номер 1, страница 100 - гдз по английскому языку 5-11 класс учебник Latham-Koenig, Oxenden

Ten point five.

Part one.

Why did you decide to leave the UK and live abroad?

Well, actually it was David who um convinced me it's a good idea. Um a long time ago going back I was studying um at the my final year at University of Warwick. Um and David was working at that time in Mallorca. And we met in England and then he returned to work in Mallorca. Um and then it was um it was very we kept in touch by letters and it was very easy to be seduced by the the lifestyle he had there. The lovely um swimming, the barbecues in the mountains, the the fishing for octopus. So I was sitting finishing my my essays in the the the library windows covered with rain and uh yeah, so uh when I graduated I I went very happily out to to Spain to be with him. And we both got jobs in Vigo in in Spain working as language teachers in a private school and uh we had a lovely time. We we worked um and when we weren't working we spent the time discovering the area um going out on our bikes and uh learned to windsurf. Uh so yeah, so it was a great year.

So a very happy introduction to Spain for you. And and how did you both end up in Mayrena?

Well, it was by chance really. We'd um we've been working as English teachers for for several years, or ten years perhaps in my case. And we realized that we had the opportunity to to take a year off, a sabbatical year, as it were. Um with a view to then going back to to teaching again. And we had a friend who had a a small house in the in in a village in the mountains south of Granada. And he'd agreed to to let us rent this house for for next to nothing for a year. So that's what we did, but whilst we were there, we wandered around and cycled around and finally stumbled on this little village of Mayrena where we live now. And fell in love with the village, fell in love with the house that we we lived in for a while at first. And realized at the end of the year that we were were having a ball and enjoying it too much really to to want to go back. So at that point we realized that we had to to find a way of of earning a living because we didn't have any money. And so we I I got a job in Granada in fact as teaching for a year or so. And then we opened what's now Las Chimeneas, our little hotel and restaurant.

How integrated do you feel in the local community?

Um, one of the things that made me feel very integrated and indeed very very proud in fact was was being invited to to join the local council. And I worked for six years as the the deputy mayor. And um not necessarily a very good deputy mayor, but I kind of enjoyed it. And it was a, you know, it's a I consider it as an honor to be to be involved and asked to get involved in in local politics and it's it's a useful thing as well, rather than just being on the outside protesting at decisions taken after the event. It's quite useful to be part of the decision making process as well.

And I think for me, the the thing that really made a difference was when we had children. Um because especially uh as being uh being, you know, a mother in the village, it meant that you met other mothers and um people felt that it was a reason to talk and our children are friends with the other kids, they come around to play now. So yeah, that was a big difference for me.

And having the business as well, because we, you know, people can see that we're we're actually working and we're working alongside our neighbors because you know, we're lucky enough to be in a position where we've been able to employ quite a lot of the local villagers as, you know, as cooks and chefs and taxi drivers and so on.

Ten point six.

Part two.

Interviewer: What do you like most about living in Marina?

Speaker A: Um, the obvious thing and almost the cliché is the weather. But you can't underestimate that. I mean the weather does affect your everyday life. And also simple things like the incredible clear skies and the light. Um, but I think it's something more than that. Um, as long as I can remember, I always had an hankering, I really wanted to live in a very small community. I remember even as a child, it was something that I always had an ambition to do. Um, and I think something about living in a very small village, um, everything seems very kind of human, very manageable. You you know everybody, you literally know everybody in the village. Um, and what's also been great the last few years is that we bought some land, which is filled with um, almonds and uh, olive and fruit trees. So we spend a lot of time down there um and learning how to farm like the locals do because they have very complicated watering techniques. So we've had to uh, speak to locals and learn how to farm the land.

Interviewer: Are there any downsides to living there?

Speaker A: The traveling, isn't it? We have to spend probably more time than we would like in a car to to buy something simple. On the one hand it's great being away from shops, it's like a kind of a real kind of consumer detox. But on the other hand, when you actually have to buy something, it means you have a long journey, um, which I could do without.

Speaker B: And there's lots of paperwork as well as Spain is very heavily bureaucratic country as well. And so there's lots of certification and permits and so on that we've got to we've got to get together and that always means a drive of a couple of hours to to get to to Granada's local center to to get paperwork sorted out. Is there anything you miss about the UK?

Speaker A: Um, well obviously, we miss friends and family. I mean that's the big thing, but we're lucky we live in a a nice part of the world and so we we get lots of visitors who come out and and stay with us, which is nice. And then, you know, often it's very tiny little things that you miss. I mean I miss pubs with carpets and soft lighting and, you know, polite dog walkers. That kind of thing, so.

Speaker A: And the fact we actually when we come back, we often come back to London. So um what I really like about the UK is is that sense of cultural diversity. Just traveling on public transport in London, you're very aware of the the um very wide range of people living here, which obviously you wouldn't get in the a small rural community. Um, and uh of course the the great thing about that is being in London is uh yeah, you can choose you know, any kind of restaurant. That's a big treat to come back and be able to choose what kind of food you want to eat.

Interviewer: Do you think you'll come back to the UK one day?

Speaker B: Well, you never know. I mean we we we never took a a decision that we would stay in Spain forever. So it was kind of by chance, by accident that we've been in Spain so long. So we we've never really ruled it out. It would be tricky I think to come back. Largely for economic or financial reasons, Britain's a very expensive place to buy a house at the moment. And then of course there's the boys. The boys, our two sons are now aged seven and thirteen. So they were born and brought up in Spain. So it would be they would be really uprooted for them to take them back to the UK, I think now, that would be perhaps a a bigger hurdle.

Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. That that's the main reason why why I can't see us going back is definitely Dan and Tom. Um, but of course, I think once you've spent fifteen years, um, building up a business then also that's something you don't want to to easily turn your back on.

Speaker B: Of course, the other thing we need to think about is the impact of Brexit. Um, it might be that we end up applying for Spanish nationality. Um, I think for now, we're just going to see how things go.

Ten point seven.

One.

He agreed to to let us rent this house for for next to nothing.

Two.

We wandered around and cycled around and finally stumbled on this little village of Myrena where we live now.

Three.

We're having a ball and enjoying it too much really to to want to go back.

Four.

As long as I can remember, I always had a hankering. I really wanted to live in a very small community.

Five.

On the one hand, it's great being away from shops. It's like a kind of a real kind of consumer detox.

Six.

So we we've never really ruled it out. It'd be tricky, I think, to come by, largely for economic or financial reasons.

Seven.

To take them back to the UK, I think that that would be perhaps a bigger hurdle.

Eight.

I think once you've spent fifteen years, uh, building up a business, then also that's something you don't want to to easily turn your back on.