nuriaintoronto

It’s a tricky question for an exercise. The risk questionnaire we had last Monday in the class was asking  “Have you ever been out with someone you met on the Internet”. We were supposed to work in groups and interview one another. So I did. When it was my answer time I accepted the threat and took the risk.

I chickened out when I was about to speak and  thought for myself, “you’d better say no, never” but I weighed up the pros and cons and decided that it was worthwhile  saying yes so that I could see the effect of taking the risk.

Thinking that this kind of exercises are getting close to an Alcoholics Anonimous session  I took my answer as a challenge and I gave them my little history forgetting all the embarrassment .

I wanted to start by a “once upon a time” but I just said: ”one day I was at home on my own feeling miserable and remembering the quite life I was having some years ago married and with a child but when this  day-to-day fairy tale life disappeared I had to take some action and try to be as much happy as possible living alone.

 At nights sleeping properly was difficult and I got bored of reading my book in my sweet time. For a change, one night  I sat down in front of my computer and started dating on the Internet. And there he was, Mr. Something was looking at me from his best photo taken. I don’t remember now what nickname he was using. He was American. He must still be, of course, very straightforward and looking attractive from his still image.

 We met the next morning for a coffee, and that was all, I haven’t  seen him again.

My colleagues in the class didn’t blink while I was talking,  they paid a lot of attention to the story but, no need to say,  I invented the end.

Yesterday I watched a major international sport competition, the Champion’s League football match between Barça and Chelsea. In their pursuit of excellence Barça lost the match. I’m saying pursuit of excellence because of the way Barça plays.

The Catalan team is not aggressive at all and I believe they lost the game because they didn’t attack as much as the experts say it has to be done in such sporting events.

Barça lost the match because Chelsea scored in the last few minutes when the Catalan  players were paralysed waiting for the instructions of the referee and neglected the protection of their goal. Chelsea took great advantage of the situation and scored.

I wonder in what cases pursuit of excellence justifies being aggressive, at least a little bit. For sure in football games it should be. This is what I heard in the interviews made to supporters and the opinions of sport journalists. They said Barça should be much more aggressive than it currently is.

This having been said let us point out that life is not a football match. We don’t have to win or lose. At least this is my own opinion, what I think at this very moment of my life.

On the other hand I would like to stress and always making reference to that football match that  Barça’s international defeat this time was followed by a much more meaningful loss with Real Madrid winning a match to the always considered Catalan National team in their own territory, in Barcelona.

Taking into consideration the present social and economic situation of Catalonia and the rest of Spain as well as the growing conflict of the Catalans with the State because of the assets owed, the only good news we had for the time being were Barça’s pursuit of excellence in the constant victories of the team. Will this attitude be changed after the latest sporting events and the resignation of their coach.

It remains to be seen.

Three months after having left Toronto I find myself today at home making my English homework.

Sorry dears but it is boring.

I joined last term of the year an Advanced class at British Council in Barcelona.

Teacher is alright. He is an Irishman, sometimes difficult to understand but this is the threat I don’t worry for.

But believe me,  the class in general is boring.

We’re some fifteen people, none of them overpassing the thirties, if so.

Actually my course colleagues might have the same interest I have, to get an official well appreciated qualification, the

Advanced Level of the British Council, but they are posh Spanish youngsters.

I say posh, please excuse me If I'm offending someone, because of the prize one has to pay for some twenty classes

in all, some twenty discounting Easter holidays and other days that I might not been able to go. I had to pay 700 Euros.

An amazing lot.

Anyway I joined and I’ll finish but nothing to do with the three months I joined Toronto’ s Ryerson University. I miss all

my colleagues there even tough their faces are beginning to fade.

I’m not going to get sad. I’ll go on here but it’s boring. I could not join the Escuela Official de Idiomas where the course 

is much cheaper but it was to late in the year when I arrived in Barcelona. Maybe next year, who knows now