Random Traveller #64 with Christine from Christineinspain

Welcome to round #64 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller #64

Meet Christine

Who are you?
I’m Christine, from Seattle, WA, U.S.A. and was a recent college grad that decided a life experience living in another country and learning another language would surely be more fulfiling than joining the rat race. Now, I live in Spain and blog over at christineinspain.com 🙂

What’s the deal?
Like many, I started my blog as a means of staying in touch with loved ones back home, so they could feel like they were involved in my experience over here, despite the distance. Then, I stumbled across the amazing travel blogging community via Twitter and started to take my blog more seriously. Now the goals behind my blog have broadened, and I write to encourage others to travel while they’re young and live a bit more of an unconventional life, while showcasing the beauty of my adopted country, and snapshots into my daily life and travels.

Probably a question you are sick of but why Spain?
I studied abroad in Greece and seriously considered going back there, but couldn’t find the right opportunity and wanted to learn Spanish more than Greek. Spain has always intrigued me, as my ancestry traces to Mexico, and eventually, Spain. Random fact: I actually moved here without ever previously visiting–crazy, I know!

Morocco, near where Christine lives

After learning the language what were the hardest bits and what tips would you give to someone just starting out?
I would say if you’re planning on moving to a country to be immeresed in the language, prepare yourself as much as you can beforehand. I came to Spain thinking I could get by with whatever bits and pieces I remember from my high-school Spanish classes and was knocked on my ass right away. On top of that, I came to a part of Spain where the accent is notoriously difficult, and it took me a good year or so to grasp it. Immersion alone will not make you fluent–you still have to work for it.

If you’re not immersed in the language by living in it, make up for that however you can (and heck, do it if you’re immersed too!)–download free podcasts on iTunes (I like Coffee Break Spanish), hit the books (Practice Makes Perfect Series is a great guide to grammar), and find someone who speaks the language to practice with. Even when I could barely put a sentence together, I forced myself to go to language exchanges, and it really helped accelerate the learning process.

Other tips and tricks include setting your computer and phone to Spanish, watching Spanish movies and the biggest one for me–don’t be a perfectionist. I still have to fight against this, but language learning has no room for perfectionists, so try your best to not be afraid of making mistakes. That’s how you learn!

Christine’s Favourite place in Granada

What’s the one thing you miss most from home other than friends/family?
I’ll group my cat into friends/family, so that leaves me with really trivial things like my car, central heating, cheap electricity bills, American milk (the UHT milk here is horrible) and shops being open on Sundays.

What’s Next?
Continue seeing the world and figuring out if my future is in Spain, the States, or elsewhere!

A big thanks to for taking part, Christine great to have you.

Be sure to check her out:
Blog: www.christineinspain.com
Twitter: @christinenspain
Facebook: /christineinspain

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