My 12 months journey in Spain

I have learnt Spanish for so many years and from a young age, I know there is where my passion lies. While the whole image of Spain is fancy and amazing, Spanish is just so fun to learn and it sounds so sexy omg! Therefore 12 months ago I quit my stable job and came to Spain to pursue this dream of mine being able to speak Spanish like a native with my savings. And then I stayed. 

God I want to live in Spain!

  I actually started all the planning, the research and paper work one year before coming. Even though I did know a bit of Spanish before I came, I could not catch up on how fast people talk at first together with their different accents, slangs and expressions they use (which often make no sense in English), etc. With the language and cultural barriers, initially getting around and sorting things out while I had no one was 10 times harder!

From sorting all the paperwork, getting a residency card, then getting a SIM card, opening a bank account, to job offers that could not be accepted due to restrictions of working rights (the HR was seriously even more clueless than I was because they very rarely hire non-Europeans), then to find a lawyer to help me with my visa, finding a new school because all of a sudden the government officials felt like changing the policy and f-up everyone (don't even mention boys' issues..), it has been a bit of a bumpy way.

Meanwhile in the eyes of many (including my family) I am a lost kid not willing to face the reality. Some of my relatives and friends have no idea why I want to study Spanish and they often say, "Being able to speak Spanish will not help you find a job with better salary dear. It's useless in Hong Kong" "When are you finishing your holiday and coming back?"  I love how people picture me getting tanned serving myself Sangria all day like I have all the time and money in the world to waste ... (I wish honey)

When people think that I am naive running off to Spain to escape from the reality, they didn't see me working 11 hours a day, also after office hours and on days off in a job that I didn't like for 4 years to save money for pursuing this dream of mine instead of spending the money on limited edition trainers (not that I am interested neither even though my trainers look like shxt...) 

The ROI of a personal goal does not always have to be translated into money term for you to decide whether it is worth pursuing. The truth is I don't have it all together and I never had to be honest 😂. I am acting on my toes all the time and planning the next step as I go with this one clear goal in mind. 80% of the time I am in panic and anxious state. But we only have one chance, one life to do what we want. I want to live for myself and I am not ready to compromise.

The experience of overcoming different issues alone when I had no one had made me stronger than ever. The more difficult things are, the more I am sure that this is what I want and the more dedicated I become to work things out no matter what it takes. 

I mean obviously it was not going to be easy to pursue a so-called dream where there is no direct formula. But if it was easy, what's the fun?

This journey has not only trained my mindset to be resilient and go after what I want in life, but it has also made me realise how I used to take things for granted, how I always used to expect things to work out well by themselves without realising that nothing was actually meant to be. I have been so lucky!

I got to know a lot more about myself, mainly the ugly parts like how I used to self-sabotage being a people-pleaser... I got to learn what I actually value and how do I want to live my life. I often become so buried worrying about (tedious) things in the future or thinking about the past that I forgot to live! 

In the dark days (the first few months being alone and abroad) I struggled to find happiness and purpose because I was lonely, lost and anxious. I cried for 3 hours nonstop on my last birthday because I didn't know what the heck I was doing with my life. Then I realised that actually I only had to make myself happy today. I just have to make the most out of today. The rest is not so important. We don't know what's going to happen next. So just give it our best shot and trust the process. Control the controlables.

On the other hand, one of the highlights of the last 12 months is definitely staying under the same roof and sharing flat with people from different nationalities, understanding their habits, cultures and values. Precisely speaking, I was lucky to have the chance to share flats with Americans, Belgian, Brazilian, British, Chinese (from Mainland China), Colombian, Dutch, French, Germans, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss from all walks of life.

Having said that, sure to say it was not always easy because we all are from very different background. And trust me, the flat I lived in for the first 7 months was a disaster where between 7 people in the flat there was only one bathroom, one stove, one tiny fridge with all the mouldy food in the world that people left behind (mouldy pasta or natural blue cheese anyone?) there were water leakages everywhere and all the time with literally everything being broken... a shared tele or air-conditioning are honestly too much of a luxury to ask for lol It was quite an experience indeed. 😂 Lucky enough from this I have developed further my EQ, my adaptability and level of tolerance (should put this on my CV... 😆). 

 

   

On the bright side, since I am broke (af) and jobless 😂, I have adopted a new hobby! Trust me my mum was equally shocked as you are now when she found out I can actually cook XD.

Nunca dejes de soñar

(never stop dreaming)

After 12 months, while I am still finding my way through, I have to say it has been an amazing journey and I will never be regret of making this move of following my heart and going after what I want. The experience was priceless. I will continue to fight for it. After all, I believe everything is a choice. When there is a will there is a way. :)

Sea como sea, lo voy a conseguir. Eso lo tengo claro.

(No matter how, I will achieve it. In this I have no doubts.)

Lots of love,

Cherrie x