First vacation
We are heading off to our first vacation from Jeddah. Although our outing this time was a little shorter than standard it is good to get out. The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with all the packing up, moving, learning the job again, getting settled in here and last but not least adjusting to the heat and the Saudi ways. So we are very much ready for this vacation. We leave Jeddah in the morning on one of our aircrafts which is headed to Brussels. From there we will fly to Amsterdam to connect with a flight to Madrid. We plan to stay in Madrid for 4-5 days (plans aren't quite finalized yet) at with Flor's sister and her family. They have just moved into a new apartment where there is a swimming pool in the garden. Much needed in the summer heat in Madrid.
After the stay in Madrid we will then fly back to Brussels and onwards to Prague, Czech Republic. We will stay there for a week exploring the city and relaxing. I've wanted to go there for years now and couldn't be more psyched. So, don't expect me on MSN, mobile or be at all in contact. Time to take it easy and get lost a little bit. See you in two weeks.

Labels: english, Spain, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 10:07 PM GMT

A new career
Some months back I found an interesting job posting on InfoJobs. The description of the job was intriguing and I was a good fit for most of the requirements.
Nearly six weeks after submitting the application I got a call from the company inviting me to come in for a test of English skills. Little did I know that this was only the first step in a gruesome and long recruitment process that they set up for each and every employee. Over a period of another six weeks I took the aforementioned test, an IQ test, psych evaluation, two interviews and several phone calls.
I took a liking to the company during my first visits there. A smallish software company in Barcelona, with a very free-spirited work environment but a serious attitude. The location is good. So it was very much to my delight when one day in January I got a call from the manager of the development team offering me the position of a technical writer there.
I've now been getting training there for a few weeks and getting to know the new colleagues and workplace. The subject matter is a little daunting at first... intimidating even but nothing that can't be overcome. I feel quite good there and everyone has made me fit right in from day one. I can't really say much so far about the job itself as I am still finding out what it all entails, but I've gathered that it pretty much deals with understanding IT level programs, authoring user guides and technical papers and doing layouts and publishing as well. All interesting to me.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 5:25 AM GMT

Squats
At work, there is a small but nice gym for employees to use. try to go there at least three days a week during my lunchbreak for a nice weight lifting session to break up the day. Although the gym has most of the equipment needed to get a complete and proper workout done there has always been one machine missing. And in fact, it was the “machine” for doing my favorite exercise: squats. Many people would agree that my body is nearly designed for this exercise. I can almost touch the floor during the squat and still keep the balance needed since my legs are fairly short. And the weights? Well, I put a few kilos on the bar.
But since the frame for the bar was missing I was forced to use an alternative way. My friend David suggested I try something called Tabata squats. In essence the Tabata method is about performing as many repititions of an exercise as possible in 20 seconds followed by a 10 second rest period. This is then to be repeated 8 times totaling in 4 minutes for the exercise. Yeah, I know. No, really, I know what you are thinking. I did too. I also hated a good friend of mine for 4 minutes once a week. In fact, never have 20 seconds taken so long to pass while 10 seconds went by in a ... well, they are gone.
So, it was with great pleasure when I heard the company would be shelling out for a squats machine for the gym. So, on a Friday afternoon me and a monster (Amador) colleague headed for what I thought would be a short trip to a nearby Decathlon to pick up the needed stuff. Turns out the “nearby” Decathlon was across Barcelona, on the south side. To make things just that little bit harder, the nearest Metro station to Decathlon was what seemed a million blocks away (in reality more like 6). I figured it couldn’t be THAT hard. Amador had thought of bringing a ridiculously gay looking trolley which we were pushing together through the busy streets of downtown Barcelona. Did I mention ridiculous?
Once at Decathlon we bought the required stuff after hanging out by the muscle men equipment for a while, just to make sure people didn’t think the two trolley men were a part of the Meditterranean ballet group from the next aisle. It became apparent at the counter that the 70 odd kilos or so would be a challenge when it came to switching Metro stations or lines. “Ahh, let’s take the line that takes us direct to the company.” Oh, there is one? Of course there was, but the problem with that one meant there would be much much much more walking. After way too little deliberation we settled on taking the bus as it turned out one of the lines went nearly direct to our company. So off we went, into a stuffed bus full of impatient Barceloneans on their way home from work. While people looked at the funny guys in the bus, one holding a gay trolley and the other hugging a big box, Amador gave me a good sight seeing tour of places he knew nothing about. The bus took a ride through parts of Barcelona I’d never seen while others I have been to a few times already.
The bus stopped about 6 blocks away from the office but to make the challenge greater (and more heroic after the fact) all the streets were up-hill. After running down a few old people with the box and hitting a few kids with the barbell we finally made it to the office. The machine was in the house. Now, two weeks later I have used it but to my surprise I am going to keep doing the Tabata exercises as well.
Every good story should have a punch line. If it doesn’t, it isn’t good. This one doesn’t. So I’ll lie... you know what? There is a Decathlon 5 blocks away from the office!

Labels: day2day, english, exercise, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 3:24 PM GMT

Semana Santa
We have just finished our first Easter here in Spain. It proved to be very different from what I am used to - just as expected. I had a full five days off from work, Thursday to Monday. I didn't have any plans really but we did have a visit from Flor's sister's family. Unfortunately Flor was working for the better part of the weekend so we couldn't do as much as we would have liked to.
We had a couple of great dinners, played some game called Compañeros (which could get people into trouble) and visited the Nike Factory store. I didn't have my usual Easter dinners or frozen weather of Iceland. My mom was kind enough however to send me an Icelandic Easter egg. Isn't Easter without those!
But now, back to work although the week is shorter than normal with Monday off. Weather here is getting hotter by the day although we do have cold and rainy days in between. Can't say I am complaining at all.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 3:05 PM GMT

In a whim of a moment

Life can be a fickle thing. I was walking home from the train station on a sunny afternoon. It was a bit cold, but still comfortable for me. Beautiful weather really. Sun was sitting low and people seemed happy. I decided to stop by at the supermarket to buy a freshly baked baguette. While waiting at the counter to pay I noticed a red, spoiler ridden hatchback running furiously up and down the street. I remember thinking to myself "Ahh, these young boys today".
Less than 10 seconds later I see that very same red car come flying past the supermarket. It spun in the air, hitting a nearby truck, another car and probably more obstacles out of my view. I ran out of the supermarket along with other clients and the workers there. Terrible to witness something like that. Fortunately the truck was unoccupied and the woman and child in the second car were ok and walked away with not much more than a huge scare. But the red car was motionless. Completely. There was a lot of panic but within a few minutes the ambulance and police arrived. I can’t say what really happened as I understood very little of what bystanders were frantically saying. All I know is that it did not look good.
So, dear reader, I ask you to be careful out there in traffic. Life is but a fleeting moment and we should all enjoy every second of it.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 11:13 AM GMT

BCN Metro, Fabria i Puig station

Now that I’ve started this new job as a Technical Writer I’ve resigned my post at the school. I agreed however to do the classes in Cardedeu for the month of February as they could not find a teacher righ away for the classes. This means that on Mondays and Wednesdays I have to leave the new job about an hour early to get up to Cardedeu in time for the first class. As usual this involves some adventures on the public transport. For these trips I have to get on the Barcelona Metro which I rarely do otherwise. The Metro only services the Barcelona city itself while the Renfe and FGC trains service the surrounding towns (one of which is Sabadell where I live).
The Metro however is absolutely brilliant. I don’t think anyone checks out a timetable for it. The maximum wait during the day seems to be about two and a half minutes. Two and a half minutes!!! And the cabins are clean and nice. I expected this to be smelly, used by low income groups and unpunctual. But no, the Metro is used by everyone. Business people and construction workers alike. Me like.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 9:00 PM GMT

To Flor
Baby
It’s been a long day, baby.
Things ain’t going my way
you know I need you here
here by my side
all of the time

And Baby, the way you move me its crazy.
it’s like, you see right through me, you make it easier,
You please me and you don’t even have to try.

oh because,
you are the best thing
you are the best thing
you are the best thing
ever happened to me
- Ray Lamontagne

(don't you hate it when the best combination of words is found by someone else than you?)

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 8:52 PM GMT

All alone

Flor left for a 3 week vacation in Argentina today. I went with her to the airport only to drag on the goodbye with this huge queue. Normally I don’t mind queues but in Spain, it seems they take longer to clear up. It is a mind control thing I guess.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 6:29 PM GMT

Cardedeu classes

Pictured is where I show up for about 6 hours a week to teach a couple of English classes. I currently go there on Mondays and Wednesdays to teach two groups of kids; one group of 10-11 year olds and one group of 16-17 year olds. The groups are a great fun to teach. The younger ones are so enthusiastic about any subject it seems. Even after a day of school for them, they still have energy once in my class. The other group is boys only so picking a subject is not so hard. They are lazy however so motivating them can be a bit hard.
The town where the school is, Cardedeu, is quite far from where I live. I spend about an hour and a half on the train to get there as I need to take the train into Barcelona and from there head back inland but to a slightly different direction. The road distance from our apartment to the school isn’t that long but since there is no direct train the distance is probably tripled. For some reason the smart people at Renfe decided to have two stations in Manresa with the same name where I must swap trains. Although this is not a long walk, roughly 5 minutes, it means however that I miss one train to Cardedeu and have to wait about 20 minutes for the next one. That, or leave early from home.
However, I quite enjoy the train ride. For now. I can get a bit of work done for class and the view up there is actually quite good. I’m sure the places around here offer great terrain for hiking and mountain biking. I’ll have to check it out some time.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 12:32 PM GMT

First job interview
A While ago I got a call from a place called Acadomia. On the phone, with a prime example of Spanglish, a woman invited me to come for an interview with them for the position of an English teacher. I, of course, said yes.
So, on 26th of November I set out for my first job interview on foreign soil. Flor was a little nervous sending her chubby Icelandic boyfriend into the jungle that is Barcelona and its public transport system. I felt like a kid going for the first day at school. All dressed up with a lunchbox and instructions on how to get back home if I get lost. Anyway, the trip to the interview was nerve wrecking as it was in a part I’d never been to, on the upper southeast side of Barcelona. 2 buses, 1 train and 2 metros needed to get there. And then a walk. I just barely made it, sweating like a pig.
Expecting a 1-on-1 interview once I got there I was in for a bit of a surprise. The reception girl told me to go to the second flloor and enter a room there. At this English school, the receptionist knew no English. So I had to venture a guess as to what the combination of an unknown language to me and odd hand gestures meant. Finally however, I was able to find the room in question. There was just one problem, it was full of people already.
So, I figured it would be best to just sit down and see what would happen. The majority of the group was speaking Spanish while the others stayed just as quiet as me. Some of them seemed to notice the confused look on my face but did not offer any help. When I asked, a baffled questionmarked face met my question. I figured it would be best to wait until I was called in for the interview.
After about 15 minutes of sitting and staring at the back of my hands a guy appeared in a doorway in the room. He read out a bunch of names with people answering “Sí, aquí” if they were present. Once he got to the last name his face got a little funny. “Forpot? Fkvoorpot Guíamuníssssonn?” he said. Then he looked at me, I smiled and he gave a signal that he would just continue. And continue he did! For the next 40 minutes or so I sat there listening to Spanish (I think, might have been Catalan) trying to make sense of it with the group of five words I knew (hola, adios, cerveza, gracias, baño). Considering the subject, you might guess I wasn’t very successful.
After hammering through a bunch of explanations he went on to explain that everyone had to fill out two pieces of paper. One for personal info, the other for qualifications and availability. While people would do this he would have each of us come in for a 1-on-1 interview. I tried my best to fill in the info (all the fields and questions in Spanish/Catalan of course). After he had called everyone in for a quick talk he finally made a second attempt at my name. Unsuccessfully.
In his office I found out that his English was just about as good as my Spanish. And since he would not understand much of what I was saying his interest and attention was quite low. I was out in a matter of minutes, feeling useless but also baffled why they would ask a non-Spanish speaker meet with this guy. You see, I made it clear when they called me that I didn’t speak Spanish or Catalan.
So, I left the building into the busy streets of a Barcelona evening after this first interview feeling like I had the biggest wall in front of me to climb.
Oh, and surprisingly, I haven’t heard from Acadomia.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 6:00 PM GMT

Small streets and shady people
Wow, these last few days have been interesting. And crazy. As I said previously, we needed to find a few things for the new apartment. We were expecting an empty apartment, but I did not expect this empty. There were even several light-bulbs missing. That didn't matter though. The apartment itself more than made up for it.
So again, Flor spent hours online tracking down second hand furniture and appliances. Starting out our focus was on the most basics of necessities: fridge, washing machine, bed, utilities for the kitchen and so on. When the first things started trickling in online the rest came pretty quickly. Once we had found the items, at fair prices, we rented a fairly big van to go and pick things up.
So we set out a few evenings ago to meet up some guy, in some building, in some neigbhourhood in Barcelona. Apparently he had a fridge for us. We found the place easily. That is, the building. But finding the door was harder. Turns out the door was well hidden but accessible after a hole had been made on the building's wall. A pretty shady hallway behind that door led us to a Whirlpool fridge that seemed more out of place than a finance graduate with a job today. We quickly handed over 70 Euros, carried the fridge to the van and got the hell out of there. I've got to admit, I was happy to see the sellers appear smaller and smaller in the van's mirrors.
Next up was another apartment in some place in Barcelona. We got there a bit early which in itself should not pose as a problem. But as there are quite a few cars, finding parking for a big van like that is a challenge. We wound up leaving the car practically in the middle of the street while grabbing some kebabs for dinner.
When we finally arrived to this guy's apartments it seemed like nothing was left. The guy, an Israeli who was heading home for a short vacation, was selling off everything in his apartment since he was moving on to a new one. Although we were only there for a bed we eventually left out with a 2+1 sofa, an old office desk for dining, 4 chairs and a TV that only shows 70% of the picture. All for about 200 Euros. A good deal in my book. The deal turned a bit bittersweet when it came to carrying everything from the apartment to the van since the apartment was on the 6th floor or so with an elevator dating back to the time when people still used knives in wars. A good two hours after arriving there we left all sweaty but with a van full of stuff!
The following day while Flor was at work I went off to IKEA to buy some of the small stuff needed. Not much to say about that aside from how much I love their starter kits. Saves so much time and makes the shopping easy for a guy like me. As I had the car I took the chance and stopped by the immigration office in Barceloneta to finish sorting out my papers. Just in case. On my way back to Sabadell Flor called telling me she had found a washing machine. Several ramps and signs later I managed to make the necessary U-turn and headed off again into the heart of Barcelona. The GPS decided to pick the "quickest" route by pointing me to possibly the smallest of streets. Of course with that big car I left a few marks here and there. So if you ever happen to walk around in Barcelona and see white streaks of car paint, think of me. Half an hour later the car was loaded up with the washing machine.
Somewhere in all of this we managed to offload the first batch of stuff and move it all into the apartment. Luckily the elevator in our apartment is big enough to fit it all so the weight lifting was minimal. So now we have lots of stuff all over the place and the plan is to move in tomorrow and start getting settled.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 10:45 PM GMT

Sleeping under the stars
We have been looking for an apartment lately. The last few months Flor has been sharing a house with a Catalonian guy and his huge dog. As I am allergic we knew we couldn't stay there long. On top of that we obviously wanted our own place. Flor spent a lot of time looking for places on various online sites. We had our sight on places in this same town, Sabadell, as it was convenient for Flor's work. Since I am not working yet it is impossible to predict where the most practical location will be for me.
Although we found quite a few apartments that were interesting - on paper that is - we were appalled by the prices. Coming from this economic boom and now entering the downturn people are reluctant to make prices more realistic. On top of that the practice here is that you pay the landlord 2 months upfront along with the first month's rent and the agency the equivalent of a month's rent. As the going rate of apartments we were looking at would be somewhere between 6-800 Euros we were looking at 2-3000 Euros upfront. Quite a bit of money.
When we were getting a little bit tired of looking we got lucky. The guy she was renting with actually owns an apartment in Sabadell which the tenants are moving out of. He hadn't found anyone to rent the place so we asked to take it on a month-to-month basis until we'd get more settled. We were always reserved about signing a contract while we didn't both have a job and hardly four feet on the ground. We are also still open to the idea if AAI calls up offering a contract somewhere in an exotic place. :-)
So now we have a completely empty place... at least we won't be sleeping outside! We got the keys today. The task of finding the most basic of furniture and utilities is up next.

Labels: day2day, english, Spain

as written by Tobbi G. at 11:40 PM GMT