We spent class time practicing formatting and drafting sample CVs in English. Doing this activity in class taught me things, too: for example, it made me realize how we Americans often fill our lives up with activities meant to fill up a resume. Volunteering, becoming captains of soccer teams, playing piano for 10+ years, swimming the fastest 100 IM…all of these are familiar “checkboxes” for the American teen aiming to get into college. But in Lugo, and in Spain in general, volunteering is not the norm—people don’t actively search for “resume-fillers” like that. Nor do they do as many after-school activities, and the pressure that American kids feel to get a job ASAP is nonexistent in Spain. From my perspective, a lot of Spanish families feel content to live more quietly than a lot of American families. The emphasis is on spending time with family and elders as opposed to being the next best entrepreneur. Everyone leaves work and school for 3 hours in the middle of the work day for lunchtime. Grocery stores, banks, pharmacies, schools—everything closes from 2 pm until 5 pm so that people can go home and eat a big lunch with their families. It’s an incredibly refreshing thing to see this emphasis on family life over work life.
Tuesdays are the days when I teach an afternoon and evening conversation class, where both co-teachers and students are welcome to attend. I have two sections—one, more advanced than the other—and several loyal students who faithfully attend every week. Again, like I said, after-school activities are not the norm in Spain, so it’s a big deal when people show up to my class on their own time.
