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Reflection

Time for some reflection on my placement year so far. The whole process of PDP, especially in 2nd year where we had to make an action plan to how we would achieve our aspirations really prepared me for this year. I guided me to the necessary steps that I need to take such as research the best modules to take while in California as well as the companies I should hand me CV to in Spain. It helped me narrow my choices. PDP helped my produce my creative CV and cover letter which got me my internship, the countless times I had to rewrite and show my tutors paid off. I definitely have more to show in my portfolio, especially coming from my Graphic Design module. I learn how to basically produce fine art online, as well as really enhance my Adobe skills. I learnt new software such as Lightroom and how to use a camera professionally. I can add to my CV my experience on professional blogging, review and analysis. My typography and visual communications classes, provided me with the knowledg...
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Exploring

My managers being so friendly told me about events that go around Barcelona. I was really eagar to learn salsa, so they told me about a salsa school that teaches at affordable prices, I look for to trying that out. My accommodation is basically a block of flats for students or student doing an internship, which was main priority due to safety and being around people that are around the same age as me. This very helpful because we are all in the same boat living away from family and travelling. This is also a good way to network internationally seeing as my flatmates being from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. I'm blessed to be around people that are down to earth, the fact that we were able travel to the outskirts of Barcelona walk up hill surrounded by nature talking about nature, animals, culture, discrimination and politics.
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Events

La Playa I decided to go to the beach with one of my friends from Philadelphia, that I met at a language exchange. Again very confusing to get to, I need to get used to getting lost aha. Generally I'm not the best at navigation, so Barcelona is improving this skill for me seeing as when you get lost too often you start to recognise where you are. The beach is popular amongst tourist however it was really calm, people selling cocktails and patterned beach mats. It was a really nice atmosphere, I even got a massage done at the beach, very rare but common in Barcelona. Later I tried my first Spanish dish paella, however I didn't like it because I not used to their rice grains (more thick and round). I enjoyed practicing my Spanish at the restaurant, which is helping me improve my confidence because I would normally get to shy because my grammar isn't perfect. However I told myself to go for it and they will appreciate my effort, which they do. This is the new attitude I co...
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Networking

The room I work is hired by multiple companies;  my manager mentioned that one of the companies were hosting an creative event with music and free wine, to promote their services. I believed that this was my chance to go and network with people in the creative industry. Luckily my flatmates wanted to come so I wasn't alone; even though we arrived an 1 hour late we where early (Spanish timing). Observing the event the layout was beautiful, they used their all white studio that had a beautiful view of the streets. The DJ in the back of the room had a projector displaying black and white moving images behind, looked really cool. We were given free wine, I guess to set the relaxed mood as well as 2 dogs playful around. They were spoiled because everyone was stroking them and they were friends. I love dogs, also I thought this would never happen in England. My friend suggested we go into a room showing short videos. That's when I know I had to met the person in charge; I did my re...
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Blogging

Previously I had to review the Yclas website and make sure that every single page has the correct English translation (the whole purpose of hiring a native English speaker). Currently I have to write weekly blog about top classified website in chosen country. Initially I thought this was going to be boring, because the examples I saw were not interesting the previous posts named the country with a list of sites. Knowing me and my interest in culture I decided to use this to influence my blog posts, so that the user would not only know the top classified sites within the country but learn something new. Lets sprinkle some of my new found knowledge: Kenya's massive move to renewable energy, Ghana is the world's second largest producer of gold and Hawai'i means the "Place of Gods" or "Homeland" in Polynesian to name a few. This I believe is very useful because it has expanded my knowledge on different countries that I can follow up on, as well as learning h...
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Internship

I got lost on my way to work, getting lost is inevitable in Barcelona because all the streets look the same. When I arrived my managers welcomed me and went through the necessary procedures such as health and safety. They mentioned that for the first couple of days I will spend time getting familiar with their website  https://yclas.com  before I started with the tasks set out for me. I created an account and started to play around with each feature, knowing the in and outs of their software. I realised this was very helpful because I didn't need much supervision giving me more time to carry out my tasks, as well as making me feel more comfortable knowing what I'm doing. Yclas Yclas is a web development software that offers it's services, templates and features to help create a successful classified site. Classifieds sites specifically categories the content they are advertising such as job boards, car dealerships and so on. While using the website I was observing the d...
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Barcelona

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Missed my flight I didn't really sleep the night before but I still woke up on time; my family dropped me at North Greenwich Station an I was off. Normally you can get a straight train to Gatwick from London Bridge, however that day there was an accident on the tracks. To which I was directed to another station which took an 1 hour to get to. So then I arrived at Gatwick the second the check in closed, all the flights that day would arrive in Barcelona too late. So my parents bought me another ticket for Monday morning, I contacted my landlord and manager. In a way it was a blessing in disguise because my deposit wasn't going to through till Monday, so I was not sure if I could still move in. Also I didn't really get to say by to my sisters and cousins properly. Then the new ticket meant I could carry more luggage meaning more food. I arrived in Barcelona on Monday 13th, I was so nervous about getting around because I didn't have time to practice my Spanish however ...
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