One Week To Go!

Well, it's officially one week until I leave for Barcelona!

Some background information:

Since September 2011, I was really questioning what I wanted to do after I graduated from college with a BA in Music. I knew I didn't want to go to graduate school, nor did I want to just take any "regular" job that came along in my hometown or in Oregon, where I went to school. In the end, I decided to get my TEFL or Teach English as a Foreign Language certificate and see where it took me. I really wanted to do something different and also have the ability to pursue music outside of the Western Classical spectrum. My goal/dream was to teach in South America, specifically Brazil. 

I began to apply for jobs abroad and work on an online course through the TEFL Institute while finishing up my BA. This was a really hard thing to do, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who can't handle a lot of work and stress! I saw a Facebook post on the TEFL Alumni Group for a family in Barcelona, Spain who wanted someone to come and live with them and in exchange, teach the family English. For some reason, this really struck me, and something told me to apply. So I did.

In the end, I was offered the position in Spain, and had to make the difficult decision on whether to take the job, or continue pursuing the job search in Brazil, which was actually turning out quite fruitful. I(obviously) ended up taking the job in Spain, the opportunity was too amazing to pass up. I liked the family, and also thought it would be a good starting job right out of college.

My trial period is for the summer, so for the next 3(but hopefully more) months, I will be living in a nice area of Barcelona, Spain, with a lovely family of four and taking care of and teaching English to two girls. I will also be working with the parents, but my primary students are the girls.  

So, I now have 7 days left until I start the next phase of my life: As an ESL Teacher.