Goodnight from Spain. It’s ten o’clock at night and I am very asleep, but I’m going to write some words before I go to bed.
I am talking about my flat. It’s medium-sized. There are three bedrooms, one living-room, a kitcheen and two badrooms. It have also two balconies. I live in el Prat and my flat is near my job. Both of them are in the same street, so I can go to work with pyjamas, ha, ha. This is the most important thing in my flat. Another good thing is that I live near my friends because I’ve always live in el Prat. Do you often see your friends? I hope so.
It’s too late and I have go to bed because tomorrow it will be a hard day, so goodnight.

Hello! The Internet is such an amazing tool, isn’t it? Although I am on the other side of the country, in the state of Maine near the Atlantic Ocean, I am still able to write to you as if I were sitting at home by the Pacific. (I am in Maine because I am trying to decide which university to attend in the fall.)

Speaking of home, I would like to tell you now about my hometown. Although I was born in the city of Palo Alto, I moved to San Mateo almost 9 years ago, and consider this to be my hometown. My school, Aragon, is located in San Mateo, as well as the pool where I work. The downtown area of the city is about a 10 minute drive from my house, and has lots of things to do. There are many restaurants, serving Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Hawaiian, and American foods, a movie theater, shops and stores selling many different products, and a park with space to play outdoors. Most of the time this is enough to keep me and my friends occupied, but sometimes we also travel to San Francisco (about 20 minutes away by car) to have fun.

I have never really become bored with my hometown, and I think that I’m lucky to live somewhere with so much to do. I know lots of people in other parts of our country are not so lucky. Do you still live in your hometown, in Spain?

Talk to you soon!

Good evening! Or, good morning? I don’t know what time it is in Spain right now, but I hope that things are going well.

Today I will talk about my hobbies. We have many of the same interests! I also like computers a lot, and I like to read and listen to music. My favorite books are in the magical realism style (¡el realismo mágico!), and some of my favorite authors are Banana Yoshimoto and Haruki Murakami. They are both Japanese writers in this style. I also like listening to all kinds of music, except for rap and hip hop. I don’t really consider these to be music. I also love to watch movies. Do you like watching movies?

When I have time, I also enjoy walking in the mountains! A better word in English is the verb “to hike”. Hiking is a good way to exercise and also enjoy the scenery and beauty of nature. Many people miss this completely in life, and it’s good to be a part of the world around you. I don’t like running at all, but I do like swimming. The water is always nice, and it works out different muscles than running.

Well, I hope you haven’t become bored reading about all of my hobbies! Next time I write I will try posting a picture.

Talk to you soon!

hey Grant, nice to meet you! First of all, thank you very much for your messages. Sorry if I could not answer any of them but I have been very busy with my work. Today I read some of your messages and I decided to say hello. I’m very interested in your work because it is like mine in some ways. However, today I have to go to buy something in a few minutes, but I hope to wrote to you this week. So, good bye Grant.

Hey! I am talking about my hobbies. I like to go running very much, work with computers, go out with my friends, read books, listen to music… But, I think that the most important thing is to find someone who likes the same hobbies than you, because to do things with people is more interesting and funny. I have two friends who like to go running with me. We go running to the beach. I have also one friend, called Sergio, who likes the computers as me. Sometimes, we talk about programs and things about computers. Now, I am searching someone who likes going to walk on the mountain. Do you like this?

Hello again from sunny California! Actually, lately the weather has been raining one day and sunshine the next, so we never know what to expect. How is the weather in Spain at this time of year?

I’ve already talked a little about my job, but I’ll talk in more detail here. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school, and Sundays in the afternoon, I go to work at the community center a few blocks away from my house. At the pool, I am a lifeguard and a swim teacher, but usually a teacher. I work for about three hours at a time, since I have to homework and other activities, but I work all day during the summer. As a swim teacher I am in charge of one to four kids at a time for 30 minute lessons; the kids are anywhere from three or four to twelve years old, but they are usually younger kids. I really enjoy my job, because I like helping the children learn, and they’re always very funny. Some of my students also have learning disabilities, such as autism, and this means I have to teach in a very different way. It can be challenging, but also very rewarding. Because of my job as a swim teacher, I am inspired to continue as a teacher in life. I hope to get a teaching degree in college and become an elementary school teacher.

What do you teach your students in your class? Only one subject, or different things? How did the carnival go?

See you later!

Hey! How are you? Here is some more information on me and my family…

I live just outside of the city of San Mateo with my mother and my brother. My mom’s name is Norma, and my brother’s name is Garret. He is three years younger than me (14), and lots of people say we look alike, but I don’t think so. I also live with our dog Kia and our cat Clancy. They are also part of our family. My mother’s side of the family is very small. She has one sister, my aunt Laura, who is getting married soon for the first time. Her fiancée Steve will soon be my uncle. They do not have any children, so I do not have any cousins on that side of the family. My grandmother (my mom’s mom) is still alive and lives several blocks away. Her name is Ruth. I am lucky because I get to see all of these relatives a lot.

On two nights a week and two weekends a month I stay with my dad in the town of Burlingame, which is a 20 minute drive by car. His name is Dale, and he is engaged to Kendra, who will be my stepmother when they get married in October. My father’s side of the family is much larger than my mother’s, and it can be kind of confusing. I will only tell you the easy part. His mother is Carolyn and his father is Richard, but they are no longer married. He has four siblings - their names are Lisa, Karla, Ken and Chuck. They are my aunts and uncles. All of them have been married at least once, and so I have many (10!) cousins on this side. However, we don’t get to see each other very often - usually once a year in December for Christmas, because they all live far away.

I would include a photo from last Christmas, but I don’t know how to! Do you know how I can put a picture in my blog?

Bye!

Hi! My name is Grant. It’s nice to meet you. I am 17 years old and live about 20 minutes outside of San Francisco, in the city of San Mateo, California. My parents are divorced, so most of the time I live with my mom Norma and my younger brother Garret (he’s three years younger than I), but some nights and weekends I live with my dad in Burlingame, another city nearby. It’s not a bad situation, and I’ve gotten used to it. I have a dog named Kia, who is a mutt, and a cat named Clancy, who is orange and white and very small.

I go to Aragon High School, also in San Mateo, and in addition to my classes there, I play saxophone in the school band and write articles for the school’s newspaper. When I have free time, I like to read. My favorite books are fictional novels of all kinds. I don’t like nonfiction as much. My favorite book is by a Japanese author - “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto. I also like lots of things about Japanese culture, such as the food (sushi!) and language. I also like to travel, so I am planning a trip to Japan this summer, and I hope to study abroad in Spain sometime in the next couple of years, while I’m in college. As you might have guessed, I really like learning languages, and I want to be a teacher someday. (Read my entry in the Spanish language blog for more about my teaching!)

Hello! I am talking about my family. It is very big. We have a lot of uncles and cousins. My mother is MªJose and my father is Pedro. They are 60 years old. I also have three sisters and one brother. They are: Isabel, Eva, Susana and Pedro, as my father. We have a good relation. We make a lot of thinks together: go out with our friends, make parties, work with computers… However we fight too.
Eva is married with Iñigo, my brother- in -law. He is from Pais Vasco. They have one daughter, Naiara. She is one year’s old. She is very pretty. They live in Vilafranca del Penedes. Susana and her partner, Albert live in Vilafranca too.

I work as a teacher on education for children with special needs. My school is in el Prat de Llobregat, it’s CEE Can Rigol. I went there 6 years ago. I had worked in diferent schools before, but never in this school. It was a surprise for me when I had to go there. I like my job very much because it’s very interesting. However it is very hard too. I have children between 8 and 11 years old, and they have diferent problems. They are: J.David, Marcos, Adrian, Ricard and the girl of the class is Noelia, she is very pretty. I have one teacher who helps me with them some hours in the day. She is Araceli and she is very friendly. We are friends because we try to enjoy together every day because the job is very hard. Now, we are making a lot of things for carnaval party. It will be a great party.