Kai's foreign adventures

     So many people have asked me how I learned Spanish without any formal schooling. Well I didn't just travel to Spain and suddenly knew how to speak Spanish. So many people believe that immersion is the best way to learn a language and that by moving to a foreign country that you'll automatically pick up the language. Well this isn't true........not entirely.                                                                                                              Effort       You STILL need to put in effort. This means speaking and practicing everyday!  you have no idea how many people I've met in Spain that have lived here for 20 plus years and can barely order food in...

      If you want to travel to Spain I'm sure you would like to know about the crime rates and how safe it is to live here. Let me be the first to tell you that Spain is a relatively safe country. As of right now the Global peace index of 2019 gives Spain a score of 32 (USA ranks 128). So that should give you an idea of the safety level.                                                                                                                    Guns      Unlike the U.S. it is illegal for anyone (except for law enforcement and military) to own a gun. It is extremely rare that you will hear about someone get shot from a drive by, in school or the grocery store ...

     Whether you're living in Spain or just on a vacation you might want to get a Spanish SIM and avoid using your American phone as the roaming charges might add up very quickly. Getting a SIM card in Spain is quite easy and all you need is an unlocked phone. The phone can be American or Spanish.       Once unlocked you can purchase a SIM card from any convenient store or directly from the phone store. If you are not a Spanish resident you cannot get a phone plan as you need a DNI or NIE number. This number is used for everything in Spain and it is only available to residents and citizens.     If you are not a resident your only option is to get a prepaid SIM. Usually a SIM will cost around 10 euros and you can buy it using your passport. As with many phone plans prepaid options vary depending on which phone company you use. I still use the same SIM and prepaid plan that I used when I first came to Spain. I never run ...

     As you may know that I've lived in Madrid for 3 months from summer going into fall. I have to say that there are things I love about Madrid and there are a few things I didn't like about Madrid. Let's start with the Pros first.                                                                                Transportation system      I have to give it to Madrid, the transportation system is amazing! It isn't as good as Barcelona's transportation system, but it's pretty damn close! It's very easy to get around using just the metro. Everything is in such close proximity that you can even walk (although I'm a bit lazy and rather take the metro).      You can buy a card add trips (viajes) which is a little cheaper and buying one trip ea...

     Healthcare is something definitely worth mentioning. I really like Spanish Healthcare. I think it's very different and more accessible than it is in the U.S. So what's the difference? Well for one there are two types of healthcare, seguridad social (Universal Healthcare) and privada (private). Lets look at them both in more detail.                                                                                          Seguridad Social      This is your basic universal healthcare available to the public for free. When I say free I mean that if you have it and get sick you don't have to pay anything. I'm sure everyone has to pay taxes to make this type of healthcare work. The downside to this type of healthcare is that yo...

     I know that many Americans (myself including) have used the "traveling is too expensive" excuse. This can be true depending on many factors like: Destination  The airline Connecting flights The time you purchased your tickets IP Address                                                                                                       Apps     There are many apps that can help you locate the cheapest flights. The one I used was called skyscanner . This app tries to find the cheapest flights by searching all the airlines and connected flights to your selected destination. Also keep in mind that if your destination has more than one airport one might be cheaper than the other. ...

      Let me be the first to tell you that Barcelona is gorgeous! it has great food, a rich culture and beautiful architecture. I was there for one month living in an area called Sant vicenc dels Horts. Where I lived no one spoke English so I was able to live the life of a non-tourists.       I had no idea that there were so many languages ​​in Spain other than Spanish. The primary language spoken in Barcelona is called Catalan. When I first saw the language It looked as if Spanish, French and Italian had a threesome and somehow produced a child and called it Catalan.                                                                                                            ...

     If your thinking about moving to another country like I did, but have no idea what to do there are a few things you should consider. First: Cost of living Second: Finding a Job Third: Saving money Fourth: Learning the language Fifth: Finding living accommodations Sixth: The visa process Seventh: Location      Now I'll be honest with you and say that I didn't consider all of these things when I decided to move. I was actually just winging it and using google to help gain information. The only thing I knew about Spain was that my Grandmother was Spanish, paella was popular and people drunk sangria (later I learned that only tourists really enjoy sangria).      However, I did save money before I arrived. I saved about 5k and started to think about what I could actually do to make money and survive. I saw that many Americans would teach English, but I had no clue how to teach English. Also, I was taking classes online to fi...