SJGeoLink a new venture.

Well this week has been a busy week.
For the last year we've been racking our brains to think of a way to spend more time in Spain while I finish my degree. The only idea that we have been able to come up with is to start our own business selling second hand and new goods, to do that successfully we have had to buy our own van. There's tons of facebook sites advertising goods but they all need collecting. The way I see it, if they need collecting, the owner wants them gone and they're willing to sell very cheap or even give things away. Having a van means I can buy and then provide a delivery at a profit.
At the same time, the van can be used to transfer goods to Spain for other people while being paid to visit our apartment, each time upgrading my insurance for transporting goods for hire or reward.
So we've bought the van, got business insurance, business cards, and goods in transit insurance.
All we need now is customers and goods to sell. Our bids are in on Uship so we'll see what happens, the worst that can happen is that we'll sell the van and have to rethink our short term plans.

Owners of Spanish homes living in the UK are forgot about.

  I thought this may be of interest. First a link to the BBC about brexit, one owner wants to know where she stands regarding moving to her Spanish property after brexit. Like anything though, the question was never really answered. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32810887

Second, here's a copy of an email I sent to my local MP, again, not really answered.

Dear Sir,

With regards to Brexit, I am wondering if you would be able to answer my questions or have those questions raised.
I feel totally disappointed with the Brexit as I class myself as a citizen of the world who, at the moment seems to be getting stripped of my rights to live wherever I want.
A few years ago, my partner and I were discussing buying a property in Spain. I wanted this along with her, but said I would like to start learning the language before buying, which I have done, two years with the Open University and now as a mature full time student at the University of Huddersfield. In the mean time, we have bought a property prior to Brexit. Since then, we are in limbo. Will we ever be able to live in our property or is it now a worthless holiday home? Basically a shattered dream!
Considering that Teresa May was a remainer, why is she now trying to run a Brexit dictatorship? She seems to have forgotten about people like me! Negotiations are ongoing for those Europeans who already have residencies both here and abroad but are there going to be any negotiations for property owners like myself, who have already lost a lot of money with properties that may not sell and the fall in the pound.
Best regards,
Shaun Simmons

 

Job Prospects.

So presuming that I do move to Spain before retirement, what are my job prospects?

Well, I've got to look at what I've done in the past for work and can I do it in Spain. So lets look at my history.

I left school and became a Drivers Mate. I don't think there's a call for that type of job these days, not even in England.
I then worked in a woolen mill sorting rags for a few months. Not much to go on there.
I joined the army for nearly seven years. I'm now 48 and Spain has it's own army, so no need for an aging ex-squaddie.
I then worked as a groundworker. Well unless you're Spanish, you wont get in with a big company employing groundworkers.
Then I became an HGV driver. My licence ran out at the age of 45. These days you need a digital tacograph, driver CPC and because I'm over 45, if I did renew my licence, I'd need a medical every 5 years. On top of that, I'm not Spanish.
After giving up driving at about the age of 30, I became a warehouse foreman for Proton and Lotus Cars until redundancy. Again, I'm not Spanish.
Whilst I was at Proton/Lotus, I joined the Navy part time and made full time for a stint when I was sent to Iraq. I don't think the Spanish Armada have any need for an aging British sailor.
I then got into the building trade, self employed. I was building conservatories, extensions, general building work and then gabion walls all over the UK. The only real way to do that in Spain is to be self employed, (autonimo). There's already lots of people doing that in Spain with a lot more experience and proffessionalism than me.
Then it was back to warehousing and production as a manager, again I'm not Spanish.
In between and along side these jobs, I've also done bar work. there is plenty of that, but mainly seasonal.

So what's left. The only thing that is left for me is a change of career as none of my experience is any good in reality.

I always though about becoming a teacher when I was younger and to get to the point, that's my chosen route and I'm pretty sure it's a move that I'd make even if I wanted to stay in the UK. I did a TEFL course back in 2014, but that on it's own is a waste of time, look at the competition, to get ahead, you need a degree to go with it, which I'm doing (in a relevant subject that also helps). even then there's still competition. To build on that and make yourself stand out, a PGCE on top would be the minimum requirement in my opinion. Whatever route, it's a slow process but I'm sure it will be worth it.

There is plenty of prospects out there, for those with experience and a niche market who can go self employed. For the rest, the market is limited. Seasonal bar work, teaching (even that can be seasonal), Chefs are always required along with people with experience in real estate.

I may be wrong, but for me paid online work is a no go. Try getting past the scammers promising to make you into a millionaire within a matter of weeks. Pay per click jobs are not worth the time, the same as surveys, you may earn a tenner every six months and have your inbox full of spam.

Don't dismay though, for a lot of people out there your skills are transferable, just not mine.

More about my studies

Two years of studying with the Open University passed, giving me 120 credit points, equivelant to 1 year of study at a conventional university. As you can imagine it felt pretty slow going so I had to think about my options.
What I had learned and passed so far had apparently got me to level B1 in Spanish but I wanted my degree and I wanted it quick. So at the end of those two years, I enrolled for double the amount of courses, cutting my remaining time in half allowing me to finish after a further two years of study.
This led to more problems. If I did that I would effectively be studying full time, but not getting the same maintenance loans as a conventional university. Also I was looking at jobs relating to my future degree, alarm bells started to ring when I was looking at the requirements, some of them needed a bachelor degree, but not through distance learning. Were my studies all for nothing?
So what did I do? I contacted my nearest University which was Huddersfield to see if I could enrol with them and start my studies at year 2. Now bear in mind, I left scool at 16 without any exams under my belt, all of my studies were as an adult, however they were happy to have me on board due to my studies with the OU, but the courses they had on offer did not suit my previously completed modules.
I took the plunge and enrolled and started full time at Huddersfield in September 2016. The degree route that I was now taking was English Language with Spanish and I had to start at year 1. I was really excited until I arrived for my Spanish seminars and realised that I was out of my depth. Huddersfield's Spanish in year 1 was at a lower level than I'd achieved with the OU but I wasn't up to scratch and had to do something about it. I didn't want to give up Spanish and at the same time, I didn't want Spanish to affect my final grades, so I made an early change. There's no going back now, my final route is English Language and Linguistics, while doing Spanish as a programme route outside of my degree. I still get to study Spanish in the same seminars as degree students without it affecting my degree and still get a graded certificate each year.
The change has been the best move that I've made. My mind has opened up about the English language, it's easy to think that I speak English so why study it, but there's so much more to it, think about child language aquisition or forensic linguistics for example. Anyway my studies are going well, my first year is complete and my combined marks for my first year overall have got me on track for a first.
So what about the OU? Was it a waste? The answer is no. I did learn a lot, but not enough to do my grades with them any justice. My experience with them has helped me get into a conventional university. And the courses with them have not gone to waste. I was awarded a Certificate of Higher Education, Language Studies.

Next time what are my future career intentions.

My Spanish language learning progression.

Well, I started learning from the BBC books that I'd bought but it didn't take long to realise that I needed more.
Years ago, I studied a couple of IT modules with the Open University which were pretty good. However, I didn't go any further with the studies due to the expense. Even with that in mind, I decided to have a look, to my surprise it was possible to get a tuition loan to study like any other university. The only thing that you can't get is the maintenance loans allowing you to give up work to study.
That was it, I enrolled there and then and applied for the loan which was approved. This allowed me to go to study groups and practice with other people and benefit from a native Spanish tutor. My study route was English Language with a Modern Language and my first modules were Portales Beginners Spanish and Understanding Intercultural Communications. Both excellent starting points.

Next time, my studies continued.

What do you need to move to Spain

Obviously, the first thing that you need is somewhere to live, but that's just the start. How about an income, the language barriers, the cultural barriers and the knowledge of the areas and the red tape. let me tell you what we know. We had a serious conversation in 2014 about moving to Spain and our journey started from there. The first thing that I said was, "at least one of us needs to speak Spanish". From there the rollercoaster started to move. That night I ordered the BBC Spanish books.



and the Oxford mini Spanish Dictionary



Let me tell you, these two books were inspirational, I used them every day and still have them now. They are a brilliant start but more is needed if you are serious. While saying that, I believe that you need them, especially the dictionary. (More on these later)

This is our story, I will remember what I can and post everything that I do. It may not be in the correct order when I blog but I will give you an approximate timeline when I can.