This is a picture of me and my daughter Felicity when she was less than a year old. She is almost 5 now! Kids grow up too fast! It’s unbelievable that that person I was holding is getting ready to start going to school! Scary!
Anyway, I have mentioned before that I started this blog, because many of the language learning blogs were made by single people living abroad in another country or at least in a country that has a significant community who speak the language. That doesn’t mean their blogs are bad or that I don’t like them, but There was a voice that I wanted to give to those who are full-time workers/parents.
So I thought you would like to see what a typical work day is like for me. It’s not that my life is really that interesting, but for me it is very important. So here I go:
Me despierto y me levento no son los mismos
I typically wake up at 7:00 and then again at 7:10 and then again at 7:20, 7:30, and finally 7:40. Only when I see that I can’t sleep any longer I get up. I get ready for work and dash out to the car. Now first thing I do, is plug in my ipod and turn it on to the podcast or lesson I am working on next. This will depend on which day it is according to my system.
I have a 30 min drive to work, so I can get a lot done on the way there. Drive times are probably when I get the most studying in at all. I study everywhere I drive, even if its two mins away. Two mins there and back means 4 mins of study. That is 4 mins of perfecting my Spanish.
Trabajo como un receptionista
I have mentioned before that I am a receptionist. I don’t have many duties during the day, but they do like me to look busy. Since I can’t just start speaking Spanish at work or listen to podcasts, I often write blog posts, read blog posts, and lately I am writing my Thai course.
For lunch I often walk over to a cafe near my work. That way I can order food and study while I wait. If it is an output day, I still just listen to a podcast at the cafe. I don’t want to freak out the other guests with me spitting out, he desayunado esta manana or la pelota es azul. Then I go back to work and same old same old till 5:00
Vuelvo a casa!
Of course I study on the way home. When at home at open the door and usually say, “Hola, familia!” Then I hear one of the best sounds in the world, “DADDY!!!!!!!” It is usually not long after that I see what the kids of done to the house and we start the battle of who should clean what. The exception to that was yesterday. I came home and the place was wonderfully clean, even the kids bedrooms. I threw out a ‘que orden’ and told them how proud I was that they cleaned up the house for me.
Dinner is often a tag team event for my wife and me. Sometimes she cooks it all and sometimes I cook it all(she does that more often than me though), but usually it is a team effort. This always my wife and I to communicate and talk about things.
After dinner I usually offer to do the dishes. Why? Because it gives me another opportunity to study spanish at the same time. My wife notices this, but ignores the fact that I do dishes more is because I really want to study.
Despues, nos preparamos para dormir
A few nights a week, we try to watch a movie as a family. Other times my wife and I will watch a movie just the two of us. Then it’s off to bed and ready to start the day again
Like I said it’s not that my life is interesting, but my life is mine. I love it. I wouldn’t change a thing!
