So... 

I've been hunting for a job for the past weeks and decided on an easy summer thing (because I need time to write both on AFF and other sites). Initially, I wanted to go to Spain, I got a little ill just before having to decide but I could have made it.

I decided against it for a selfish reason (and it's not just because I'll spend the whole summer on an island because I'll be working my off with kids for a small pay but, ISLAND). 

So... I speak very little Spanish and I am fairly fluent in Italian and..

I DON'T WANT TO SPEND TIME LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE. 

Not as in a 'never again' but as in a 'this summer'. 

It was kind of a goal of mine to somewhat get to a B1 level in Spanish (or even German if I were to go there as that was also considered lol), but the lazy part of my brain said 'NO'. 

Here's the thing, I spent a year in China, (a year and a few days) and I learned how to speak mandarin... not fluently or even not 'well', but enough to order food, get by, talk to random locals about 'yeah I'm not from here', talk to kids etc. I'm still revising every day and try to get better (or just not lose my 'fluency')

 And the year before that was when I was in Italy and those two years just exhausted me. Not because of the amount of work hours I had, because I've done worse but because when I wasn't working, I was studying. Even if not at home, I was constantly listening, speaking, trying to understand, making conversation, PUSHING myself to my absolute limits. 

And trust me I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to pick up languages fairly fast (granted that I'm in a stimulating enough environment and actually motivated by the lack of English speakers in the house LOL) but I am just so mentally tired. I had no idea what the heck it was at first, but then I realized that my brain is trying to split itself into four for every language I am fairly OK at, and I just want a summer where I am on 'vacation'. Kind of. 

(I mean it is definitely counterproductive because where I'm going won't have a ton of English speakers from what I've seen and the kids I'll work with are young and don't speak English but at least I've got the basics down.) 

The ugly thing is that no one is pushing me to study, but it's my own mind always screaming 'no, you said that word wrong, you need to get better' etc. I've always been a little rough with myself and if something doesn't work for the first time, I often give up, but I force myself into a situation where I can't (aka being abroad). And I mean don't get me wrong I L.O.V.E it. I'm not complaining about being able to work outside of my comfort zone..

I'm just ranting because I swear I'm the one exhausting myself lol 

So... yeah, from the beginning of May, I'll be working quite a bit, but also spending a lot of time on the beach, getting back in shape and (getting a tan)...and eating tons of ice-cream. I am planning to go to Spain from September on, but I felt like I deserved a 'working holiday'. In China, I learned so much, not just about Mandarin but about people and cultures and differences about each and every human being (and how similar we are still), but this time round my main goal is to learn about the nices beaches and... 

Maybe the best pizza around D

Hopefully this will mean that I'll have more energy to write and take pictures and the like. So yeah, let's see what the summer brings!