2013-06-01

Friends, June, and festivities.

As Matt has told us in the previous entry, June is a very special month. When I was a teenager I was looking forward to the end of the course because it meant that the summer was waiting for me, plenty of heat, beaches and new friends to meet. 

I have always loved meeting new people. It's very interesting to share knowledge, experiences and culture. I have learnt a lot from this kind of meetings. For example, one year ago I was invited to go to a dinner. The dinner was going to take place in the house of a couple I had met during the St John's festivities, which are internationally known like 'Hogueras de San Juan' and take place in June.

They were friends of my niece Melly and I have to confess that at first sight, I found them very similar to me, so we got on well from the very beginning. Kate and Hugh, as they are called, decided to come to Spain ten years ago more or less and they settled their house in an area near to Alicante called 'La Cañada'.
Kate is from China and Hugh from Scotland and they have a daughter called Elena. They met each other in China. Kate worked as a translator and Hugh worked for an Oil Company in Hong Kong.

When I got to the house, I couldn't believe my eyes, there were people from all around the world. We were fourteen people from six different nationalities, Brazilian, British, Chinese, Polish, Russian and Spanish. Everyone spoke English and we all were able to interact with each other. Hugh was cooking at the barbecue and Kate offered us a wide variety of delicious Chinese and Indonesian food. The rest of us contributed to the dinner bringing different kinds of their country typical  foods.

I remember being involved in a talk with a woman, who was from UK and spoke four languages, English, Russian, French and Spanish. It was astonishing how she changed from one language to another depending on who was talking to her. I was green with envy!!

I am sure that you would enjoy in the 'Hogueras de San Juan' festivities. It would be a pleasure for me if you sometime decide to come here and share your experiences with me. I will show you around the city, plenty of monuments made of cardboard and wood, monuments which, after four days, make a deal with their best friend, the fire, and vanish together while they are singing our city hymn 'A la llum de les fogueres'.




Vicent






3 comments:

  1. As Matt has told us in the previous entry, June is a very special month. When I was a teenager I WOULD BE(1) looking forward to the end of SCHOOL because it meant that the summer was waiting for me, plenty of heat, beaches and new friends to meet.

    I have always loved meeting new people. It's very interesting to share knowledge, experiences and culture. I have learnt(2) a lot from this kind of meetinG. For example, A year ago I was invited to go to a dinner. The dinner was going to take place in the house of a couple I had met during the St John's festivities, which are internationally known AS 'Hogueras de San Juan' and take place in June.

    They were friends of my niece Melly and I (have to confess)* that, at first sight, I found them very similar to me, so we got on well from the very beginning. Kate and Hugh, as they are called, decided to come to Spain ten years ago more or less and they settled [] in an area near [] Alicante called 'La Cañada'.
    Kate is from China and Hugh from Scotland and they have a daughter NAMed Elena. They met each other in China. Kate worked as a translator and Hugh worked for an Oil Company in Hong Kong.

    When I got to the house, I couldn't believe my eyes, there were people from all around the world. THERE were fourteen people OF six different nationalities: Brazilian, British, Chinese, Polish, Russian and Spanish. Everyone spoke English and we all were able to interact with each other. Hugh was cooking at the barbecue and Kate offered us a wide variety of delicious Chinese and Indonesian food. The rest of us contributed to the dinner bringing different kinds of their country'S typical foods.

    I remember being involved in a talk with a woman who was from THE UK and spoke four languages: English, Russian, French and Spanish. It was astonishing* how she changed from one language to another depending on who was talking to her. I was (green with envy)*!!

    I am sure that you would enjoy [] the 'Hogueras de San Juan' festivities. It would be a pleasure for me if you sometime decide to come here and share your experiences with me. I will show you around the city, plenty of monuments made of cardboard and wood, monuments which, after four days, make a deal with their best friend, the fire, and vanish together while they are singing our city hymn 'A la llum de les fogueres'.


    (1)WOULD BE here gives the sense of custom, as in "soler".

    (2)If Katie has to put up with "gotten", I guess I have to suffer "learnt". (We say "learned" on this side of the pond.) :-)

    *Good vocabulary/expressions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanx you Matt. I always learn something new from your comments. Last month I gave my teacher a composition which contained the word 'programs'. He marked it as wrong because he told me that we were supposed to be learning British English. !!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanx you Matt. I always learn something new from your comments. Last month I gave my teacher a composition which contained the word 'programs'. He marked it as wrong because he told me that we were supposed to be learning British English. !!

    ReplyDelete

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