After a particularly bad day working in a café at home in Scotland, I drove home and googled ‘opportunities to live and work abroad’ - and basically, that’s the long story short of how I ended up as an English Language Assistant with Meddeas.
I’m from a very small village in Scotland, which I absolutely…
Living abroad was never really about travelling or seeing new places. At the start, it was about stepping out of my comfort zone and away from everything that was familiar to me. You begin to realise you have to navigate everything on your own; you’re pushed to limits you didn’t even know you had, and…
Situated on the Iberian Peninsula, nestled high in the Pyrenees, lies the tragically underrated country of Andorra. Bordered by countries of far greater international renown - Spain and France - and boasting a population of only 82,000 (give or take), Andorra may be a destination that is often overlooked for travellers planning their European adventures.…
There’s something thrilling about deciding to leave your life behind and embark on a new adventure somewhere new. At first, the nerves and uncertainty are almost drowned out by excitement, and the more you talk about it, the more real it becomes. Suddenly, you’re consumed by researching accommodation, navigating the bureaucracy of visas, and dreaming…
When you arrive at a Spanish school, there are three things the kids want to know about you: where you're from, what football team you support, and whether you prefer a tortilla de patatas with onions or without. These are, to them, the important questions, and they highlight how central food is to the Spanish…
Moving to Spain as an English Language Assistant is one of the most exciting and slightly chaotic adventures you can take. Between meeting your students, settling into your new town, and adjusting to life filled with tapas, late dinners, and sunny afternoons, there is also a not-so-exciting side: PAPERWORK.
Spain’s bureaucracy is a system that…
If you’ve never gone from foraging for weird-looking fungi to yelling at a soccer referee in the same afternoon, let me introduce you to my host family. When I joined the Meddeas program, I originally wasn’t sure if I wanted to be placed in a host family or do independent living. Now, I’ve had a…
When I started 2025, I was a soon-to-be master’s graduate with both hopes and uncertainties for the year ahead. One thing I knew going into this year was that, after spending 2024 studying abroad, I was more motivated than ever to continue my adventures outside of South Africa, exploring the world while developing my personal…
...That no one warned me about.
Earlier this year, I signed up to move to Spain and begin working as a Language Assistant, anticipating a year of sharing my knowledge of the English language and culture with the students. What no one warned me about, however, was just how often there would be a…
Once the excitement and novelty of your first few months abroad begin to wear off, we find ourselves in the midst of a long, chilly winter. As it is with any job, winters feel long, routines feel monotonous, and daily life can get a little repetitive and boring.
As the winter months drag on, the…