it is their rebajas (sales). So it is very similar to Black Friday but it extends for a few weeks. So I purchased my first clothing item that day at a store called Mango. The blouse was only 6,99 Euro! People dress so nicely over here! Yesterday we went biking around Palma Bay. I must say this excursion has been my favorite so far. Biking was so peaceful. The weather has finally reached mid fifties to low sixties. In total we biked around 4 miles. We were able to stop at Playa de Arenal for about an hour. So my friends (Lillian, Melissa, Angie, and Emily) and I of course went searching for a gelateria. The place that we found had so many different flavors to choose from! I ended up getting a strawberry gelato in a cone. The cool thing about Play de Arenal is that it seemed like a lot of Germans stayed there. There were many German signs and the gelato shop was even owned by a couple of Germans. So I was able to practice a little bit of my German speaking skills! I felt more comfortable and relaxed with being able to understand the language here.
So now you are all caught up. The classes that I will be taking this semester are beginning Spanish, International Meeting and Event Planning, International Tourism Development, and an internship seminar. I started my day at 5:50 AM due to my first class starting at 8 AM and leaving enough time for transportation to get to the university. Luckily I will not have to wake up early like this. The reason is because I was originally scheduled to take a class called Public Law of Tourism at this time. Thankfully I was able to switch out of this class. First off let me just say that if a class says it starts at 8 AM it actually doesn't start until 8:15. So my friend Emily and I were sitting in this classroom from about 7:50 to 8:05. We were so confused why no one was sitting in the class. So we went to the reception area and asked where the class was meeting. It turns out we were sitting in the classroom so when we went back upstairs all of the students that were hanging out in the hallway were then in the classroom. We walked in and being good students that we were sat in the front row. All of the students sat from the third row on back. So when the professor walked in in a suit, he talked basically to the third row on back. The class was awful. The professor was super serious and did not allow any note taking. When I went to write something in my notebook, he gave me the hand and said no. He said that he gets nervous when people take notes. (I thought this was really odd because every class that I have been in, the professors urge us and want us to write notes.) The last thing that made this class bad was that all of the exams would be oral. So Emily and I switched out of there as fast as we could. Now we are enrolled in International Tourism Development which does not start until the 26th of February. I had Spanish class shortly after the law class and that went really well. I'm glad that I had some knowledge of Spanish before coming here. I am able to understand a little bit more than the other student that is in the class with me and even have been translating what our professor says for her. So I am typing this while waiting for my next class to start. My next class, International Meeting and Event Planning does not start until 6 PM and lasts until 9 PM on Mondays. (I have a 6 hour break!) I made the decision to stay at the school so I wouldn't have to travel back home and get all comfortable to just have to come back for class. The bus ride is around 20 minutes and then I have another 5 minute walk to my home stay. Today is my busiest class day at the university. I don't have class on Tuesdays and Fridays and only have two on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The most exciting news I have to share is that I officially have my interview with the hotel that is interested in having me as an intern. My meeting is this Wednesday at noon at the Nixe Palace. (Everyone has to look this hotel up! It is a five star hotel and looks gorgeous online.) The hotel is located in Cala Mayor which I am told is more of the british area in Palma de Mallorca. I will be working at the front desk area and possibly helping at events that the hotel books.
I am going to try and post every few days to give everyone an update of what I am up to. Also look at the photo tab on here for some new pictures that go along with this blog and of course you can see all of the photos on Facebook that I will be posting. So from my side of the world Hasta luego! (See ya later!)