World Cup 2010 Finale in ESPAÑA : Part I

It´s my first time Spain. And it´s the World Cup season. Of course it´s nothing much but the country I´m in right now is the winner of the World Cup for the very first time. It´s even their first time to be in the finals... Now that´s something. If I was in Malaysia, World Cup 2010 would still have been the same like the previous ones. However, this time, I was able to squeeze in with the crowd and then watch them celebrating after winning.

We all gathered at Plaza de España in Barcelona; the spot with a very very large TV screen. I guess the happenings in Madrid would have been more extreme but Barcelona is good enough.

The journey started off with a very packed train ride to Barcelona. And it´s not a short trip. It´s a torturing 45 minutes. If the trains in Melbourne during peak hours are related to canned sardines, then I guess, the one I had in Spain can be related to garbage being cubed. Totally no air. Let me explain how packed it was. I had my hand squeezed between two girls´butt and then another one literally leaning on me (in front). And then I was leaning on someone else. I don´t even have to worry about falling despite not holding any support bars because I was supported 360 degrees.

I finally got out of the train. What a relieve that no one farted in the train

At Plaza de Espana.. Many people

In five minutes... More people

Another Five minutes... Number multiplied

Yeap... More...

Yeaahh... That's it.. It took me almost ten minutes just to reach the front

Suddenly everyone becomes cooperative. They all helped each other to climb up

Even the top of the toilet has people... Imagine if you wanna shit... Kek sai...
Then BOOM BOOM from the top.. the shit goes in again. Not easy. Even for peeing

Initially, I was only at the side..

Then I decided to get into the crowd with my friends. I lost the first group of friends but luckily I found the second group

Taken from inside the crowd.. =D

That's it... I'm in the crowd.. That's me with friends.. the other girl's face was covered unfortunately.

All together, there're around 100,000 people I was told.. But perhaps 30% are supporting Netherlands. That's because I'm in Catalunya. You can't call them Spanish. They're Catalans. It's complicated.

This is before the match begins. After the match, it's another different thing. I had to go back to Girona in the middle of the match but arrived right in time for the celebration.

Octopus Paul has spoilt the suspense. It's like it's known that Spain's gonna win for sure. I'm pretty sure the octopus has caused a lot of loss for the betting companies.

The celebration to be posted in Part II

First Week At Work

I think I've just thrown myself into a triple threat challenge. I'm in a company where only one person speaks English. I'm learning Spanish but I'm in the Catalunya region where people speak Catalan so that doesn't help me at all. And of course, Spain uses the European Union Standards which I've never seen before. And finally, all the technical terms used are in Catalan. People must think I'm crazy to have done such internship.

Two translation books which I have to read about the translation of the Engineering terms

But who cares!! I think I have made the best choice. No regrets. It's the first day of work and I already liked the company.

The office building for Aglomerats Girona. There're also factories which I haven't seen yet

There's even petrol tank for the trucks

The people here are very friendly. Well, for the company I work with at least. I feel accepted in the company. It's not like in Kuching where a trainee will be a trainee. In this company, ranking is not that important. Everyone tries to speak English to me, using whatever words they know. I on the other hand tries to speak in Spanish, using all the words I know. We had to use the primitive method of communication (using actions and drawings). It´s really funny though but it works. And luckily there´s google translation. The way we communicate is like MSN chatting. The only difference is that we´re next to each other.

This is how we communicate on site.. Drawing on the ground

I think I´ve got two advisors, Gabriel and Albert. They´re both engineers I think but in different departments. And they were really good. Although we have language problems, they´ll try their best to explain everything. Of course I have to be fast too. I make an effort to not let them explain the second time.

I started going to the site already on the first day in order to get to know how the people in Catalunya work. The first one was to the hills where there's road construction. And the second one was one of the old buildings for an old town which needs rehabilitation.

I don't know why the tree is not cut. Probably because it has two trunks

The excavation is so steep...but it works

The width did not reach the acceptable limit, so this is how they extend the existing lane width

The second site which I visited. This one is a nursery

I live in Girona but I work in Santa Cristina d' Aro which is a 25 minutes drive. Don´t know why I live in a different town but it was arranged for me like that. So, I have different colleagues driving me to and from work every day. I felt like a burden sometimes but I had no choice. And in the car, there´s always a long awkward moment of silence because there´s no internet in the car. I couldn´t stop grinning because it was so awkward and besides, that´s all I could do in the car. I don´t know if my colleague thinks I´m crazy. There´re so many topics in my head but I can´t express them in Spanish.

And I kept using the wrong words which I would only realise after I finish the conversation.

It's funny my name over here changed to JiUi... and they kept on pronouncing fast making it sound like Chui (Water).

Nevertheless, I feel so lucky to have been chosen by this company. This is exactly what I have imagined. Even more I think. There are so many girls working in the company and none of them are old women. And even better, the company pays for my lunch wherever I eat. Awesome.

Journey to Girona: Part 2

From the airport, Javier was the one picking me up. He’s a Local Committee of the IAESTE in Spain. I was supposed to be taking a train to Girona but he ended up driving me all the way to Girona which took around 2 and a half hours. He even drove me around Barcelona for sight-seeing. It was awesome. On the way, I saw girls sitting at the road side alone, wearing sexy clothes. Javier told me they are bitches (whores actually). That’s new to me.

They call this the Dick Building... haha

This building is so grand in real life.. It's a museum

I reached my accommodation at 5p.m. It’s a share flat. Quite a traditional flat which I did not get used to at all but it was ok the next day. I did not have the jet-lag feeling though. Probably because I’m like a pig. I slept at 9p.m and woke up at 6a.m. I didn’t have dinner because no shops were open. I even had to ask shampoo and bath gel from my flatmate because I threw mine away in the airport.

I have 3 flatmates. Tina from Finland who speaks perfect English, Oscar who speaks little English, and another guy who does not speak English but I haven’t seen him yet. I guess I’ll have to let it flow naturally. I’ll always say “Puedo hablar un poco de Espanol” (I speak little Spanish) but when they speak in Spanish, I would say “No entiendo” (I don’t understand)

The greetings here would be hard for me though especially to the girls. When I first arrived, Tina and Javier did the cheek to cheek greeting but I only shook her hands. It’s a really bad impression. I reminded myself to try to do that when I was in the car but when I met the girl, I just can’t do it. Lol. This is gonna take some time.

And my room.. Not too shabby but still it's differ