Intercambio

Qué  es un intercambio?

 

An intercambio is when you meet with someone who speaks another language and you spend 1/2 of the time speaking in one language and 1/2 of the time speaking in another.

 
The last time I was in Spain I tried to have an intercambio. 5 times. None of them worked out. Jessika was not down with the Spanish concept of time when her intercambios were 30 - 45 minutes late. 

I decided to have another go at it and found a random woman online - because meeting people online is not shady at all..

 

Luckily she turned out to be a real legit person. Not a creepy man. Not an ax murderer. Not a mugger. Not a crotchety old woman. 

 

We met at McDonald's - obviously at her suggestion...not mine - and socially awkward Jessika managed to have regular human conversations (with some awkward Jessika have eye contact issues) for 2 hours. 2 hours! 

 

It was great. I stumbled through my Spanish a bit a lot but she made mistakes in English so I didn't feel horrid about my mistakes. 

 

She asked a lot about the US, Minnesota, the differences between the two countries, how I like Spain, what I do for work in the US/Spain, etc. She told me about her family, her travels, why she needs to learn English, etc.

 

She is a communications engineer (I'm not sure if this is what we'd call it in the US?) and makes apps for phones. Soon her company will be working with companies from Germany, France, Italy, etc. and when they meet they'll all be speaking English so she needs to work on her conversation skills.

 

It was spectacular. She showed up on time (which is rare in Spain). She was friendly. We had a lot in common (we both watch How I Met Your Mother). And she didn't rob or kill me. 

 

After I get my work schedule we're going to make plans to meet on a semi-regular basis. 

 

Yay for working on Spanish skills with a friendly Spaniard!