A week with another family

Last 25th of March I packed my suitcase, full of illusion, curiosity and wishes to learn about the English culture.

When the teacher asked us in October if we wanted to spend a week abroad with another family in Totnes, I didn’t think it twice! My friends also agreed so, since that moment, we didn’t stop talking about it and we shared our common feelings. From that month to March I was so anxious that I counted the days crossing them on my calendar. When the date was coming I felt a mixture of feelings between fear and joy.

Are you intrigued about what I did that week? Well, I’m going to tell you what my days were like. We spent the day we arrived with our host families visiting a village called Dartmouth, where I had the opportunity to travel by ferry. The rest of the week we followed a timetable.

In the mornings, we went to Gate House, our school, to improve our English. Maybe you are thinking this is the same that we do in Spain but you are wrong! Lessons were dynamic and funny because we did oral activities and we talked about different topics each day. During the break we joined students from different countries. The family prepared my lunch which I ate at Gate House.

In the afternoons we went on some trips; the first we made was a tour through Totnes to show us the town. If you have a sweet tooth you would have enjoyed it because we cooked the typical scones with butter and jam and we ate them. Another day we went to Torquay where we could see the seafront and then we had fun shopping and bowling. The following day we visited a National Park named Dartmoor where there is a huge rock (a tor) that we could climb, but don’t worry we didn't have to make a great effort! In our last excursion we went to Plymouth. There, we saw one of the biggest aquariums in Europe. We were surrounded by water! Apart from the tours, we also played team games and organised workshops of different things.

In the evenings, most days we stayed with our host families. Those evenings weren’t different to ordinary evenings here in Spain. We talked with each other to practise our English. Two of the evenings we spent in Totnes, we met all together to watch a funny film and, since all's well that ends well, we enjoyed a final party playing bingo and listening to music. As losers say, the important thing is to take part! We were cheerful and excited but gloomy at the same time because in two days we had to return home.

When I was there I didn’t realize how much I was learning. In the first place what I have improved the most is my fluency because staying with another family teaches you a lot of vocabulary, idioms and pronunciation. Moreover, I have learned a lot about British culture, its customs, its gastronomy and its schedules. In the third place, I got used to living with a foreign family very quickly. They made me feel as if I was at home!

To conclude this breathtaking experience, I suggest that if you have an opportunity like this, don’t waste it, because you will regret it for the rest of your life. I hope that this post has helped you travel to Totnes and you have felt, a little bit, what I felt when I was there.