Hi everyone! I'm Irene, I'm a professional teacher from Spain here on Italki. I am looking for a partner to improve my pronunciation on British accent. I would love to help you with your Spanish. If you're interested in doing a language exchange don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you :) Irene

Rafting Yesterday I went rafting. I woke up so early, because me and my partner had to arrive to the river, that was 300 km away from home, before 10 a.m. That’s why the first part of the day I felt tired. But when we arrived I forgot my tiredness, I became active and I felt the energy of nature. We were in a gorgeous landscape, the trees were coloured by the autumn, and the air was so fresh. It was cold, but I didn’t care. I’m a sportive person, and I love to do sport outdoors, being in contact with nature. So rafting was wonderful, and on the final part of the river I had a cold bath, refreshing my body and feeling alive. The bad part was that it was maybe too cold for swimming, so this morning I began to feel some pain on my chest. Right now I’m at home, drinking eucalipth tea and staying warm. Maybe I have a cold, but yesterday was really great anyway.

Bubble tea Last week I was talking with a friend about bubble tea. I didn’t know what it was, but my friend told me that this is the coolest drink in Asia! It’s just tea, but on the pictures that I’ve seen it seems more a millshake. There are some tapioca seeds on the bottom,m, they seem dark bubbles that make contrast with the fluor colors of the liquid. I think that this is something cool in Japan for some reason, but I don’t really know the taste of it so I’m not able to imagine why this is so popular. It is also true that when something becomes popular sometimes the only reason is that someone famous wore it or drink that on instagram, so maybe this is the case. Does anyone ever tried it? Is it so wonderful and tasty? Let me know!

Airports I don’t like airports. I think they are artificial places, full of people where a bottle of water costs like wine. But when I’m at the airport, I can handle it, because I feel so happy for being on travel. Maybe I’m going back home to visit my family and my hometown, or maybe I’m going to a new country or a new city to discover. It’s exciting. One thing I do when I’m at the airport is watching people. Not because I’m a stalker, just because while I’m watching travellers I’m trying to guess or imagine their stories and reasons to be at the airport. And I feel part of a world that is like a house with different rooms. There are no differences between countries, and we are just part of something eclectic, multicultural, living our lives the best way we know. Of course, I’m writing this because I’m at the airport. So, what do you think about airports?

Seasons I feel seasons are so important for me. I think they have a huge influence on my lifestyle. For example, on summer, I'm not so focused, I just want to go out and do something physical, be outdoors, and enjoy the day. On the other hand, winter allows me to be more calm and focused on my mind and my objetives. So right now I'm feeling so grateful for autumn. It's the time to slowing down a bit and start to think about new ideas and objetives. As leaves are falling down, you can collect every single thing you learned on summer, every warm remember you lived. At the same time, autumn could be a new beggining, the perfect moment to create something new, or learn something different. Days are shorter, summer hot is leaving, and you have more time to think about priorities and the next step on your life.

Are you a morning person? Are you a morning person or a night owl? I used to be a morning person. I used to wake up so early, at 6 a.m. (for a Spanish girl, this is definitely so early!) and my mornings were so productive, I did my workout in the morning, cleaned my house, I worked a lot on my lessons... but there was a little problem: I started to go down by 6 p.m. And after 8p.m I was literally unable to do anything useful, just eat someting and going to bed. This summer my schedule was so different, I have to say that my productive was quite the same, and my social live was better! I'm not sure if I want to reset my winter routine or continue like this, being more "Spanish" with my schedule but not being dead at 20 p.m., or being more "nordic" like a productivity machine! What do you think? What is your routine to be productive? are you a morning person or a night owl? what's your experience?

Living in another country. I'm so excited. This settember I'm going to do my fifth anniversary living in Italy. It's being an interesting experience. I live in the south of Italy, and it's not simple. Some things are great: the weather is gentle, the beaches and the nature are wild and beautiful, and the food is so tasty! But after five years living here I have to say that this is a good place to go on holidays, but it isn't a peaceful place to live. First of all, bureaucracy is a mess. Public offices don't work at all, the workers are not prepared and they can be rude as well. Here there aren't good medical structures, and there's not place for culture, events or funny things to do on winter. I also miss my family and friends. When you're living in another country occasionaly you need to feel at home, with people that can deeply understand you. That's why I'm thinking about making a decision, trying to imagine what will be my next adventure, any ideas or advices?

Pain points being a freelancer Working as a freelance is not always easy. It's up to you to focus when you don't feel creative or productive, and on the other hand you need to know when it's the moment to stop working. I have some fruitful weeks and other ones that I feel the only thing that I want to do is to rest. The most negative part is when you're trying to manage something and this though becomes something fixed on your mind. And you lose your sleep. Your brain is not able to relax and forgot your business for a while, and the next day you feel distracted and sleepy. How could I manage my work to separate my life than my work life? That's the main question when your work is also part of your passion!

The best method to study a new language. I've been thinking about the process of learning a new language. I studied English at high school, but it wasn't useful. It's not important to know a lot of grammar if you're not able to use it on the real life. That's why at the begging I was struggling with conversation and oral skills. Learning Italian was so different. I've just arrived in Italy and I had to talk in Italian with people, go to the University, do exams, go to the market and make friends. I learned really fast. When you are at the country of the language you wants to improve it's easier. How could I improve my English without living in a English's native country? I would like to know your methods to improve other languages. I want to make my journey useful and productive.