When lockdown started on 5 November, the UK government set out a set of rules that we are to follow to maintain lockdown in the country. A majority of these rules restricted socialising with other people, which makes sense. But there is a clause in the rules called a social bubble. The social bubble is created by an adult who lives alone and another group of adults who live together. This social bubble is allowed to get together, eat meals, and just spend time in general. I believe that the social bubble exception was created for families who have a family member who lives in a different house. But being someone who lives alone here at Radley, I have been able to use this exception to get together with a group of young adults who also live on campus in the same house.
When I first got to Radley, one of the people that I met was a language assistant from Barcelona, Spain. (Yes for any of my soccer/football fans, he is a supporter of FC Barcelona) He is a great guy and more or less since the first night I was at Radley, we have been going to dinner together every evening. Halfway through the first week, I met two more language assistants, who are from Paris, France. I also met one of the strength and conditioning assistants who is from Birmingham, UK which is just a bit north of Radley. The five of us quickly became friends and since the other four of them were living in the same house when the 5th came, we decided to form a social bubble. We have been going to dinner and sometimes breakfast together as a group since we met. They really are awesome people, and I love learning about the different cultures and getting their perspective on things. It's also fun to try to learn the foreign languages that my friends speak.
I took Spanish through high school and have what I consider to be an intermediate knowledge of the language, but the Spanish that I have used since high school is mainly Mexican Spanish because I have friends in Mexico, and my roommate back in the states is from Mexico City. When I try to talk to my Spaniard friend, he often laughs and says that I'm speaking "old Spanish" which is what they speak in Mexico. He has tried to teach me "new Spanish" but my brain is stubborn and reverts to "old Spanish."
I am also trying to learn French to communicate better with my French friends, but I have never had any form of French training. When I first met my friends, one of them asked if I spoke French, and the ONLY thing I knew in French was "Je ne parle francais" meaning "I don't speak French." But I wanted to learn so I downloaded an app I had used in high school to help me learn Spanish called Duolingo, and have been working my way through it. Fortunately, French has the same general structure as Spanish in the way the verbs are conjugated, and the way that the sentences are structured.
Of course, I am picking up little Briticisms from my British friend, as well as the people that I work with. I will share some little Briticisms in some more posts further on. I'm also catching on to the way that certain things are said. But I'm adapting to that so it's getting easier.
So in conclusion, lockdown stinks, but having a social bubble makes things a little bit better. If you have someone who lives alone or who maybe doesn't get included in a lot of things, consider giving them a call and seeing how they're doing. Understand that this pandemic is going to put a lot of stress on people, but it is always good to know that someone cares about you enough to call and check up on you.
Thanks as always for taking time to read this and I hope your week is great! Stay safe out there! Cheers, Tymon.
Comments
Post a Comment