COLEGIO School is very different here. Every school has all grades, from ages four to eighteen. There are three different groups though - Primaria for six years, ESO for four and Bachillerato for two - and they usually are in different parts of the school. My school is quite large but I've seen only the part I'm in everyday. Like most european schools, I think, your courses are based on the option you want to follow. At my school there is four options; socia...

AMIGOS For an exchange student I feel as though making friends was really easy. When I got off the train my host mother and brother were there but they also brought a family friend with them because they don't speak english. Her name is Camino, she's my age and we pretty much became friends instantly. One of her first questions was if I surfed, I said I had before and so now we're making plans to up to San Sebastian one weekend and surf! She also told me tha...

FAMILIA My first host family here consists of Sandra and Fernando - the parents, and Elias and Lucas - twin boys. Before I came I didn't receive a package about my family, only e-mails, so I really didn't know much. For instance I was not aware Lucas and Elias were twins or that Elias was an exchange student in Virginia for the year. I really like my family here, it's never been awkward and I get along well with them. None of them speak english, which is act...

LA CULTURA I'm finding everyday that the european lifestyle is very nice and I believe it suits me :) . The biggest thing I've notice that's different is the smoking. In my english class we read a brief article on smoking and discussed it, my teacher went on to say that a heavy smoker is someone who smokes twenty cigarettes a day! I don't know how many are in a pack but that seems like an awful lot. There's also this notion that the non smokers have to deal...

VIAJER Tuesday September 7th at 6:30 my plane took off - there was no turning back and my adventure had commenced. I had a window seat, which I always enjoy, and I looked at Nova Scotia for as long as possible watching it disappear knowing I wouldn't see it for another year. Once we were set up at the runway just about to accelerate the man next to me made the sign of the cross. I always like the "this is it" feeling at that point and I appreciated...