16/09/2012
Well I have officially started
attending classes. It was a nightmare trying to find out where I was
supposed to be for each class and consequently I missed my first few lectures.
Inside the college is very modern and
very clean. The main stairs located at the lobby by the main door
are impressive with a large modern painting adorning the wall half
way up the stairway. It gives one a feeling of culture and
refinement but without the stuffiness and self aggrandizement
projected by some other Universities.
You may all remember that Spanish
students come to Ireland every summer to improve their English; most
of them are only children. We have seen them huddle together sitting
on grass verges or indeed blocking the pathways. Well imagine those
children about five years older. I have sat in a room with about
fifty of them and felt very old indeed. I found that when I took my
seat they gave me a wide berth and I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Hopefully things will improve. Maybe when they realise I am a native
English speaker some of them may be disposed to talking to me to
practise their English. Thankfully, in the Spanish Literature class
I am not the only mature student: there is Mairead, the girl from
Maynooth, there is another girl who I guess is in her late thirties
or early forties and some Spanish guy who looks to be in his late
sixties. So I am not the only one feeling a bit odd and out of place.
For anyone who is interested, the
subjects I have chosen for my first semester are the following;
Spanish Literature, texts and contexts, Hispano-American Literature,
texts and contexts, Spanish Linguistics, An Introduction to English
Literature, An Introduction to the Culture of the Anglo sphere. I
was unable to choose Latin as it clashed with two of the Spanish
subjects and I need a minimum amount of credits in Spanish to
complete the year to Maynooth’s satisfaction. Here is a copy of my
timetable which I have cobbled together from all the disparate
information that is floating around on the University website. As
you can see it is handy enough for me on a Monday should anyone be
over to visit me for the weekend.
It will, of course, be wrong and I will
have to change it when I end up in the wrong class. At least I have
something to work with at the moment. It also changes every second
week so the class locations listed on this timetable will not
necessarily be the class locations for next week. So far I have
attended the two English classes and the Spanish Literature class. I
was late for the first English class because I was at room 11 and
waiting for everyone else to turn up but when nobody arrived I went
looking for the information desk. They explained to me there that I
should be in room -11, menos once, which is actually
downstairs in the basement. Such fun. The English classes will be
conducted in English and students are expected to hand in work in
English only. The Spanish class was delivered by a guy who spoke in a
low monotone and I was sitting near the back of the class, therefore
it was a strain to hear him, never mind understand him. I shall have
to sit up near the front next time and try to work out what is
actually going on. I have missed the Hispano-American lectures so
far as we had to attend an Erasmus student meeting to welcome us to
the college. I am still awaiting my username and password so that I
can log on to the virtual campus and find all the information I need.
Hopefully that will happen this coming week. I won’t hold my
breath.
Other news, Moises has promised to go
to the County Council with me tomorrow to show them his DNI card so
that I can get my empadronamiento card. ´What is this card of which
you speak?´, I hear you say. Well, every municipality in Spain
holds a record of local residents: the Padron. This is held at the
town hall (Ayuntamiento). I suppose the Irish equivalent would be
the electoral role or something like that. If you are planning to
live here and have children, it gives you the right to enrol them in
the local schools (if places are limited registered children will get
preference). It also allows you to take advantage of local leisure
facilities with discounted fees at the municipal sports centre. It
is often necessary when looking for work via the equivalent of FAS or
the dole. I have been speaking with my brother, Gary, who has been
living in Valencia for the last five years and he told me that he
hasn´t bothered applying for his ´patron´ yet; he just couldn´t
be bothered. Now there is a man who integrated into this country.
For me getting that card is the last step in completing all the
paperwork and it is a matter of principle at this stage; I just want
to get it sorted so that I won´t have been beaten by the pen
pushers.
He also sent me the following link
which you guys should have a look at. It takes a light-hearted look
at Spanish bureaucracy and it is good to see the ´system´being
beaten for a change.
Hasta pronto amigos.
You'll use any excuse to sit up the front of the class and play the teacher's pet!
ReplyDeleteS.