The Linguist

@CIOL_Linguists WINTER 2022 The Linguist 29 OPINION & COMMENT LAST GOODBYE Gemma with the other language assistants and most of the bilingual team at the school GEMMA MCBAIN It feels very surreal to be reflecting on my time in Spain. The time has passed so quickly and it is hard to believe that this time last year I was only just starting the visa application process. Despite the difficult first hurdle – with all the bureaucracy and paperwork to get into the country – once I got my residency permit, Brexit didn't have much of an impact, except for a few difficult conversations trying to explain the situation to Spaniards. The impact of the pandemic was also a concern when I was starting out, but Spanish Covid restrictions felt very 'normal' somehow and never stopped me from coming home when I wanted to. The experience has matured me a lot and I feel different coming home. I have learnt how to enjoy time on my own, especially when life around me is happening in another language, as I have discovered how draining it can be to adjust to another culture. One of the most unconventional pieces of advice I was given before going abroad was to learn to laugh at life, and this is something which stayed with me, as it challenged my way of thinking so much. When things didn't worked out the way I wanted, I tried to find the funny side and see it as part of the adventure – for instance when I wasn't 100% confident about the components of a meal I was ordering, or hadn't fully understood the relaxed Spanish timings and was painfully punctual. I'm coming home more open minded and much less bound by small inconveniences. I feel more independent as I've had to find my own path in a big city. In all honesty, I haven't been looking forward to returning to the UK. There are aspects of Spanish culture I will miss: how people make and have time for you, the al fresco eating and drinking at all times of the year, and the openness of the Spanish people. I will try to bring some aspects back with me, like trying not to bring work home. Unfortunately, I can't bring the weather! My lecturers will be happy to hear that I'm returning with a much firmer grasp of the Spanish language. I am amazed I got through those first few weeks when I remember how little Spanish I knew. Now I can comfortably have entire conversations throughout the day in Spanish without it exhausting me. I know how to express myself more freely, and how to make myself understood – except in a hairdresser's apparently; I'm still working on that one! And I hope my accent now has something madrileño about it. I much prefer the Spanish way of expressing certain things and find myself going to speak in Spanish instead of English sometimes – so much so that my family are beginning to understand phrases that seem to have found their way into my English. For example, they are used to me saying dime (lit. 'tell me') when I haven't heard them properly. The word is used a lot in conversational Spanish. Madrid has become home in a way that Southampton – my university city – never has. I would strongly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to live in another country grabs it, so they, too, can experience the liberties and exciting newness of it all. Gemma McBain is in her final year of a German and Spanish BA at the University of Southampton. TL As she returns to the UK, Gemma reflects on how life abroad has changed her, and why it was smoother than expected Third year interrupted

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