The fiestas never end in Spain...

Reyes Magos in Spain!

 
One thing that I love and hate about Spain are the holidays and fiestas. Even though Christmas is over, there is still New Years and Reyes Magos (it's like Christmas again... but for the kids) to look forward to. And even after, there are just more and more days off and "puentes" ('bridge' days where, if you have one day off in a week, they connect it to the weekend). You gotta love all the days you don't have school and work, but on the other hand you have to wonder if this is a bit of a waste of time. Too much vacation actually has the opposite effect on me, and I feel like I have to do something productive before I implode.

On another topic, I started re-reading some books I read a few years back, like To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye. For some reason, I enjoy books a lot more when I'm reading them on my own time, not when it's a school assignment. A LOOOT more. Even when they're good books, they seem really boring and textbook-y when these books are based on some standardized school curriculum. Shouldn't books be read at our own pace and give us a chance to interpret it, rather than making everyone think and read it at the same rate? That just kills it for me.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Did you know that South Korea (my "home" country) is one of the countries that invest the most money into learning English, English programs, teachers, textbooks, etc.? I would know, seeing as the whole country is littered with academies for learning how to speak English (like.. 1 every 10 meters squared) and all of my Korean friends dedicate so much time to these language programs. It was kind of disappointing to find out that Korea ranks near the bottom in English proficiency... as in 136th out of 161 nations (source). Damn, I love my country and all but that's pretty disconcerting. Just goes to show that certain aspects of the Korean education system don't work.

I keep jumping from topic to topic, don't I? :P Sorry, it's just been very hectic for the past few weeks. I'll be back on track with longer, less shallow posts! And an early Happy New Year to all!