Jacob Away
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a great weekend. Tj and I had a nice night out on Saturday. We went to dinner and saw the musical Come From Away. It was really good! It’s about the passengers that got stuck in Gander, Newfoundland on 9-11. It made me feel so proud to be Canadian. It was really funny, although I’m sure the Aussies didn’t get all the Canadian jokes and references. And fun fact - my cousin is now an air traffic controller in Gander!
Tj and I also went back to the gym for the first time since our vacation and my cold. It was brutal. I’m going to be sore for a few days, that’s for sure.
Over the last couple of weeks, Jacob moved to Madrid. My mom took him there and got him settled in, and they had a great few days in the south of Spain.
I’m so excited for Jacob as he starts his new adventure. He will be there for one year for school but he has already impressed my mom with his new Spanish language skills.
Back when he was in university, Tj spend a year abroad in Paris, so he helped me put together this list of tips for Jacob while he is away:
The year will fly by so find ways to slow things down and enjoy the day to day experiences. Appreciate just being out and about and let it remind you every day that you are doing something special.
Make sure to get out don’t stay in your room all the time. Have a routine ex. going out for a jog, or going to your favourite cafe or something you know you will do. Tj says when he lived in Paris he would go to a bakery and get bread and Nutella on the weekends.
It’s easy to make friends with people like you, but it can be very special to have friendships with people who don’t speak English. Build new friendships where Spanish is your main language of communication. Be open to these friendships early on because later on you might not try as hard and by then people might have already formed their social circles.
Travel Europe! Get some friends together and do some back-packing.
There will be a lot of social events with all of the international students. Make your you find time for your studies so you don’t fall behind and then feel guilty when you are out.
Jacob, we are all so proud of all your hardworking and accomplishments so far, and I hope you have an amazing time in Madrid. If you need some reading, here are my best things about living abroad and ways to keep from being homesick.
And don’t worry, I told mom to stop sending videos of Jack the dog looking depressed haha.
Have a great week :)
