# My Anniversary waltz...... It is almost one year since we landed in Spain..



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

I have just written a piece for my blog on the almost 1 year anniversary of us living in Spain......Scary! Anyway I thought those of you who advised me and guided me through the initial research may like to read



On February 21st 2014, we boarded the ferry at Portsmouth and began a journey into the unknown and into our new life here in Spain.

It has been a fairly easy transition, from a logistical point of view and although there have been times of stress, those times are far fewer and than when we worked and lived in the UK. Life here is good, at the age of 55 oops 56 ( just had a birthday), we are both retired, from the daily grind, but are busy with our lives here, and do not forget how lucky we are to have the resources, albeit limited to do this.

The emotional side of moving to another country has been the hardest issue to deal with, and as we almost near our first anniversary I am now slowly getting over the emotional baggage that this type of move brings.

We never came with a romantic image of moving abroad and we were fully aware that is was not just about moving to a new life, that it would take time to adjust to a different culture, that it would bring with it a great deal of emotional baggage which could not be ignored. However it is hard to describe how mentally exhausting dealing with all the official paperwork, in a different language, can be, how adjusting to the simple task of buying different foods, not being able to get the products that you want, not understanding what different products do, be they for food or renovations, believe me 3 weeks a year on holiday cannot prepare you for life full time somewhere else, BUT we managed and we love it. If you are not a stoical person, I can see how you may hate your new life, Whatever country you move to, you really do have to be prepared to compromise, change and adapt. If you are not good at change or adapting maybe a move abroad is not for you. If like us you are moving to retire, being with someone 24/7, even with someone you love can take some adjusting.

So all that said and done, have we/I had a bad time? No these feeling have come and gone over a period of almost one year. We love our life here, but we love it because we have had to put in the effort, the effort to learn the language, the effort to make friends with local people, the effort to understand the culture, we are foreigners here it is not up to the Spanish to teach us, it is up to us to learn, although the Spanish we have encountered love to teach and show us the "right" ways, and it is usually done with grace and charm

I was watching a place in the sun on U-Tube, a while back , when they asked an English lady already living there for some period of time, do you speak the language, she said and I quote " no we were not lucky enough to learn", what did she think would happen, a bloody language fairy would bestow on her the ability to converse overnight and then leave a euro coin, to order a cup of coffee hidden under her pillow, like the tooth fairy. Learning the language like adjusting to a different culture is hard, we have sat with Spanish friends for many long minutes in silence as we all try to think of what to say to each other, its hard work, but eventually, like most things in life it pays off. My language is no where near perfect, but we have had some interesting conversations about life and the meaning of it and we are adapting to the culture, living life as the Spanish do, integrating as best we can, because as far as I can see integration is the way to adapt and survive in a foreign land.

So a year into our new life , it has been


hard,
wonderful,
challenging, 
different, 
busy 
Painful
Humbling
frustrating
glorious
Funny
Would do it all over again, you bet I would and I look forward to many more years adapting to the challenges and enjoying life in this wonderful country. 


I leave you with a collection of photos from our first year. Selected from over 4000 taken since we arrived, In No particular order, but a taste of life so far OBVIOUSLY NOT ON THIS FORUM!!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cambio said:


> I have just written a piece for my blog on the almost 1 year anniversary of us living in Spain......Scary! Anyway I thought those of you who advised me and guided me through the initial research may like to read
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Olé.
Love this post!
I had forgotten how exhasting life in a different country can be. Your description took me back to when I moved to Colombia to start a teaching job in a bilingual school. You can imagine how exciting that was, but goodness it's hard! New job, people, house, food, money, papers, people, customs, sounds, weather, people, language, plants, birds, shops, timetables, animals, insects, music oh and did I mention the people??!!
New EVERYTHING.
The very newness is what makes it exciting in the first place and that's what kept me going, but it is also what wears you out.
After about 6 weeks there was a long weekend and I slept almost continuously

When I read your posts I'm amazed at how much you seem to have done already. It seems like you've really got stuck in.

Here's to another year of challenging fun frustrations and happiness (chosen from your word list above):tea:


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

cambio said:


> It has been a fairly easy transition, from a logistical point of view and although there have been times of stress, those times are far fewer and than when we worked and lived in the UK.


Cheers for that, very interesting. Especially as you went from working to retired, as well as UK to Spain, if I read it right.

I remember when my parents went from working to retired without changing countries and their first year was stressful enough. It took 3 years for them to stop shopping on a Saturday and complaining how crowded the town was 

Love the idea of the language fairy (although I think Pesky is one of those ).

Cheers and good luck for second year


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola

Well done for returning to the forum; Every one thinking of moving to Spain should read it. It typifies the new life here - I echo your sentiments - I can identify your experiences to my life over my twelve years here in Spain. 

Davexf


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

> =*alborino*;6189930
> Love the idea of the language fairy (although I think Pesky is one of those ).


I've never been called a language fairy before, and can't think what you mean, but it sounds nice!

My own language experience was ...
I did a CSE in Spanish at school. (The Spanish teacher had a very good record of A and B passes at 'O' level, thought I'd get a C so put me in for CSE and I got a grade one?!) but that was at least 6 years before I went to Colombia and a lot of what you learn at that level is through memorisation and not understanding. I bought a Teach Yourself Spanish book and studied it assiduously; I had the motivation after all! When I got there I found I could understand basic conversation like when the bus was coming, what was for breakfast etc, but could say little. However, after about 6 months there was a big difference in language ability between my colleagues who had arrived at the same time and myself. That laying the groundwork soon paid off. I then had some classes for a while, but found that I soon got to saturation point because with living in the country and working with Colombians I had a lot of input everyday so what I really needed was to put what I had learned into practice. Enter Colombian boyfriend with lots of one to one practice...!
Then of course I came to Spain and maried a Spaniard.
So, study, study, study and keep at it AND/ OR spice up your love life with one of the locals


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I've never been called a language fairy before, and can't think what you mean, but it sounds nice!
> 
> My own language experience was ...
> I did a CSE in Spanish at school. (The Spanish teacher had a very good record of A and B passes at 'O' level, thought I'd get a C so put me in for CSE and I got a grade one?!) but that was at least 6 years before I went to Colombia and a lot of what you learn at that level is through memorisation and not understanding. I bought a Teach Yourself Spanish book and studied it assiduously; I had the motivation after all! When I got there I found I could understand basic conversation like when the bus was coming, what was for breakfast etc, but could say little. However, after about 6 months there was a big difference in language ability between my colleagues who had arrived at the same time and myself. That laying the groundwork soon paid off. I then had some classes for a while, but found that I soon got to saturation point because with living in the country and working with Colombians I had a lot of input everyday so what I really needed was to put what I had learned into practice. Enter Colombian boyfriend with lots of one to one practice...!
> ...


:eyebrows:I've heard a lots of reasons for choosing a particular lover, often money.... but that's a new one!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

cambio said:


> I was watching a place in the sun on U-Tube, a while back , when they asked an English lady already living there for some period of time, do you speak the language, she said and I quote " no we were not lucky enough to learn", what did she think would happen, a bloody language fairy would bestow on her the ability to converse overnight and then leave a euro coin, to order a cup of coffee hidden under her pillow, like the tooth fairy. Learning the language like adjusting to a different culture is hard, we have sat with Spanish friends for many long minutes in silence as we all try to think of what to say to each other, its hard work, but eventually, like most things in life it pays off.


I have had that said to me "oh, but you're lucky, you can speak Spanish". It really puts my back up, and they get a sharp retort that luck had nothing to do with it but hard work, time and money did.

You are right, the effort does pay off and for me definitely helped to dissipate that initial feeling of being a stranger in a strange land.


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## nicola3460 (Jan 15, 2015)

We've only just started this week of thinking of moving to Spain hence enrolling with this forum today. Next thing on my list - Google spanish lessons here in England as we're initially thinking of moving across in 2 years time, that might just be enough time for us to get the jist of it!!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

nicola3460 said:


> We've only just started this week of thinking of moving to Spain hence enrolling with this forum today. Next thing on my list - Google spanish lessons here in England as we're initially thinking of moving across in 2 years time, that might just be enough time for us to get the jist of it!!


I've suggested this before to people on the forum who want to learn Spanish in the UK, but once you get to the stage where you're able to hold at least a basic conversation, try to find a Spanish person (who may have come to live and work in England and wants to improve their English) to have regular conversation exchange sessions with. I did this here in Spain with a Spanish guy who was learning English and whilst formal lessons are good (in fact essential, IMO, for building a solid foundation in the language) nothing brings on your conversational skills better than regular practice with a native speaker.


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## nicola3460 (Jan 15, 2015)

Lynn R said:


> try to find a Spanish person (who may have come to live and work in England and wants to improve their English) to have regular conversation exchange sessions with.


Just found a guy in the town where we live who is Spanish (from Madrid) and been here a year. He offers lessons in an informal way, so chat/quizzes/etc to make it fun but relevant. Sounds just the job.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The teacher who taught me is from Bariloche, way up in the Andes in Argentina. We are fortunate hardly anyone here can or will speak English.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

nicola3460 said:


> Just found a guy in the town where we live who is Spanish (from Madrid) and been here a year. He offers lessons in an informal way, so chat/quizzes/etc to make it fun but relevant. Sounds just the job.


You'll find lots of threads about learning Spanish on here.
I'd say:
Don't expect too much
Do study regularly 
Better to study a little and often than a lot not very often
Go over, revise and recycle what you've learnt as many times as necessary.
And
Enjoy it as much as possible


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

nicola3460 said:


> Just found a guy in the town where we live who is Spanish (from Madrid) and been here a year. He offers lessons in an informal way, so chat/quizzes/etc to make it fun but relevant. Sounds just the job.



Good luck Nicola.........learning the language is important and it will, even if you are not fluent, open up your life here in many different ways. I would caution though, others may or may not agree, whilst the basics are the same, I have found that what I thought was correct is not, and you have to be able to listen carefully and learn from the locals. I cannot think of any examples at the moment.... even within our own village, when I have sat with a group of Spaniards they have argued over the use of certain words.

I came with the ability to "construct" sentences, once here I soaked up every word I heard, carried a note book around, and a dictionary, even in shops the dick &harry would come out along with the notebook. Oh yes and I write in Spanish, texting friends or whatsapping them!!, I use every resource available to me for example 


Duolingo,
babbel
verb tables
micheal thomas
spanish childrens books

and I try, and I say try to do at least an hour everyday. That includes walking the dogs and have "out loud" conversations in Spanish with myself. BUT the best advice I can give anyone is do not be afraid, no one cares that it is not perfect, they care that you care enough to try, and they care enough to correct you, and that one day when you realise you had a conversation with a stranger and they understood you and you understood them can make you float on air!


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## nicola3460 (Jan 15, 2015)

Thank you so much Cambio, that reply is so valuable. I am a bit scared simply because I haven't been very well and so I'm on steroids which tend to make the brain a bit foggy, so to take on a new language will be a challenge. However, we have at least 2 years before we move across so the fact that I've potentially found a Spanish chap who will start us off is really helping. Just got to do it now!!

Thank you again.
Nicola x


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

cambio said:


> BUT the best advice I can give anyone is do not be afraid, no one cares that it is not perfect, they care that you care enough to try, and they care enough to correct you, and that one day when you realise you had a conversation with a stranger and they understood you and you understood them can make you float on air!


How true.

My Spanish is not good; but, I have found without exception, if you try people will help you. They might reply in English thinking that the whole procedure will be easier for all concerned - persevere in pidgin Spanish and you will learn more and (other than the Correos on a Saturday morning!!) they will take the time to help/correct you.

Cambio, as I've said before you are pathfinding for me and so much of what you say I find myself smiling wryly at.


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> So, study, study, study and keep at it AND/ OR spice up your love life with one of the locals


I fear Giulia may take exception to this method!.....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

StevejR1 said:


> I fear Giulia may take exception to this method!.....


And who is Giulia?


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

A very interesting post, for us, and for anyone thinking, or on the eve, of moving to Spain. 

Our situation is similar, but of course the obstacles the same for most of us.

I think we accept that there will be a big transition once the move is made. I think I agree that your enthusiasm and excitement get you through most of the hardships associated with it all.

We are lucky in some respects, and not in others....

Giulia has been learning Spanish for nearly two years now, and she is very near fluent..I'd certainly say at a very very good level. She is lucky in that she is very good at picking up languages, and also of Italian decent, so she is fluent in Italian, and she has found the similarity in the languages a great help. She also speaks French, and a little German. .....my progress with the language is not so great! 

But because Giulia is from Italy, and lived there for a good portion of her life, she is well aware of the red tape, protocols, paperwork, and officialdom, that we are likely to encounter! It doesn't fill her with dread, but she is braced and ready!!

I on the other hand used to travel solo on a motorcycle through Eastern Europe a lot, and probably covered most of it now, so I have experienced how things operate...and I do find it exciting, because it is different. I know a holiday isn't the same as living with it day in day out, but it's not like I'm kidding myself that it isn't there. But I take it all as part of absorbing a new culture...I am the immigrant, it is up to me to learn..the language, the ways, the etiquette 

I hope after our move we will still be as positive as yourselves....I'm sure we will


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And who is Giulia?


My other half!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

StevejR1 said:


> My other half!


OK, so maybe in my post I should have added 
"preferably if you are single"


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

StevejR1 said:


> My other half!


When you move to Spain sounds like she will be your other three quarters


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## StevejR1 (May 21, 2013)

alborino said:


> When you move to Spain sounds like she will be your other three quarters


She will certainly be dealing with a lot of the interactions...but despite being a bit annoyed with my ineptitude, she does actually like the responsibility of being in charge! 

My department is enthusiasm, drive, and resilience 

I'm sure whatever hurdles we face, they will all be worth it in the end


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## fevmor (Jan 10, 2014)

Good to read your entry. Our anniverasywill be a couple ofweeks after yours. We are calling the 4 th of March 'Old Country Day'.Planninmg a slap up meal and an evaluation of what we have achieved and what we hope to in the future. 
Just returned from the airport after dropping my OH off to do a week's work in UK.
First time driving our new to us Spanish car.Felt really strange to be an ordinary plated car. Took a while to buy it as our truck was overheating and bought the new car from the garage who are going to repair it. We went to him as he swore a bit and told us that he would find us a car when he realised that we had returned from UK with a different one. It took most of Friday to get the docs transferred, get a copy of my residencia from council, and then get the lovely mapfre lady to write us a cover note. So in Friday night , in a snow storm and surrounded by thunder and lightening I slowly drove it up the mountain to what is now home !
Was never this difficult in UK but feels we have made that little bit more commitment to truly living here. The first year is difficult but oh so exciting !


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