Sam McLeod's blog!

Yes… school is upon me in full swing. Life is still going well though. I actually just got interviewed for The Whit, the Rowan newspaper, so we’ll see how that goes. The Symphony in C is coming to Rowan to perform, which I am very excited about. It’s on October 4 at 2 PM. I will be there, and it’s free for Rowan students, and only $10 for students not from Rowan. That’s an amazing deal, so if you’re in the area, come check it out!

I have a whole lot of work to do as always, but it’s okay. I’ve decided to enjoy my last regular semester, as I will be student teaching in the spring. I’m just finishing up my last load of classes, including Growth and Development of Jazz, my lab science, lessons, flute ensemble, wind ensemble, the usual. It doesn’t seem like I have a lot, but it always feels like more than I think.

There’s a lot of outside stress this semester, but that’s not here nor there. I’m just doing the best I can with that.

My recital is November 22 at 3 PM in Boyd Recital Hall. I’ll be playing works by Ferroud, Taktakishvili, Gaubert, and Christopher Caliendo. It will go well hopefully, so wish me luck as it gets closer! Every music education major has to present a senior recital as part of our curriculum for our major. If you are a performance major, you have to give both a junior and a senior recital. It’s basically your super final exam for your lessons, in front of a lot of people. I’m looking forward to it though.

Other than that, I’m still working for a local marching band, doing a bunch of little jobs, and not getting enough sleep. Sounds like college to me!

Back to school… Back to school… to prove to dad I’m not a fool… (What movie!?)

Well, school has started again. We’re already on week 3. It’s flying by. I already feel slightly overwhelmed, which is not unusual I suppose. I have a lot more classes than I realized. I’m taking Human Anatomy and Physiology this semester, and that class entails a lot of work. I can now name all 11 body systems, body cavities, etc.
I’m also trying to diversify my studies this semester. I’m in jazz ed seminar again, along with jazz choir, and graduate conducting lessons. I always somehow manage to overwhelm myself. I think I honestly prefer it that way though. I would much rather be busy than bored.

So, in other news, a good portion of my things that I put in storage were destroyed due to water damage. Yes, not particularly fun. I’m currently trying to sort that mess out, so here is my quote that is currently inspiring me:

“Everything we fight only weakens us and hinders our ability to see the opportunity in the obstacle.” Let’s go with that.

I can’t believe this is my last real semester with classes and such. I student teach in the spring already!! Wow… my application is due next Monday already. I feel like time since May has definitely sped up considerably.

Spain was great. I miss it. A lot. I guess I just have to get used to America again…

I appologize for the lack of updates for a month… I had limited internet access, and when I did have it, my blog did not load. So I will try and catch you up…

 Okay, so I lived and worked in a 14th century monastery. Very Hogwarts. It was so much fun and I met some really great people from all over the place. Two live in LA, one in Wales, one in Barcelona, several in Madrid, one in Indiana, one in St. Louis. It’s really cool to meet people, but really hard to leave them when it’s time to say goodbye. Needless to say, I was sad to leave. Not because I didn’t want to come back, but… well, you know.

I had 2 classes, each one for two weeks. My first class was 10/11 year olds at an intermediate level. They were so cute and so smart. They worked really hard, and we got to play fun games. They were so fun. We had to perform for a talent show, and they sang Summer Nights from Grease. It was adorable.

My second class was a different story. They were 12/13 year olds at an upper intermediate level. They were TERRIBLE. They never spoke English, they were lazy, they were rude. I was happy to get rid of them at the end of the two weeks. I tried everything to make the class better, but it just wasn’t working.

At the end of my second two weeks, Owen came over and we went backpacking! We ended up going to Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Treviso, Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia), Bled, Vienna, Prague, Paris, and Lyon. It was really intense and so busy. We were up and about from 9 AM until midnight everyday. It was exhausting, but so much fun. I was really glad I got to experience it with him too. We’re good travel partners: he’s good with maps, and I’m not afraid to ask for directions haha. My Spanish actually got to be pretty good while I was over there. I’m glad I actually got to use it too.

So backpacking included: Climbing 689 stairs up the Eiffel Tower, wandering aimlessly through Venice, laying in the grass in Parque de Retiro in Madrid, going to a soccer game in Lyon, bartering in Prague, walking through Freud’s office in Vienna, hiking up a serious hill in Bled to reach the castle at the top, eating gelato and pizza in Italy, my computer falling out of a locker in Vienna and rendering it destroyed (I’m getting the pics off, it’s okay), out laundry sitting in a pool of freezing water in Vienna, flying from Madrid to Barcelona for 10 euro, walking ALL over Paris, seeing famous artwork in the Louvre, and finally, returning to America to wake up at 5 AM everyday because of the time change. Of course, some things have been omitted by accident.

So all in all, the summer was amazing. I kept a journal the entire time so I can try to remember in the future. I highly recommend living in another country. It helps you examine what it is that makes you you, and what you like and dislike about the culture that you come from. For example, the Spanish don’t live to work, they work to live. One of the most famous sayings is “Tranquilo! No pasa nada!” which basically means “Relax! Nothing has happened.” That’s my new motto in life haha

So I’m back in America now. Owen’s mom picked me up at the airport, and then we picked him up the next day. He had an overnight layover in Stockholm… which he would not recommend to anyone to ever do. Then I came back to visit my Auntie Karyn and her family in Galloway. My cousin Chris helped me move into my new place with my bed. Then the next day I made the drive up to Massachusetts to visit my new brother! He was born on 8-11 and is 9 pounds 2 oz. He’s pretty cute, but REALLY cranky. I’m going to see my Mom and sister too while I’m here.

Okay… well, that doesn’t really give the entire summer, but I hope it’s enough for you to forgive me for not writing!

So now we’re in Granada… woot! Our hostel actually is on a street that is completely under construction. So I woke up this morning to the lovely sound of concrete and cranes… Mmm, now that’s an alarm clock. Casey and Maria just went to figure out when we can take the bus back. Most of them are full already, so we might have to leave at an ungodly early hour. That 5 1/2 hour bus ride is not something I am looking forward to.  I have 2 full days in Madrid until I leave, so I might take a daytrip somewhere. I still have to go to the Reina Sofia museum and see Guernica by Picasso.

 I’m looking forward to actually working. It’s hard to always be moving around and never be settled anywhere. I can’t believed it’s July already! My 4th of July is going to be very very boring… there’s no excitement over here in Spain for that. I start work on the 5th, so the 4th will probably include lots of planning. I have to somehow figure out what to do for my grammar exercises. Can you say modal verbs?

We’re going to see the Alhambra today, which is going to be awesome. It’s basically like a Moorish fortress, you should google it. Apparently, Picassa has a limit of online storage, which is surprising. I’m going to have to find somewhere else to post my pics soon. I have a Flickr too, so that might be the next option. Google usually doesn’t do things like that.

So, since I’ve had the internet, more pics are up. After the next couple of days, I won’t have WiFi, so you will have to wait in suspense until I return to America. :-)  Here’s the link again http://picasaweb.google.com/sjmcleod26

I have been released from my training!! Woo hoo! Three weeks went by quickly and slowly. We came back to
Madrid yesterday. We left at 9:30 in the morning, but we all got pulled over because the license plate was in the wrong spot on the van… it took an hour. Everthing takes longer in
Spain! It was definitely an interesting experience. There was a shepherd in the field next to us while we were sitting there waiting. He had a donkey and everything. You don’t see that everyday!

Right now, I’m in Córdoba, which is about 5 hours south of
Madrid. It is the home of the Mezquita, a very significant church in Spanish history. It was built by the Romans, was eventually taken over by the Moors, and after the Moors were expelled, is now controlled by the Catholic Church. The Moorish influence is very clear here. It is so beautiful though. I’ll try to post the pics soon!

We also walked around for a little bit. I got an AWESOME present for Carla, so I was excited about that. I’m pretty terrible about buying things for people, but I try hard, and it’s the thought that counts, right?

We got here at about 10 PM last night. The bus station is on the complete other side of the city, so we wandered for a bit until we decided to just take a cab. It was starting to get dark. Fortunately, it’s not as expensive as Madrid to do things, but it is still
Europe. This trip though, leads me to believe that everyone should try to backpack in their lifetime. It’s a very valuable learning experience. I can’t even list how many things I’ve learned on this trip. The 2 most important so far: Pack light, and always have snacks handy haha. The second rule comes into play as Sarah, Maria, and I wandered around at midnight trying to find food. We failed unfortunately… which made for a luxurious lunch at Burger King today. I have been craving American food so much the last couple of days. Here in
Spain, a huge part of the diet is made up of bread and ham. It’s crazy how much of those two things I’ve eaten in the last 3 ½ weeks. I love bread, and I don’t even want to eat it anymore. Salads here usually come with tuna, which I have tried and now like. No chicken Caesar salads here. That’s going to be the first thing I eat when I go home! I still have 7 more weeks here. It’s still a long time, but I’m about a third of the way done my trip.

Owen is definitely coming over, and the plans get more solidified. We are definitely going to Barcelona first, and then over to Eastern Europe (yet to be determined), Prague, Paris, Lyon, back to
Madrid to leave. By the time I get back, the summer is going to be over basically. I have to make my way up to
Massachusetts too to see my baby brother! He’ll be about 2 weeks old by then. I can’t even believe how fast this summer is going already. It’s incredible… I still can’t really believe I’m here. I’ll have the internet for the next week, and I’ll try to keep you posted. My next stops include Sevilla (June 28, 29), Grenada (June 30, July 1) and then back to
Madrid until I leave on the 5^th. It’s the gay pride week in
Madrid then, so that should make for an interesting weekend… Check out my camp I’m going to! POST LINK!

I’m online again! This will be the last time for a little bit though.

So I’m back in Leon again. I leave to go back to Madrid on Friday morning, and then myself and a couple of friends are going to travel to southern Spain. It’s pretty exciting. This trip has not been what I thought it was going to be. The program I’m working with, through the TEFL Institute, is DEFINITELY not what I had anticipated. Ask me in person next time you see me…

Regardless of certain unfortunate occurances, I’m still really enjoying my time here. I’ve made a bunch of friends, and I am living abroad. Spain is definitely an interesting place to do it too. I highly recommend coming to visit, but the jury is still out on whether living here is such a good idea or not. I did not really anticipate so many cultural differences… It’s the littlest things that never even crossed your mind that become a huge deal. For example, Spain closes down for a siesta everyday around 2 until 4 or 6. Can you imagine not being able to do anything between 2 and 6 everyday?? Taking a siesta, however, is a pretty wonderful experience. Also, the culture surrounding the work schedule. People in Spain say us Americans live to work, whereas they work to live. So far, it’s pretty dead on from what I’ve seen.

I’m trying to upload pictures, but it’s really not working so well. If you want to see some, they’re posted on my Gmail photo account. Here’s my page I think: http://picasaweb.google.com/sjmcleod26 There’s really only about 10 photos posted right now. It’s probably going to be a slow process for a variety of reasons.

I’ve been here for 3 weeks so far. It’s gone really fast and really slow at the same time. This is officially my longest trip away from home. I’m going to be here until August 17, so I still have a while to go… I start work on the 5th, and only work until the 31st. I’m actually going to be travelling for the same amount of time that I’m working… that’s the life!

I honestly cannot remember what I wrote last time, so I’ll just say it again. Owen is definitely coming over and we’re going to backpack until the 17th. He arrives on the 30th, so I’m going to meet him back in Madrid and we’re going to go to a variety of undetermined places. Definitely Barcelona, Paris, southern France, Prague… not too much is definite as of yet. We’re going to try and stay in Eastern Europe because Western Europe is ridiculous in terms of cost. Not even kidding. I’m going to have to backpack that when I have a steady income! haha

Apparently, they don’t stamp your passport when you travel within continental Europe now. It’s some agreement which is basically like flying domestically in the United States. I’m kinda bummed because I wanted to get lots of stamps in my passport. After this trip, I will be in the double digits in terms of countries visited. It’s pretty exciting… If anyone has been around, tips are definitely appreciated!

So yeah… I’ve been without the internet for a little bit now, obviously. The campsite I’m at does not have WiFi (pronounced Wee-Fee here) so I’m at the public library in Leon using their WiFi. My trip has improved since you last heard from me. I’m staying in Robledo de Fenar right now, but Leon is 45 minutes away by train. I’ll be here until Friday, and then I’m going to travel in southern Spain, particularly Cordoba, Sevilla, and Grenada, until I go to work in Ucles. I don’t remember if I told you before, but the camp I’m going to be working at is situated in a monastery. It’s going to be interesting. I’m going to be teaching students ages 9-14, and I’m doing two weeks at the intermediate level, and two weeks at the upper intermediate level. I’m looking forward to it!

 Also, since my camp ends earlier than I expected, I have about 15 extra days to travel. Sooo…. Owen is going to come over and we’re going to backpack for a bit! I’m really excited about it. The tentative plan includes Andorra, France, Czech Republic, and a possible Ukraine, but we’ll see! I’m really excited, and even if I am temporarily stranded in the middle of nowhere, at least I have something to look forward to.

Things I’ve noticed that are different:

Siestas make everything shut down from 2PM until 4PM, people are WAY more mellow here, people are more friendly in general, food is WAY better… Now my stomach is rumbling. Okay, well, I will try and post again soon, but no promises! I hope all is well in the USA!

I’m in Spain! Sorry I haven’t updated in so long. One of the things I did not know is that Spanish internet is much much slower than internet in America. It takes so long to even open this window, I will be surprised if this even posts. Well, so far, it’s been a pretty bumpy trip. First, my wallet got stolen. Yes– first day. Apparently, people tell me, that you haven’t traveled until your wallet has gotten stolen. Well, I am officially a traveler then. Fortunately, I had moved my debit card, student ID, and passport to a different place. The person actually sliced open my backpack. The pickpockets are crazy here and really slick. So, now I am very careful. I bought a super protective back to keep my stuff in, so I should be good. Don’t worry though– I am fine. It happens to everyone at some point.

 The other thing is that the program that I am working with seems kinda bogus at this point. I am really uninformed and it is just not very professional. Fortunately, they let me pay the rest of my tuition with a debit card, which they had previously said was not a possibility. Then my card was declined because of fraud so I had to sort that out and ugh, another whole mess. Basically, don’t try to do business in Spain because it takes FOREVER!!

 The Spanish culture is wonderful. The greeting, kissing on both cheeks, is so personal. Spanish people, from my experience so far, minus the person who stole my wallet, are very nice and helpful. I’ve gotten lost a couple of times here in Madrid, and people try to point me in the right direction. I finally took my first siesta today. If you don’t know, in Spain, a lot of businesses and restaurantes close down around 2 ish until 4 ish for basically a national nap time. It’s pretty cool. We need to get that in America.

So far, I’ve  been to Madrid, Toledo, and Segovia. On Friday, when I don’t have class, I’m going to El Escorial, the most famous museum/palace of Spain. I’m pretty excited. On Saturday, we are going to Leon for our next stage of training. I have learned more grammar than I care to know in the past week. Care to define a modal verb?

Fortunately, the people that I am here with are awesome! I was afraid I wasn’t going to make friends, but that turns out it’s not a problem. One problem, however, is that I won’t be able to post pics for a while because the internet is so slow. I’m trying, but it’s not working out so well.

My assignment, for my camp, is finally official. I am going to Ucles, which is a tiny tiny town near Cuenca. It has a total of 287 people year round… There is no ATM or internet… so my posts will be few and far between problem. The cool thing is that it is a monastery. I am going to live in a monastery! The camp director said it’s kinda like Hogwarts in a sense. It should be a great experience, and I’m getting paid, which is good too. Hopefully I’ll be able to travel around a little bit. I am going to basically just stay in Spain: Valencia, Cuenca, Pamplona (yes, maybe running of the bulls), Sevilla… It’s all kinda up in the air. I also have a week off in between the end of my training and the beginning of my job, so I need somewhere to go then.

Because I received no information from my program, I have about two extra weeks here in Europe. I’m thinking about traveling around for a little bit after, but I’m not 100% sure yet. Still seeing if I can get a travel buddy. You know who you are…

Okay– It’s 2 AM here now, so I’m going to go to bed. (Oh yeah– it doesn’t get dark here until at least 10 PM, and people never sleep. Not even kidding. The night is still young here at 2 AM)

Wow… I leave Galloway Twp. forever on Friday. I won’t be a resident anymore once I leave for Spain because our house will be sold by then. That’s unbelievable. My best friend, Lys, and I went on a camera scavenger hunt in Galloway on Sunday. You should check out the pics. It’s basically just all the places I’ve gone in Galloway over the years, and me playing with the camera

Subbing is still a daily occurance. I’m getting better at it, so that is always good. I worked in 4th grade again today, which was okay. Nothing exciting, but no big problems either. I’ll take it. http://picasaweb.google.com/sjmcleod26 This is linked with Picasa, so I might just post my pictures there from now on. It’s pretty easy.

So yes, I leave on Friday to go visit Owen, and then I disembark on Tuesday at 6:30 PM in Philly. I land in London at 6:15 AM, leave for Madrid two hours later, and finally arrive in Madrid at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, June 3. It’s almost a 12 hour trip, but its much better than my friend Lys’. She’s going to Swaziland for 6 weeks. If you don’t know where Swaziland is, you should google it. It’s going to be a very international summer.

Overall, I’m really excited to go. It’s going to be a great experience, and everyone that I’ve spoken with that has gone to Spain has loved it. If anyone has any tips, let me know! It should be fun, and I will keep you posted.

Substituting is hard. If any of you who read this still go to school, don’t torture your substitutes. We try hard, and it’s tough when students refuse to cooperate. So far, I’ve subbed in 8th grade language arts, 4th-6th grade special education, 1st grade, MUSIC!!!!, and 8th grade theatre arts. It hasn’t been too bad, but sometimes students really try to give you a hard time. It’s making me a better teacher though, so it will be worth it in the end. Subbing in music yesterday was awesome. I got to decide what I wanted to do. First grade was a huge success, and I even learned a new song: Che Che Koolay. It’s a folk song from Ghana, and it’s a call and response song. It was the best day ever because A) I was in music class and B) I felt like I knew what I was doing!

There are two music teachers at this school. The one who was there is someone I’ve worked with in a variety of situations, and he was actually my teacher for a little bit. That experience is going to be very strange when it happens to me: when a student becomes a colleague. Ugh—let’s get finished with my undergrad first. He was a big help that day.

Other than that, I’m basically all done subbing in Camden. I worked there for the last four days too. I taught them the cup game (Thanks Dr. L!) and a chant called Pease Porridge. Subbing there is also getting a lot easier. It’s always easier when you know the students, and they know you. Today, I realized how much better I’ve gotten at subbing, and just teaching in general. It’s a good feeling, even though I know I still have so far to go.

As an avid summertime reader, I just finished The Shack. You should check it out: www.theshackbook.com The way things are presented in that book makes things seem so simple. It really made me think about how much I overcomplicate my life and the relationships I have with people. It really is inspiring and thought-provoking, and it answered quite a few questions that I had. Check it out!

I moved all my stuff into storage on Tuesday. A BIG thank you to Carla, Bill, and Owen for helping me schlep my stuff. It’s actually a relief that it’s all taken care of now. I still have to prepare some stuff before I go to Spain. I’m a lot more excited than nervous now. I know that I will be able to adapt to my situation, whatever it is, and I will make the best of whatever I have. It will work out for the best. Just 12 more days!