Latest moan from you and me - 2016

Yes ... ....

Now, to be perfectly fair, if I had to sit opposite someone who was eating like that ...






















... I would be looking at my smartphone too!!! Eyes down!!!

 

Bit of a grumble regarding youngest son and his Erasmus experience. He had been on a teaching experience, in Spain, for this academic year all part of his language degree. He was responsible for arranging his accommodation and, after looking at a few possibilities, settled on something to suit his purpose and just happens to be with a teacher who is working at one of the schools he was assigned to. The terms agreed (via email) last summer were: XX euros per week *excluding* food. Sounded reasonable and being one of the teachers from the school ... it sounded like a good deal.
He set off, in September, his first trip abroad alone.
He paid his xx euros per week, as agreed, and he bought and cooked his own food. He was a little disappointed with his room but, hey, it would suffice. Cooking his own food? Not a problem, except, the oven doesn't work and only two rings on the cooker top are functional. But, hey; it's do-able.
His mentor (not his "landlady") arranged a car-share style scheme to get him to work and back and was split across several other teachers. He offered petrol money (as us English do) and it was declined.
Fast forward to December.
He was packing to come home for a short break over Christmas and his "landlady" asked him for his contribution. This puzzled him because he had paid his dues and thought it must be a translation error.
He returned beginning of January. Carried on as before.
At the beginning of March, his mentor told him he would no longer be a part of the car-share scheme and would have to find his own way to and from the schools he was assigned to. He doesn't know why it had changed but sorted out where the buses where, times, cost etc.
At the same time, his "landlady" gave him a group of her household bills and told him to "sort them out".
So, he methodically correlated them and filed them for her.
Now, through all this, the only contact we have with him is through Skype and it has worked well - one hour long Skype once a week and we're all happy.
THIS week, without warning, his landlady removed the router from the sitting room, put it in her bedroom and, when she left for work, turned off the router and locked her door.
Yesterday he asked her about the internet and she responded that she had given him the domestic bills and told him to sort them out and that WI-FI was *not* included!! She is demanding he pay HALF of the domestic bills since his arrival.

Also yesterday, he was leaving work, walking to the bus stop and one of the tutors who used to take him via the car-share scheme pulled up alongside him and asked if he wanted a lift. Naturally he didn't refuse. She turned the conversation around to how he didn't join her anymore and he explained that his school mentor had stated that he was to use buses and not the car-share as it was no longer available to him. She was flabbergasted and said she hadn't been told that! Anytime she was going his way, she was more than happy to give him a lift.

Now, I try not to be one of those "satellite" mothers, but I'm left feeling quite annoyed at how he is being treated! Maybe I'm wrong, but, if his landlady agreed a sum *excluding food* then how come, after a few months that changed to a contribution to domestic bills and, even worse, HALF the bills!!?? He isn't her partner!! (Her bills have increased by 6 euros per billing since he has been there).
Why did his "mentor" withdraw the lifts? Working it out, it would seem like it was simply too much work for her to marry the lifts with his timetable (which alters week by week and isn't fixed).

I said I'm feeling "quite annoyed" ... but that is more of a euphemism for ******* ****** off I wouldn't be happy if anyone treated me this way .... but, a young adult, in a foreign country, on a student scheme?

They are giving me more than enough reason to fuel a dislike for the Spanish and this could even be a vote changer

 

"M" some people start things which is a good idea at the time, then they get bored or don't like it any more so change they minds, we had it here

 

@"M" is your son going to find other accommodations? This sounds like bullying to me..

 

He is @CanadianLori ... he is indeed! ... he arrives home in one month

He isn't due to end his work there until June, but, he has been working longer hours than he was meant to (not his choice, but, in some respects he can be a canny lad and is using it to his advantage ) he had already calculated how much time he could afford to bring forward his return home.

@Jiffy - totally agree, but that is still no reason for a mature woman to treat a young adult, alone in a foreign country, in this manner. The way for her to deal with how *she* feels is ... to not offer accommodation again As for his mentor ... *she* is being paid by the Erasmus fund to "care" for him. His way of dealing with her will be by way of his feedback report. He is going to be non emotional about it, but point out the facts regarding the work schedule (double what it should have been, but only paid for the contracted time); the ad hoc scheduling of his classes (changed every week) and then the car-share aspect. Nothing else he can in reality.


I, on the other hand, am in the process of fashioning a voodoo dolly and await a strand of her hair and that of his landlady

 

*Shh!* I'm not really making them just felt good to *think* it

 

@"M" even if you did want to make one, you're too late.....and I have some heavy duty upholstery needles ready .....


Actually, I makd sock monkeys every oncd in awhile. I make them to look like the person I give them to. Always accepted with a smile.

 

And guaranteed that they look after them very, very, carefully

 

One of lifes experiences, be careful who to trust

 

Karma will get him Woo, he'll regret having ariels on him later when the lightning comes