It's the little things....
When I don't know where to put my fare as I get on the bus, I feel like an idiot.
When I find my stop without having to ask the driver, I feel like a genius.
I feel like a newborn -- I have to relearn everything. What does a supermarket look like? Where can I get a bottle of wine? Do pedestrians have the right of way? Do people look each other in the eye on the street?
It's all these unwritten subtexts and cultural codes that we take for granted when we are at home... All this relearning makes everything feel like a super-human effort (oh my god! I actually managed to buy a quart of milk! I'm the king!), but it's fun, too. And it makes you evaluate the semiotics of everything -- how many of our cultural symbols we internalize and understand without even noticing.
I'm curious to see how long it takes me to internalize the Barcelona way of life (well, of course it's closed between 2:00 and 4:00pm! I mean, who in their right mind would be *open* at that hour?). It's all about learning the rhythm of a city -- culturally, temporally and emotionally...
In other news... some statistics from my first day of job-hunting:
Total schools visited: 7
Resumes delivered: 4
Snooty brits who told me "only EU citizens" and hung up: 1
Times I was asked "where are you from?" (including the corner store guy): 5
Schools that were closed (between 2:00 and 4:00pm): 2
Schools that were on my list, but didn't actually exist: 1
Blisters on my feet: 1
Directors who introduced themselves: 2
Times someone couldn't pronounce my name: all of them
Schools that asked me to come in and teach a test class: 1 (woohoo!)
Kilometres walked: no idea -- a lot
All in all, a pretty successful first day, I think...
When I don't know where to put my fare as I get on the bus, I feel like an idiot.
When I find my stop without having to ask the driver, I feel like a genius.
I feel like a newborn -- I have to relearn everything. What does a supermarket look like? Where can I get a bottle of wine? Do pedestrians have the right of way? Do people look each other in the eye on the street?
It's all these unwritten subtexts and cultural codes that we take for granted when we are at home... All this relearning makes everything feel like a super-human effort (oh my god! I actually managed to buy a quart of milk! I'm the king!), but it's fun, too. And it makes you evaluate the semiotics of everything -- how many of our cultural symbols we internalize and understand without even noticing.
I'm curious to see how long it takes me to internalize the Barcelona way of life (well, of course it's closed between 2:00 and 4:00pm! I mean, who in their right mind would be *open* at that hour?). It's all about learning the rhythm of a city -- culturally, temporally and emotionally...
In other news... some statistics from my first day of job-hunting:
Total schools visited: 7
Resumes delivered: 4
Snooty brits who told me "only EU citizens" and hung up: 1
Times I was asked "where are you from?" (including the corner store guy): 5
Schools that were closed (between 2:00 and 4:00pm): 2
Schools that were on my list, but didn't actually exist: 1
Blisters on my feet: 1
Directors who introduced themselves: 2
Times someone couldn't pronounce my name: all of them
Schools that asked me to come in and teach a test class: 1 (woohoo!)
Kilometres walked: no idea -- a lot
All in all, a pretty successful first day, I think...
posted by tsunamivalentine at 9:08 AM
1 Comments:
I had the exact same kind of experience moving to Ireland... I imagine it's more pronounced when you're speaking a different language but nonetheless, the social norms and cultural standards of behavior were surprisingly different and it took a while for me to cop on to some seemingly very basic things... It's all fascinating, I think. Everyone should emigrate at some point. It's humbling and exciting at the same time.
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