Our definite choice for Barcelona
The welcome by our Spanish friends had been so nice and life in Barcelona was so attractive that we had decided definitely to settle in Barcelona. We had now a nice house, Willem had some interesting work at ESADE and we both worked on interesting problems of the European Social Survey. Now it was time to prepare for our future in Barcelona. The first obligation was to learn the Spanish language and to get some Spanish friends in our new building.
Language courses by Paula
We had already done some Spanish courses but now it became urgent to do it more seriously. We started with a regular Spanish course. We followed courses of the same teacher, Paula. Willem attended the elementary course and Irmtraud a more advanced course. Paula was a good teacher at both levels. We learned a lot and later, till the Corona time, we continued our courses with her but via private lessons. In this way, we got a new friend in Barcelona. She also explained us the situation in Catalunya and illustrated her idea about this independence on her own way.
Language courses by Paula
We had already done some Spanish courses but now it became urgent to do it more seriously. We started with a regular Spanish course. We followed courses of the same teacher, Paula. Willem attended the elementary course and Irmtraud a more advanced course. Paula was a good teacher at both levels. We learned a lot and later, till the Corona time, we continued our courses with her but via private lessons. In this way, we got a new friend in Barcelona. She also explained us the situation in Catalunya and illustrated her idea about this independence on her own way.
In the first Spanish course Willem did, there were people of many different countries also a Japanese woman, Mari Ito. For her it was even more difficult than for me to learn this new language. Therefore she often used her mobile before answering a question. Between classes, we tried out our knowledge of Spanish and so I understood that she was a painter and was interested to continue to stay in Barcelona. She also showed me on her mobile phone some of the paintings she had made. They were very special, mostly colorful flowers on a typical Japanese background. She became another friend of us in Barcelona.
Contacts with our neighbors
In the condominium where we lived there were two padel courts. Padel is like tennis but in a smaller court. I had played tennis before when I was a teenager but not much. Via contacts with some people, I started to play this game and got to know some people of the neighborhood. To introduce ourselves to our neighbors and the padel players, we organized a party in our apartment. To promote the sales of paintings of Mari Ito we suggested her to present some of her paintings in the entrance hall of our flat. It was a nice party with many guests.
In the condominium where we lived there were two padel courts. Padel is like tennis but in a smaller court. I had played tennis before when I was a teenager but not much. Via contacts with some people, I started to play this game and got to know some people of the neighborhood. To introduce ourselves to our neighbors and the padel players, we organized a party in our apartment. To promote the sales of paintings of Mari Ito we suggested her to present some of her paintings in the entrance hall of our flat. It was a nice party with many guests.
To our surprise, our guests did not pay any attention to the paintings. After the party we decided to buy all these paintings for our hall because we thought they fitted very well.
Forum de las Culturas, 2004
In the same year very close to our new apartment the Catalan government had decided to organize a large event like the Olympic Games but now for Cultural activities. At least that was the way it was announced. However they used this event for the reconstruction of a part of the town as they had also done before when they organized the Olympic games.
The idea was nice but the realization was less well done. Too few countries from different cultures were represented. There were mostly Spanish speaking countries, India and China were the exceptions. Hardly any western countries were present. The entrance tickets were also too expensive for most people. We bought two tickets for the whole period of 141 days. In this way we could go there any time we wanted. We were especially interested in a program “preguntas” which took place every evening around 7 o´clock. The idea was that every day a guest would present some ideas and would answer questions. There we heard for instance a talk of many famous people such as Isabel Allende. We also went to a discussion between famous economists from different countries. That was also a nice event but without translation very few people were able to follow the presentation in different languages. This was a typical illustration of another nice idea but a very bad realization.
In the same year very close to our new apartment the Catalan government had decided to organize a large event like the Olympic Games but now for Cultural activities. At least that was the way it was announced. However they used this event for the reconstruction of a part of the town as they had also done before when they organized the Olympic games.
The idea was nice but the realization was less well done. Too few countries from different cultures were represented. There were mostly Spanish speaking countries, India and China were the exceptions. Hardly any western countries were present. The entrance tickets were also too expensive for most people. We bought two tickets for the whole period of 141 days. In this way we could go there any time we wanted. We were especially interested in a program “preguntas” which took place every evening around 7 o´clock. The idea was that every day a guest would present some ideas and would answer questions. There we heard for instance a talk of many famous people such as Isabel Allende. We also went to a discussion between famous economists from different countries. That was also a nice event but without translation very few people were able to follow the presentation in different languages. This was a typical illustration of another nice idea but a very bad realization.
Teaching in Lugano
The European Science Foundation had initiated a program to promote Quantitative Methods for Social Sciences (QMSS). Willem was invited to give the course with a French colleague. Lugano turned out to be a very beautiful place. We stayed in a nice hotel along the lake where on the last day discussions with other invited methodologists and the students would take place. It was a very intensive course for me and the students but there was also time to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Lugano. It seems that the students liked the course or they were very happy that it was finished. This is not clear in the video of the excursion day and the last day of the course.
The European Science Foundation had initiated a program to promote Quantitative Methods for Social Sciences (QMSS). Willem was invited to give the course with a French colleague. Lugano turned out to be a very beautiful place. We stayed in a nice hotel along the lake where on the last day discussions with other invited methodologists and the students would take place. It was a very intensive course for me and the students but there was also time to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Lugano. It seems that the students liked the course or they were very happy that it was finished. This is not clear in the video of the excursion day and the last day of the course.