{"id":32884,"date":"2020-04-20T18:22:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T22:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=32884"},"modified":"2020-04-20T18:22:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T22:22:54","slug":"an-abrupt-goodbye-but-a-long-lasting-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/top-stories\/2020\/04\/20\/an-abrupt-goodbye-but-a-long-lasting-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"An abrupt goodbye, but a long lasting memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOWAMENCIN <\/span>\u2014 North Penn High School junior Matthew Burgoyne only had about 15 hours to pack his things and leave Madrid, Spain. Despite having to leave so soon, he had the chance to experience one of the greatest opportunities handed to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burgoyne wanted to study abroad to immerse himself in a different culture and improve his Spanish. When he found that he was chosen to go to Madrid, he was excited to live his life from a different perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was excited, but I knew that I was going to miss my friends and family. I was also looking forward to all of the cool things that I would be doing and seeing in Spain,\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he arrived in Spain, he felt that it was hard to adjust, mostly because the time zones were different. In Spain, they\u2019re 6 hours ahead of the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Submitted Photo<\/span>
The first day Burgoyne got to meet his host family at the airport.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe first day was crazy because when I arrived in Spain, it was early in the morning, but it felt like dinner time. As soon as I got to my [host family\u2019s house], I think I slept for 10 hours, and it was like that for the whole week,\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the first time he got to meet his host family because they never video chatted prior to him coming. His host dad was a member of the Spanish Navy and his host mom was a teacher at his school. He had 3 host siblings whose names were Claudia who was 14, Manolo who was 11, and Pedro who was 7. Carlota, who was the Spanish exchange student at North Penn, was also a part of the family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first impression was great\u2014[his host family] were really awesome people. When I stepped out of the airport, they had a big sign that said, \u2018Welcome,\u2019\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During that week, he went to meet his host family\u2019s grandparents and they stayed at the beach for the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he took 3 years of Spanish which helped him understand the basics and how to get around, getting used to a different lifestyle was one of the obstacles he had to overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing immersed like that in the lifestyle, it completely changes everything because everyone is talking faster and everyone has different accents. It\u2019s just a whole different level. I think the first time someone spoke Spanish to me was right off the plane, and she was asking for my passport and I had no idea what she was saying to me. There were a lot of awkward moments,\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burgoyne began school the next week. He attended a religious school that covered all religions, and classes went from 8:45 AM to 5 PM. He had an hour and a half lunch break in the middle of the day where he would do whatever he wanted to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He had less classes to choose from because most were required. He was considered a sophomore, so he took a biology class, a combined physics and chemistry class, a math class that covered various types of math like algebra or geometry, a philosophy class, a religion class, a history class, a Spanish class that was essentially a language arts class, and a basic English class.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for how the material was taught, there was a lot of memorization and there were rarely multiple choice tests, so you would have to apply your learning through short answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

A school year typically lasts from September to June. After the school year ends, students who failed the year could spend two weeks doing activities to redo tests in order to pass the course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compared to North Penn, there were about 130-150 students in his grade. They also switched classes less often because the teachers would come into their classroom when it was their time. His school also wasn\u2019t big on sports. There were only 3 or 4 team sports, but they weren\u2019t on a competitive level; they were mostly club sports. Also, the food, in his opinion, was much better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Burgoyne didn\u2019t have to follow a strict dress code; he just couldn\u2019t wear sweatpants or shorts. Students were required to dress nice, but overall, everyone dressed nicer in Spain anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning, he would take public transportation to school and on Mondays and Wednesdays, he would go on the metro after school to the gym to continue doing gymnastics, and then he took it home. On Fridays, he got out of school early at around 2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPublic transportation was key to getting around the city. It was nice because you could go anywhere you want. Other than that, on weekends, I would go out with friends sometimes. Some weekends, my host family would do day trips to different places,\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making friends was hard at first because everyone already knew each other and he was the outsider. The language barrier also made it difficult because he wasn\u2019t very good at Spanish and not everyone\u2019s English was very good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first week, everybody came up to me and was like, \u2018Are you the American? What are you doing here?\u2019 It was a little weird, but after that, things got a little normal. It was another obstacle I had to overcome,\u201d Burgoyne said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When he did start to make friends, he began hanging out with them outside of school like every teenager would. They would hang out on Saturdays at each other\u2019s houses or go to a local park where everyone at school would go to.<\/span><\/p>\n

He felt homesick at times, but on holidays, he felt that it was rougher than usual, however, he kept in touch with his friends, family, and coaches through Facetime, WhatsApp, and Snapchat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI missed everyone, but I was happy that I was there. I never once regretted not going to Spain,\u201d Burgoyne said.<\/span><\/p>\n