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Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

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Chapter 1 Paloma Santos was furious. Her parents had just told her that the family was leaving their home in Spain and they were moving to England! Sixteen-years-old Paloma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her parents do this to her? How could she leave her best friend, Eva? She imagined Eva’s face when she heard the news. Paloma knew Eva would be really upset too. This was a bad year for Paloma to move. She was enjoying school, and everything was starting to go well. “We’ll move to England during the summer holidays. You can finish your ESO 4 year here,” said her mother, trying to be practical. “You can write to your friends and keep in contact by e-mail. We’ll only be in London for two or three years.” “What?” shouted Paloma. “Two or three years! That’s forever, I won’t go! How can you be so selfish? What about us? We’ve got to school, friend and a life here in Spain. I don’t want to go to a new school. I don’t want to make new friends. What will we do in England? We can’t even speak the language!” Mr. and Mrs Santos looked sad and Paloma almost felt sorry for them. It was all because of her dad and his stupid job! Her dad was always having problems with jobs. “Come on, Paloma, it’s not the end of the world,” said her father. “David wasn’t upset when we told him the news. He’s happy to go to England and Marta too.” “Marta never complains about anything, she’s such a goody-goody,” thought Paloma. Marta was a year older than Paloma, and she was much more mature than her. The sisters were very different, and had very different friends. Paloma loved her younger brother but he often irritated her. She couldn’t understand his obsession with their dog, Rex. “David’s only nine. He doesn’t care which country he lives in if Rex is with him,” thought Paloma. Paloma couldn’t stay in the flat. She ran down the stairs of their building, crying. She wanted to get ouf of the place, to be in the fresh air. Paloma walked around the streets, without knowing where she was going. She walked into the local park and sat down on a green bench. She was happy to be alone. Everything had been going well at school. She was in the same class as Eva, because they had chosen the same subjects. She was now sitting next to Daniel in class and they talked a lot after their lessons. Paloma had liked Daniel for years. Now, he had finally asked her to work with him on their science project, this meant they had to spend time together and they often met after school. They laughed a lot when they worked together. Eva was sure Daniel would ask Paloma out soon. Daniel was very handsome and all the girls liked him. He was tall and blond and he had lovely brown eyes. Eva said he made a lot of jokes because he was probably a little shy with girls.
Transcript
Page 1: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Chapter 1

Paloma Santos was furious. Her parents had just told her that the family was leaving their

home in Spain and they were moving to England! Sixteen-years-old Paloma couldn’t believe

what she was hearing. How could her parents do this to her? How could she leave her best

friend, Eva? She imagined Eva’s face when she heard the news. Paloma knew Eva would be

really upset too.

This was a bad year for Paloma to move. She was enjoying school, and everything was starting

to go well.

“We’ll move to England during the summer holidays. You can finish your ESO 4 year here,” said

her mother, trying to be practical. “You can write to your friends and keep in contact by e-mail.

We’ll only be in London for two or three years.”

“What?” shouted Paloma. “Two or three years! That’s forever, I won’t go! How can you be so

selfish? What about us? We’ve got to school, friend and a life here in Spain. I don’t want to go

to a new school. I don’t want to make new friends. What will we do in England? We can’t even

speak the language!”

Mr. and Mrs Santos looked sad and Paloma almost felt sorry for them. It was all because of her

dad and his stupid job! Her dad was always having problems with jobs.

“Come on, Paloma, it’s not the end of the world,” said her father. “David wasn’t upset when

we told him the news. He’s happy to go to England and Marta too.”

“Marta never complains about anything, she’s such a goody-goody,” thought Paloma. Marta

was a year older than Paloma, and she was much more mature than her. The sisters were very

different, and had very different friends.

Paloma loved her younger brother but he often irritated her. She couldn’t understand his

obsession with their dog, Rex. “David’s only nine. He doesn’t care which country he lives in if

Rex is with him,” thought Paloma.

Paloma couldn’t stay in the flat. She ran down the stairs of their building, crying. She wanted to

get ouf of the place, to be in the fresh air. Paloma walked around the streets, without knowing

where she was going. She walked into the local park and sat down on a green bench. She was

happy to be alone.

Everything had been going well at school. She was in the same class as Eva, because they had

chosen the same subjects. She was now sitting next to Daniel in class and they talked a lot

after their lessons. Paloma had liked Daniel for years. Now, he had finally asked her to work

with him on their science project, this meant they had to spend time together and they often

met after school. They laughed a lot when they worked together. Eva was sure Daniel would

ask Paloma out soon.

Daniel was very handsome and all the girls liked him. He was tall and blond and he had lovely

brown eyes. Eva said he made a lot of jokes because he was probably a little shy with girls.

Page 2: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Marta found Paloma in the park nearly an hour later. “Paloma! I thought I’d find you here, “

she said. “Come home, you can’t stay here all night!”

“I’m not going to England, Marta,” said Paloma. “Don’t try to convince me to go. I don’t want

to leave Eva and things are going really well with Daniel. I like him and I think he’s interested in

me. But nothing will happen between us if I move away from here! Three years is too long for

anyone to wait.”

“Oh come on, Paloma! It isn’t so bad to move to a new country,” said Marta. “It might even be

fun!” Marta was always so positive; she was just like Mum! But she wasn’t a bad sister, she

never told Mum about the bad things Paloma did. “London will be great because interesting

things happen there,” continued Marta. As usual, her sister was trying to look on the positive

side. But it was much easier for her. Marta wasn’t interested in any boys and her friends were

so boring. It would not be difficult to leave them.

Eva said that Marta was pretty and it was strange she didn’t have a boyfriend. Eva had

opinions on everything.

“We should go home now,” said Marta. “Dad is really worried about you and Mum is upset

too. It’s nod Dad’s fault. The problem is his job. You know we can’t change things. We must

accept it!”

“But Marta, I’m going to miss Eva,” Paloma tried to explain. “She’s my best friend and…”

“Oh, Paloma!” said Marta. “You’ll make other friends in England. Eva’s very arrogant and she

tries to control you! I think it will be good for you to separate from her… she’s a bad influence

on you”.

“You don’t understand anything,” said Paloma. But she stood up and followed her sister home.

Chapter 2

Paloma had done everything she could think of to stop the move. She had complained,

shouted and cried, but that hadn't helped. They were going to England in August and she could

not change it! Her father was upset and her mum was angry with her. Even Marta was losing

patience with Paloma.

In May, her parent and David went to find a house with a garden in London. A house with a

garden made the idea of living in England a little better for Paloma. She didn't have a garden in

Spain.

Paloma stayed at Eva's house while her parents were away. The two girls spent hours talking

about Paloma's move to London. Eva said the she would miss her. "You're my best friend," he

said. "It will be terrible without you".

Paloma also talked to Eva about her relationship with Daniel. It was going well, and Paloma

believed that they were getting closer every day. Daniel had come to her house a few times to

work on their project. Every time Daniel's arm touched hers, his face became red. When he

Page 3: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

locked at her, she felt she was going to melt! But he hadn't asked her out yet and Paloma was

getting impatient. Eva had said Daniel would ask her soon and Eva was usually right.

“Maybe you should ask him out now!” Eva said, suddenly. “If you don’t, Laia will try to go out

with him. Don’t let that happen, she’s a horrible girl!”

Laia was a pretty girl in their class. She was small, dark and attractive and she was crazy about

Daniel. Suddenly, the phone rang in the bedroom and Eva answered it. It was Laia!

Paloma listened to Eva’s side of the conversation. “Eva’s being very friendly to Laia,” she

thought. She was surprised. “That’s strange. I thought she didn’t like her. She just said she’s a

horrible girl.” After five minutes, Eva finished the conversation and put the phone down.

“Why were you so friendly to Laia?” asked Paloma.

“I thought you didn’t like her.”

“I don’t like her,” Eva explained, “but she’s getting me tickets to see the Amazons in concert in

August. I really like the Amazons – they’re one of my favourite bands.”

This made Paloma feel very sad because she wouldn’t be able to so the Amazons with her

friends. Eva saw Paloma’s face and quickly changed the conversation. She started giving

Paloma advice on how to ask Daniel out. Eva made Paloma laugh again.

It wasn’t easy for Paloma to sleep at Eva’s house. She never slept well in a strange bed. She

realised that soon she would be sleeping in a strange bed in a strange country. She would have

to speak English all day and she wasn’t very good at it.

“I’m terrible at English,” she thought. “How will anyone understand me here?”

Her parents came home on Sunday evening. They were very happy with the lovely house they

had found for the family in London. “It’s got a beautiful garden with lots of fruit trees,” said

Paloma’s mother. “The house is big and you can each have your own bedroom.”

“Hello! My name is David,” said David in his best “English” voice. Paloma thought he sounded

stupid. Her parents told her about the school she and Marta would go to. It was called Forest

Hill and they said it was a marvelous school with a big swimming pool. Paloma didn’t want to

hear about her new school! She didn’t want to go!

Time passed, and the family started putting their things into suitcases and boxes. Paloma’s

room looked very different with all her books and CDs packed.

Then one evening, Daniel came round to work on their science project. Paloma was feeling

quite nervous after all of Eva’s suggestions. She usually took Eva’s advice, although it wasn’t

always good advice.

“But Eva’s wrong this time,” she thought. “I won’t ask Daniel out because I’m going away so

soon. But I want to know if he likes me or not.”

Page 4: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Daniel looked really handsome when he arrived. Paloma wanted a photo of him to take

England with her, but she was certainly not going to ask him to smile for a picture! Paloma was

surprised to see that Daniel looked nervous, too. They sat down at the computer table and

started to work. But it seemed as if something was different – there was a new tension

between them. Then Daniel tried to take Paloma’s hand. It was supposed to be a romantic

moment, but it wasn’t. Paloma had a chocolate biscuit in her hand and Daniel’s hand was

suddenly full of chocolate! They both started laughing, feeling very embarrassed, and the

tension between them disappeared immediately!

Paloma talked to Daniel about England. He was very understanding, and much more positive

than Eva. “You’re very lucky. It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “You’ll learn to like London. And

I’m sure the English boys will be very interested in you!” Then he went quiet and looked

embarrassed.

Suddenly Daniel looked directly at her and Paloma’s stomach started to dance. Then he kissed

her, and it was wonderful. “I’m sorry you’re leaving,” he said to her in a quiet voice. “We were

getting on very well. Let’s keep in contact.”

“Of course,” said Paloma. “I’ll e-mail you and tell you what’s happening in England.”

Soon it was time for Daniel to go. “Paloma, please don’t tell Eva that I kissed you,” he said.

“She’ll tell everybody. She isn’t very discreet.”

Paloma agreed to keep it a secret and Daniel gave her another kiss before he left. Paloma

stood at the door watching him walk away. She felt both happy and sad. “I’m so happy he likes

me,” he thought, “but nothing can happen between us now. I’ll just have to accept that. My

life is moving on.”

Chapter 3

That night Paloma dreamed she was in England writing and e-mail to Daniel. When she woke,

she remembered she didn’t even know his e-mail address. “I must ask him for it before I go,”

she thought. “Or maybe I can get it from Eva.”

But Paloma didn’t want to ask Eva for Daniel’s e-mail address. She knew that Daniel didn’t

really like Eva. But why not? Eva was popular with everyone! She was so lively, pretty and

funny.

June passed quickly and finally, it was her last day of school. Eva gave a new diary and a card,

“Dear Paloma, You can write down all you feelings and sad thoughts about you new home in

these pages,” she wrote. The diary was great but the card was a little depressing. Paloma

received other cards and small presents from some of the other girls and she started to feel

very sad about leaving everybody.

Finally, Paloma stood in front of the school with Marta, waiting for their mum to arrive and

take them home. Paloma turned and looked back at the school. She had lots of good memories

Page 5: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

to take with her. She looked at Eva and saw her laughing with some of the students. It seemed

that she had already forgotten Paloma.

She didn’t notice that someone was standing beside her until a hand gently touched her arm.

It was Daniel! He put a small packet and card into her schoolbag. “Open in later,” he said. Then

he kissed her. “Take care, Paloma, I’ll miss you,” he said quietly. “Enjoy England!” and then he

disappeared!

Paloma was surprised that he’d kissed her at school! She turned round and saw Eva looking at

her with a strange look on her face. Had she seen them kiss?

Soon her mother arrived and she had to put her schoolbag and presents in the car quickly. She

said goodbye to everyone before they disappeared. She felt very sad.

When she got home, she opened the present from Daniel and read his card. He’d given her a

small leather address book and a lovely pen. The card was short, but cute.

“Dear Paloma,” he had written. “Fill this address book with the names of all the new friends

I’m sure you’ll make in England but don’t forget your special friends in Spain, too! They’ll

remember you!”

Paloma turned the pages of the address book and saw Daniel’s name and e-mail address

written there! Now she wouldn’t have to ask Eva for Daniel’s address. He’d made sure that she

had it!

July was a busy month for the family. Now that school had finished, Paloma could finish

packing her things for England.

The house was full of boxes and suitcases and Paloma couldn’t find anything. It was all very

irritating and there was a lot of tension at home. David didn’t see all the tension and continued

in his silly nine-year-old way, running after the dog around the boxes.

Rex was a cute dog and David adored him. David made his dad laugh when he chased Rex

around the boxes. Paloma hadn’t seen her dad laugh like that for a long time. Lately, he always

seemed to be tense and worried when he was at home, which wasn’t very often.

The night before they left of London, Marta came into her bedroom and sat down on Paloma’s

bed. The two sisters had never really been close friends. They didn’t argue, buy they didn’t tell

each other secrets either. Marta seemed uncomfortable. She wanted to say something to

Paloma, but didn’t know how.

“What do you want, Marta? Asked Paloma, finally. “You’re looking very strange. What’s

wrong?”

“I want to tell you that you are the most selfish person I know,” said Marta, suddenly.

“What?” asked Paloma. She was shocked by Marta’s words.

“Yes, it’s true!” said Marta. “You don’t think about anybody else but yourself. It’s all about how

life affects you. Only you are having a hard time right now. The rest of us are all fine.”

Page 6: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Paloma was horrified and very surprised by Marta’s attack.

“But it does affect me!” she exclaimed. “Mum and Dad chose to move and I didn’t. They didn’t

ask us, they just told we were moving. Eva says that’s not fair!”

Marta looked very irritated. Paloma had never seen her sister behave like this before and she

started to feel a little frightened.

“Since when does your darling Eva know everything about our family?” she asked angrily.

Paloma didn’t understand he sister’s attitude towards her friend. Didn’t she know Eva was her

best friend? Paloma asked Marta to explain.

“Mum and Dad don’t want to move to England any more than you do, you stupid girl,” said

Marta. “But there’s no other option. They have to move and it’s causing problems in their

marriage. If you weren’t so obsessed with yourself, you might even get divorced if things don’t

go well in London.”

“You’re just imagining things, Marta. You’re stupid, not me!” said Paloma. “Get divorced?

Mum and Dad? That’s impossible!”

“You think it’s impossible,” said Marta. “But you’re wrong! Now just stop behaving like an

egotistical baby, Paloma, and forget that stupid friend of yours. Learn to think for yourself. Or

even better, learn to think of others instead!”

Paloma couldn’t sleep that night. Was she egotistical? She had made it very clear to everybody

how sad and angry she was about leaving in Spain. Hadn’t she seen everybody else’s suffering?

Life was very confusing. Her parents had problems and might get divorced! This was terrible!

Paloma envied David because he was only nine and didn’t have problems like these. It was just

too hard to be 16!

Paloma had planned to make a big scene at the airport. But after the conversation with Marta

the night before, she tried to be strong and positive as they checked in their luggage. She felt

tears in her eyes when the plane took off and she saw Spain becoming smaller and smaller.

However, at the end of the flight she got an unexpected feeling of excitement when she heard

the pilot say, “Welcome to Gatwick Airport, London…”

It wasn’t even raining!

Chapter 4

The first few weeks in London were busy for the family. They had to unpack and organize the

house.

Paloma’s new house was in a nice area of North London. It was a pretty area with lots of shops

and parks. London was very busy and there were lots of tourists in the capital that summer.

Page 7: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Rex was very happy with his new home in England. There was lots of open space in London,

and he could run freely in the local park … it was a dog’s dream! He made lots of friends, but

his best friend was Dotty, the friendly Dalmatian that lived next door. Rex was not suffering

from culture shock – that was clear!

He was adapting to England quicker than the Santos family were.

Paloma was trying hard to be less selfish and more positive towards her family. After her

conversation with Marta, she was conscious of the tension between her parents. Things were

different between the two sisters now. She talked to her sister more often, which was really

nice, Paloma even tried to be more patient with David and to pay no attention to his stupid

sense of humor. She tried to be tolerant of his conversations about dogs, and his dog

imitations at dinner time. Paloma had only spoken to Eva twice since they’d arrive in England.

Both times she had thought Eva sounded very distant.

On the phone, Eva told Paloma she didn’t have to be such a goody-goody, and she mustn’t be

afraid to express her discontent. But Eva didn’t know her parents situation, and Paloma didn’t

want to tell her about it.

The night before school started, her dad came into her bedroom and closed the door behind

him. He smelled of whisky. He’d been drinking more often recently. He thanked Paloma for

being “so mature and accepting their new life so well”. This made Paloma feel very guilty. Her

father was upset, and Paloma thought he’d been crying. He tried to explain why he had

brought them to London. “I was going to lose my job in the company,” he explained. “But my

good English saved me. They offered me a new job here in England and I accepted it

immediately.”

Dad then explained that Mum hadn’t wanted to leave Spain. She had been offered a

promotion in the school where she taught and couldn’t accept it. This was a big sacrifice for

her to make. Paloma hadn’t known that!

“If I don’t succeed here in London, your mum might leave me and go back to Spain.” Dad said,

sadly. “She can’t work here, because her English isn’t good.”

So it was true! Mum might leave him! Paloma was very shocked and didn’t know what to say.

It was terrible that her father had been crying. He really couldn’t solve his problems.

Life was much more complicated than when she was a kid! Paloma hated being a young adult.

After her father left the room, Paloma sat on her bed, thinking about her parents’ situation. If

her parents got divorced, where would she live? Who would she live with? Would her mum

really go back to Spain?

She knew that she had to prepare for the next day. Her schoolbag was nearly empty, although

she knew it would soon be full of books. Her school finished at half past three, so she would

probably have a lot of homework in the evenings. It was an international school, with students

from all over the world and some English kids whose parents travelled a lot. Fortunately she

could study some subjects in Spanish, but most of her subjects were in English. “What will the

Page 8: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

other students at school think of me?” Paloma thought, nervously. “Will they laugh at my

English?”

At least a technician was coming to install internet service on their computer, so she’d soon be

able to send e-mails to Eva and Daniel and tell about her new life. That would be good.

Rex woke Paloma up early on Monday morning because he was barking so loudly. He wanted

to go outside with his new friend, Dotty. Paloma checked her watch and saw it was time to get

up. She opened the kitchen door for Rex to go into the garden, and went to get dressed for

school.

In the kitchen, Mum was listening carefully to the news, trying to understand the English.

David was repeating some of the few words he understood, but Marta told him to be quiet,

because she was trying to listen too. She had learnt a lot of English at school and was

determined to improve quickly. Paloma could hardly understand a word of the news. “English

is so difficult,” she thought. “I’ll never learn it.”

“Where’s Dad?” Paloma asked. “Is he coming down for breakfast?”

“No,” said Mum. “He left the house early. It’s just us. I’ll drive you to school.”

Paloma was very nervous that first morning. She went with Marta and David to the secretary’s

office to meet the headmistress. “Well, being early has its advantages,” thought Paloma. “At

least the other students won’t see me with my stupid little brother!”

The secretary was very nice to them, and she spoke a bit of Spanish. They had to wait for

someone to come and take them to their classrooms. They waited for ten minutes, but it

seemed like ten hours to Paloma, as David was checking his list of English words, and imitating

Rex and Dotty.

At last, David’s teacher came to take him to the classroom. He was very nice and friendly.

“Come one, David,” he said.

“Let’s go to your next classroom. You can meet the headmistress later.”

After a few minutes, a serious-looking lady came to meet Paloma and Marta. She was the

headmistress, Mrs Shocket. As she accompanied the girls to their classrooms, Paloma was

imagining Eva’s silly comments about her awful clothes and her old-fashioned shoes.

Chapter 5

Mrs Shocket introduced Paloma to a girl and a boy from her class who spoke a Little Spanish.

The girl’s name was Susan and the boy’s name was Gary. They promised to introduce Paloma

to the other students. Then the headmistress left with Marta.

Susan and Gary asked Paloma a few questions in Spanish before speaking to each other in

English again. Paloma stood there, feeling stupid. The girl looked OK, a bit of a swot, but

Page 9: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

pleasant enough. But she didn’t stop talking! Gary had an irritated look on his face and Paloma

had the feeling that they were talking about her.

Soon, more students arrived and joined them. Each one was introduced to Paloma although

she couldn’t remember all their names. It was a little frustrating. She really missed Eva and her

other friends from school.

Then a handsome new boy arrived and said something to Gary, who walked away from the

group. Most of the other kids were laughing. Paloma didn’t understand why they were

laughing.

“I must start learning more English!” she thought. “I’ve got no idea what’s happening here.”

At 9.00 am, the bell rang and Susan took Paloma to their classroom. She felt everyone’s eyes

on her. The teacher welcomed her to the class. Paloma felt embarrassed when a few boys said

something and laughed. Were they laughing at her?

Fortunately, the first lesson was Spanish. The students were quiet during the lesson and

worked quiet hard. They were in the 11th year, studying for their A levels, which they would

take the following year. These exams were difficult and the students knew they must

concentrate on their work if they wanted to get good marks. No one could get into a British

university without good A level marks.

A bell rang at the end of the lesson and the students got up to leave the classroom, Susan took

Paloma to the next class, which was French. Paloma didn’t like French. Eva said it was because

Paloma wasn’t any good at languages. Paloma thought about it and realized that Eva wasn’t

any better than her either!

It seemed a long time until the end of the lesson, and Paloma was getting very tired. It was

hard to concentrate on the English all the time and to guess what was happening around her.

Susan had forgotten her, so followed the others students out into the busy corridor, feeling

totally lost. A tall girl approached her. Paloma couldn’t remember her name but the girl spoke

to her in Spanish. She said her name was Alexa, and she had lived in Valencia. Paloma was

happy to be able to speak Spanish again. Could this girl become a friend? Not a best friend of

course, Eva was her best friend!

Alexa had long brown hair and she was very pretty. She showed Paloma the lockers and then

they went to the sweet shop. They had to wait in a long queue to buy something to eat.

Paloma bought a delicious chocolate bar but noticed that Alexa bought a healthy energy bar.

Although Alexa spoke Spanish really well, Paloma found out that she was Dutch.

Very soon, the bell rang again and Alexa took her to the next lesson, so Paloma didn’t feel so

alone. Susan was waiting for her at the door and apologized for forgetting her after the French

lesson. Paloma sat next to Alexa when the teacher arrived.

She didn’t know what lesson this was so she looked nervously around the walls to see if she

could guess. There was a picture of a snow scene, which reminded Paloma of a Christmas card.

Paloma started to dream. She wondered what Eva was doing at the moment. She would e-mail

Page 10: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

her tonight to tell her about her first day at school, as she had promised. But was would she

tell her? Suddenly, Alexa passed her a textbook with lots of maps. It was geography, how

boring!

The lesson was very long and Paloma didn’t understand much of it. She was happy when the

bell rang for lunch. When she looked at her watch she saw it was only 12.00 pm! Why did they

have lunch so early in England?

Paloma didn’t expect to like the lunch; the school lunches at her old school were awful. But the

food smelled quite nice. She asked Alexa about the school lunches and had to listen to her for

ten minutes! Food was clearly Alexa’s favourite topic. She talked about calories and healthy

food and gave Paloma instructions about what to choose in the school canteen. There was a

big variety of food and that was new for Paloma. In her old school, you just ate what you were

given! Paloma took a big plate of fish, chips and onion rings, but Alexa chose a big salad.

Paloma had the feeling that Alexa didn’t approve of her food because in had so many calories!

The girls sat at the table with the liveliest boys in their class. During lunch, Alexa told Paloma

she had arrived home late the night before from a visit to Valencia. Alexa had lived there for

three years and she still had friends there. So that explained her brilliant Spanish!

As Paloma ate, she looked around her table and tried to remember the names of the boys.

There was a handsome boy – she thought his name was Steve. There was also Gary, who had

talked a lot in class. He had tried to make conversation with her a few times, but he spoke

quickly and she didn’t understand his English. He was quite sweet, though!

“They’re not so bad, my new classmates,” thought Paloma. “It’ll be nice to know them better. I

think this school is going to be OK.”

Chapter 6

At 3.30 pm Paloma’s mum came to take her children home from school. Mrs Santos asked

them about their first day at Forest Hill. David liked his new school and was happy with his

teacher. He wanted to tell them all this new English words. Marta was also quite positive

about her first day. She told her mother what Paloma wasn’t listening to Marta. She was

feeling ignored. She was angry because nobody was paying any attention to her.

“Why is Mum always so interested in Marta and David?” she thought. “What about me? She

hasn’t asked me a thing. It’s always like this, she just doesn’t care about me or how I survived

my first day.”

“What about you, Paloma?” Mum asked, suddenly, as if she had read her daughter’s thoughts.

“How was your day?”

“OK,” said Paloma. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about Forest Hill now. It was too late!

Mum wasn’t really interested in her. Marta had been getting her attention all the way home!

Page 11: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

“It’s not fair,” thought Paloma as they arrived home. She went up to her bedroom to be alone.

It was nice in her spacious new bedroom, with her new computer and new sofabed. She lay on

her bed and reviewed the events of the day.

“It wasn’t too bad, apart from the boring geography lesson and the English,” she thought. “The

teachers are OK and the students seem quite friendly. It’ll be much easier when my English

improves.”

Paloma decided to send Eva an e-mail. “I’ll call it first impressions,” she thought. She switched

on her computer, opened up her e-mails and wrote to Eva.

Paloma’s e-mail:

Hi Eva,

Well, I survived the first day of school it wasn’t too bad really. The classes aren’t as big

as you thought – there are only 20 in each class! There are about 40 kids in my year and just

over half are boys! ☺ Some of the boys are really cute, too! ☺☺

Our headmistress is old-fashioned and very serious.

You were right; everyone speaks English a lot! Some of the kids can speak Spanish quite well

though! ☺

I met a nice girl called Alexa. She used to live in Valencia and she speaks Spanish like a native.

☺ The school lunches are great!

☺☺☺ I can’t remember the names of the other students in my class! I’ve got a lot of

homework but I finished school at 3.30 pm! ☺

How are things in sunny Spain? Do you miss me as much as I miss you? Have you seen Daniel?

I’m going to write to him next.

Please write soon and give me lots of news!

Lots of love.

Your best friend,

Paloma

Paloma re-read the e-mail. Was it all right? She didn’t want to Eva to think she was a total

loser, but she didn’t want her to think she was having too much fun without her!

Too much fun? Why dad she thought that? To be honest, she was starting to enjoy the

adventure a little. School wasn’t that bad, and she had made a friend already!

She counted how many smiling faces she had put in her e-mail. Nine!

Should she delete one for the boys? No, they were really cute, she remembered. How many

sad faces had she included? Four, that seemed fair. She had also told Eva that she missed her.

Page 12: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

The e-mail was fine. She decided to send it without thinking any more about it. She pressed

“send” and then started thinking about what she should write to Daniel.

Suddenly, her sister knocked on her door and came into the room. Paloma liked the way her

sister knocked before she came into the room. It showed her a kind of adult respect. Marta

was coming in to talk more often these days. Surprisingly, Paloma liked that too!

The two sisters sat together and discussed their first impressions of Forest Hill. Marta didn’t

mention the serious things like chosen subjects or exams now. She talked about the other

students and even the boys in her class!

Paloma told Marta about Alexa and her obsession with healthy food and calories. “I think she

was upset that I chose food with lots of calories for lunch,” Paloma said. “Why should she care

what I eat?”

“Be careful, Paloma,” said Marta, with a worried look on her face. “Your new friend, Alexa,

sounds a little like Eva.”

This confused Paloma, because the two girls weren’t similar at all! She asked Marta to explain

what she meant.

“Eva likes to control her friends too much, especially you,” said Marta. “I think she’s false and

she manipulates people.”

Paloma thought about that carefully. Was it true? Did Eva manipulate her? Paloma wasn’t sure

any more about their friendship. She hadn’t studied English after school, like Marta did,

because Eva had told her not to. She had said the boys would think was a swot. “Maybe that

was only because Eva wasn’t intelligent enough to study anything after school!” thought

Paloma. “She didn’t want me to work hard and get better marks than her.”

“Daniel didn’t think I was a swot because I got good marks at science!” said Paloma. “He liked

working with me. We did a great science project together.”

“Of course,” said her sister. “He’s a nice boy” I’m sure he sees what type of person Eva is.”

“Maybe you’re right, Marta,” said Paloma. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about what you just

said.”

Finally, Mum called them for dinner. “We’ve been talking for over two hours!” Paloma said.

“We never did that in Spain.”

“Yes, why didn’t we?” laughed Marta. “Maybe because you were always talking to Eva.”

The girls ran downstairs together, still laughing. Their mother saw this and smiled to herself.

Chapter 7

The second day of school was fine. Many students said hello to Paloma in the canteen and

asked her about her impressions of the school. They laughed when she told them that she

Page 13: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

liked their school lunches. “It’s OK to think that,” they told her, “but you must never say it! It’s

not “cool” to like school lunches!”

A few minutes before the first class, the handsome boy, Steve, and his friend, Gary, came and

talked to Paloma’s group. “My little brother’s got a new friend in his class,” Gary told them.

“He does great imitations of the teachers and he’s very funny.”

“That’s my brother, David. He imitates me too!” confessed Paloma, and everybody laughed.

When the bell rang, Paloma went with Susan, Steve and Gary to the first lesson, which was

biology. Paloma was good at biology and she enjoyed the lesson. Everyone participated and

answered questions, including Paloma. Nobody thought she was a swot. Eva was wrong again.

At the break, Paloma met Alexa again and they went to their lockers to get their things for the

next lesson, which was sport. Alexa and Paloma were both good at sport and the class was fun.

“School in England isn’t so bad after all,” thought Paloma. “Maybe I’ll like it here.”

After school she met Marta at the entrance and the two girls compared their impressions of

the day until their mum arrived. They talked and laughed happily together as their mum drove

home. David didn’t come with them because he had been invited to Gary’s brother’s house.

Their father was at home that night for dinner. Although everything appeared to be normal,

Paloma felt that something was wrong. Her parents were being too polite to each other and

Paloma could feel the tension in the air.

After dinner, Paloma went up to her room and checked her e-mails. She wanted news from

Spain and hoped that Eva had answered her. She had an e-mail but to her surprise it wasn’t

from Eva, it was from Daniel.

Daniel’s e-mail

Hi Paloma,

How are you? How’s your new life in England? Are you having fun?

You “friend”, Eva, gave me your e-mail address. She told me that you were enjoying your new

life and that everything was OK. I’m happy to hear that.

I wrote “friend” the way I did because I don’t really think she is your friend. She told me that

you’re already found a new boyfriend, that you like him very much and because of that you’ve

been too busy to write to me. She thought I should stop all contact with you and gave me your

e-mail address so that I could tell you this.

I’m sorry but I never really liked Eva although I know she’s your best friend. If you’ve got a new

boyfriend, I’ll understand, but I would still like to keep in contact with you. I’d like to know

what’s happening to you and about your new life in England. OK?

Your friend,

Daniel

Page 14: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Paloma read the e-mail again. She couldn’t believe it! How could Eva be so horrible? When

Marta into the room a few minutes later, she found Paloma crying.

“How could Eva say something like that?” she said. “I’m beginning to understand that she’s

bad, but I didn’t know how badly!”

Marta put her arm around her sister. “I’m happy that you’re finally beginning to see the truth

about Eva,” she said. “But be careful, Paloma, don’t let Alexa dominate you the way Eva did.

Learn from your mistakes.”

When Marta left, Paloma wrote to Daniel and told him that although she was making new

friends, she certainly didn’t have a special boyfriend and that she would be very happy if they

wrote to each other. Then she went to bed and thought about Marta’s words. She liked Susan

and her friend, Karin. The four of them were often together at school, but Susan and the other

girls in her class didn’t seem to like Alexa very much. Paloma didn’t know why.

On Saturday morning, Paloma got an e-mail from Eva, in which she accused Paloma of already

forgetting her. She talked a lot about Laia and what a fantastic friend she was. To her surprise,

Paloma didn’t fell upset or envious at all! She also got an e-mail from Daniel, telling her he was

happy she had sent him an e-mail.

That morning, Paloma and Marta went shopping for new clothes. A friend of Marta’s went

with them to show them the best shops and the girls enjoyed themselves. Paloma had invited

Alexa but she couldn’t come. So went with Marta instead. This was a new experience for

Paloma and she enjoyed it. “We should do things together more often,” she thought. “Marta

can be good fun.”

Before they went to bed that night, Marta came into Paloma’s room. She looked very serious.

“It’s Saturday, it’s 11.30 pm and Dad isn’t home yet,” she said. “Where is he? I’m worried.”

The girls couldn’t find any reason why their father wasn’t at home. It was strange, but they

were beginning to get used to his frequent absences.

Chapter 8

The days began to pass more quickly. Paloma got used to her new routine and her new school.

Everybody thought that Gary “fancied” Paloma. Paloma was happy about this because Gary

was very popular, but although she liked him, she wasn’t sure that she wanted him for a

boyfriend, she still missed Daniel.

Alexa and Paloma were becoming much friendlier. Several times Paloma invited Alexa to her

house or suggested that they do something together at the weekend, but Alexa always said no.

Paloma didn’t understand why. It was clear that Alexa wanted to be her friend. She also didn’t

understand why Alexa never invited her to her house.

One day, Paloma and Gary were walking to school together.

Page 15: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

“Gary, can I ask you something about Alexa?” Paloma asked. “But please promise me that you

won’t tell her.”

“I promise,” said Gary. “What do you want to know?”

“Alexa seems a nice girl, so why hasn’t she got any friends at school?” Paloma asked. “And why

does she never want to come to my house, or to invite me to hers?”

“Alexa used to be friendly with a girl called Helen who left the school last year,” Gary replied.

“Helen said some horrible things about Alexa. She said that Alexa never invited anybody there

and wouldn’t go to their houses either. Helen also said that Alexa was obsessed with food and

was in danger of becoming anorexic.”

“That’s terrible!” Paloma exclaimed. “That Helen was an awful friend!”

“Helen also told the other girls things that Alexa said about them,” continued Gary. “She told

them that Alexa had said that they were swots, or that they were fat. That’s why the other

students weren’t very friendly with Alexa. In fact, the term before you came she was often

alone.”

Paloma was very confused, Alexa seemed nice, and she never said bad things about the other

students to Paloma. But it was true that she never accepted invitations. She talked a lot about

calories, but that didn’t mean she was becoming anorexic, did it?

That evening, Paloma had a lot of homework to do. She had a biology test the next day and

she wanted to do well. But David was playing his CDs as loud as possible and making a lot of

noise. Paloma couldn’t concentrate.

“Mum, please tell David to stop playing his music so loudly,” she shouted to her mother who

was downstairs in the kitchen. “I can’t do my homework with all that noise.”

Mum went upstairs to David’s bedroom and told him to stop playing his CDs. When David

protested, Mum got really angry and told him to go to bed immediately.

“What’s wrong with Mum?” Paloma thought. “She never gets so angry. Is she worried about

Dad? I didn’t see him last night or this morning and he isn’t at home now.”

Paloma finished studying for the test, read a book for a short time and then went to bed. She

lay in bed and thought about her parents and about Alexa. She didn’t fall asleep for a long

time.

In the car on the way to school the next morning, David was very quiet. Mum and Marta were

talking about a programme they’d seen on TV the night before, so Paloma sat and thought

about Alexa again. She decided that she would write to Daniel and ask him his opinion about

what she should do. She felt better now that she had decided to ask Daniel for help.

In the first lesson, their teacher opened a special book called the register and checked the

names of the students who were in class that day. Then she closed the register, looked at the

students and said, “I’ve got some news for you, I’m planning to take you all on a field trip at

Page 16: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

the beginning of the half-term holiday in October. We’ll leave after school on Friday and come

back on Monday morning. I’ll give you more details later.”

Everyone was very excited and left the lesson talking about where they might go and what

activities they might do. “The trip sounds great fun,” Paloma said to her friends, “But perhaps

it isn’t “cool” to be enthusiastic about school trips – just like school lunches!” she joked.

The next lesson was biology and Paloma’s test went really well. She came out of the lesson

with Gary and Steve, talking and laughing. She was really happy with her new group of friends.

When she got home that afternoon, she sent an e-mail to Daniel and told him of her worries

about Alexa. When she had explained all that, she ten found herself writing about her worries

about her parents, too. She hadn’t intended to, but she felt good that she was discussing her

problems with Daniel. “I don’t need to try to solve everything by myself,” she thought. “I’ve

got friends and friends help you in difficult times.” She read the e-mail once more to check

that she was satisfied with it and then clicked “send”.

Chapter 9

When Paloma got home from school the next afternoon, a reply from Daniel was waiting for

her. While she was reading it, Marta knocked at the door and came into the room. She was

brilliant; he made her see the Alexa problem so clearly. He compared Alexa’s friend Helen to

Eva; she was the same kind of person. “They’re both people who like talking about their friend

behind their backs … they’re not true friends and you can’t trust them,” he wrote. “If you want

to know something about someone, the best thing to do is to ask that person instead of talking

to others.”

Then he talked about the problem with her parents. At first, Paloma was a little embarrassed

that Marta would see that she had been discussing family problems with Daniel, but Marta

didn’t seem to mind. “It was a good idea to write to Daniel,” she said. “Very often a person

outside a situation can see things more clearly. Daniel is very intelligent. I’m sure he’ll give you

good advice.”

In Daniel’s opinion, they shouldn’t start asking their parents difficult questions yet. They

should wait for a short time and see how things developed now that they were living in a new

place. Marta and Paloma decided to do as he suggested.

At the break the next morning, Paloma decided to take Daniel’s advice about Alexa.

“Alexa, I want to discuss something with you,” she said. “I’m happy that I met you and I like

being your friend, but there’s something I don’t understand: Why do you never want to see me

after school or at the weekends? I want you to meet my family and to see my room. I’d also

like to meet your family and come to your house.”

To Paloma’s surprise, Alexa started to cry. “Oh, no! Not again!” she said.

Page 17: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Finally, Alexa stopped crying. “My other friend, Helen, asked me the same questions,” she

explained. “I told her it was impossible for me to take her home and she told everyone that I

was a snob and I thought that I was better that everybody else. I knew what she was saying

about me and it wasn’t true. I was just frightened to invite anybody home.”

“But why, Alexa?” Paloma said. “You can tell me the truth. If you’re got a problem, I’d like to

help you.”

“I’m not sure, let me think about it,” Alexa replied. “Anyway, there’s no time to discuss

anything now. It’s time for our next lesson and we must go.” Paloma wasn’t happy, but there

was nothing she could do.

At the lunch break the next day, Alexa said to Paloma, “OK, Paloma. Let’s have lunch together,

just the two of us. I’d like to tell you the truth.”

The two girls found a table in the corner of the canteen and sat down. “The truth is this: I’ve

got a sister, called Katie, and she’s severely mentally handicapped,” Alexa began. “She’s two

years older than me, but she acts very strangely sometimes. She’s also got a weight problem

because she’s always in wheelchair, and she never exercises. She also eats lots of sweets and

chocolate. That’s why I’m so careful about my diet and calories. I don’t want to be fat, like

Katie.”

Alexa was silent for a moment and then she continued. “Once, when I lived in Valencia, I

invited a friend called Sandra to my house. Sara was very frightened when she saw Katie and

told everyone terrible stories about my family. After that, I decided not to take people home

any more – nobody wanted to be my friend anyway. I was too frightened to explain all this to

Helen last year. I just said I couldn’t take her home because of my family. She used her

imagination and invented the rest.”

“That’s a terrible story,” Paloma said when Alexa had finished. “But you don’t need to worry

about me. I’m not going to stop being your friend because of your sister. It’s nor her fault, or

yours. Please come to my house tomorrow after school and we can do our homework

together.”

“OK, why not!” said Alexa happily. “Thanks for understanding.” The two girls finished their

lunch and then they went to their lesson together.

Alexa had a very nice time at Paloma’s house the next day and enjoyed meeting her family. Of

course she didn’t meet Paloma’s dad because he wasn’t there for dinner. “I had a great time,

Paloma,” Alexa said as she was leaving. “I’ll come again. I really like your family.”

The following weekend, Alexa invited Paloma to her house. Paloma was a little worried as

she’d never met a mentally handicapped person before and she didn’t know how she would

react.

“Just behave normally,” said her mum. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be OK.”

Page 18: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Chapter 10

Alexa’s mum met them at the school entrance and took them home in her car. She told them

that Katie was very happy to finally meet her sister’s new friend.

Alexa’s house was enormous. There was a beautiful big garden, a swimming pool and a tennis

court. As they walked into the house, Paloma felt very nervous, but then she saw that Alexa

was even more nervous. “Let’s go and meet Katie immediately,” Alexa said. “I know she’ll be

excited to see you.”

The two girls walked into the living room. Katie was sitting in a wheelchair. She was smiling

and making strange noises. She had a pretty face but she was very fat. She hugged Alexa and

then gave Paloma a big hug too. Paloma listened to the sisters’ conversation. Alexa obviously

loved her sister and understood her very well. Soon Paloma was participating in the

conversation too. Katie laughed a lot and got very excited about everything, but she was

basically like a sweet six-year-old girl.

Before Paloma knew it, it was time to go home. “Thanks for inviting me, Alexa,” she said. “I

really enjoyed my visit and I hope I’ll be able to come and see you and Katie again soon.”

At break the next morning, Paloma and Alexa had a talk. “You don’t need to be embarrassed

about Katie, Alexa,” Paloma said. “She’s a very sweet, affectionate girl and I really enjoyed

meeting her.”

“Yes I know she is, but I just find it difficult to tell other people about her,” Alexa replied sadly.

“Well, you just had a bad experience in Valencia,” Paloma said. “Why don’t you tell the other

students in the class the truth? I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“OK, I’ll think about it,” Alexa said.

Paloma was silent for a moment, then she said, “You know, Alexa, if it makes you feel better,

you’re not the only family with problems. My family has got problems too.”

“Oh, Paloma, I’m sorry,” Alexa exclaimed. “But you know, it really helped me talking to you

about Katie. Maybe if you tell me about your problem, I can help you too.”

“Well, I don’t know what’s happening exactly, but my father is often not at home and we think

there’s a possibility that my parents might get divorced,” said Paloma. She felt better as soon

as she had spoken.

At that moment, Susan and Karin approached the girls. “What are you two talking about?”

Susan asked. “Exchanging secrets?”

Alexa and Paloma looked at each other, then Alexa said quietly, “I’ve got something to tell you.

I hope you’ll understand.” And she told them all about Katie and Paloma’s visit the day before.

“Oh, Alexa, why didn’t you tell us all this before?” Karin said when Alexa was finished. “Now

we understand everything. We thought you didn’t want us to come to your house because we

weren’t rich like you. We were wrong, and very stupid.”

Page 19: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Soon all the students knew that they had been wrong about Alexa and they all became much

friendlier to her. This was very important for Paloma. Her new friends, Susan and Karin, were

very special to her and she was happy that they now accepted Alexa into all their activities.

The four girls soon became a little group with Gary and Steve and often did thing together.

Paloma liked the boys’ sense of humour; they were fun to be with.

As September passed, Paloma couldn’t believe that when she was in Spain she hadn’t wanted

to go to London. She was so happy in her new school with her new friends. She still missed

Daniel, however, and was still worried about the situation with her parents.

Soon it was time to prepare for the field trip, which would be in a week. They were staying in a

field school, which was an hour’s journey from her school. They could do all kinds of activities

there. There would be a midnight hike on Saturday and a disco on Sunday evening. The

students had to choose their groups for the rooms they would sleep in and Paloma, Alexa,

Susan and Karin asked to be together in the same room. Everyone was very excited and they

couldn’t talk about anything else!

Paloma had no idea that things were soon going to change for her in a big way.

Chapter 11

It happened on Tuesday afternoon. Paloma was talking happily to Mata as they walked to their

mum’s car after school. But their mother’s face told them that something was drastically

wrong. She had obviously been crying. The drive home was terrible. Mum didn’t say a word,

the girls sat in silence and even David was unusually quiet.

When they got home, their mother told them to go into the living room and sit down. Then she

made her announcement.

“You’re going to Spain for the half-term holiday,” she said. “You’ll stay with your grandparents

in Madrid for ten days. You’ll leave on Friday night and come back the following Sunday.”

David was the first to speak. He loved going to his grandparents as they had two dogs. “Oh

great!” he said. “That’s really good news. And I thought there was a problem!” He gave his

mother a hug and went to take Rex for a walk.

Marta and Paloma looked at their mother, frightened. They wanted to ask why they had to go

to their grandparents but weren’t sure that they wanted to know the answer. Suddenly,

Paloma had a terrible thought; if she went to Madrid, she would miss the school trip! She

really wanted to go, but didn’t know what to say. She had a horrible feeling that this was going

to be the end of her world, the new world she knew and liked.

“Aren’t you and Dad coming too?” Marta asked, finally.

“No, we’re staying in London,” her mother answered. “I don’t want to worry you, so I don’t

want to tell you anymore.”

“Mum, we’re already worried,” Marta said. “I don’t think you can worry us much more.”

Page 20: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Her mother was silent for a few moments. “Your father is having problems. His job isn’t going

so well,” she said. Her voice was very quiet. “It’s not his fault; he’s got too much pressure. We

want to be alone during the holidays to try and solve our problems. Please don’t ask me any

more questions.”

The two girls went up to Paloma’s bedroom where they talked for a long time and tried to

comfort each other. Finally, Paloma told Marta that she would have to miss the field trip. “I

know it’s not important compared to our other problems, but I’m really sad that I’ll have to

miss it,” she said.

“It’s too late to talk about it now,” Marta replied. “Let’s discuss it in the morning. Maybe we

can think of something. Do you want something to eat now?”

“No, I’m not hungry,” said Paloma. “I think I’ll go to bed.”

The two girls said goodnight and Marta went to her room, but neither of them slept very well

that night.

The next morning, Paloma explained to her friends that her parents were having problems,

that she had to go to Madrid and would miss the field trip. Everyone was very sad, especially

Alexa. “Paloma helped with my problem,” she thought. “I’d like to help her now, but I don’t

know what to do.”

“I’ve suggestion,” Gary said. “Perhaps you could go on the field trip and then go to Madrid on

Tuesday morning.”

“Oh Gary, that’s a great idea. I’ll ask my mother,” exclaimed Paloma. Impulsively, she gave him

a kiss on the cheek. Gary looked embarrassed at first but then he looked quite happy!

Paloma’s mother agreed to Gary’s suggestion. Marta and David would go to Madrid as planned

and Paloma would go four days later. Paloma went to bed that night feeling better. “I’ve got

real friends now,” she thought. “I don’t think Eva would do something like that for me.”

Chapter 12

Finally, the day of the field trip arrived. The students were very excited as they got on the bus

that was going to take them to the field school. A lot of parents had come to say goodbye to

their children. Paloma was sad, but not surprised, that her father hadn’t come; only her

mother was there, alone as usual.

Paloma sat at the back of the bus between Steve and Gary. Susan, Karin and Alexa sat in front

of them. They laughed and joked the entire journey and Paloma couldn’t stop laughing at the

boys’ comments. The boys were really funny and she even understood most of their jokes in

English now. She didn’t see that a girl called Julia and one or two other girls were looking at

her in a malicious way.

When they arrived, they went to their room and organized their things. After dinner, there was

a meeting to explain the programme for the next three days and the activities they could

Page 21: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

choose. Before the midnight hike the following evening there would be a delicious meal in the

big dining room, followed by the opportunity to get together and talk. The disco on the Sunday

evening would begin immediately after dinner and would continue till late.

After the meeting, the girls went back to their room and had fun dancing to the music they’d

brought with them. Suddenly, Paloma began to feel sad and she became very quiet. “You look

worried, Paloma,” Alexa said. “Is something wrong?”

“No, everything’s OK …” Paloma began but suddenly, she started to cry. The girls looked at

each other in surprise and Alexa put her arm around Paloma. When she had stopped crying,

Paloma told them that she was worried about her parents. She had no idea what their problem

was and didn’t know how to help them. The girls tried to console her. “Try to forget about it

and enjoy the field trip,” Susan said. “And remember, we’ll help you as much as we can. That’s

what friends are for.”

Paloma smiled at her friends. “Thanks, girls,” she said. “I feel better now. I’m going to have a

long shower and then I’m going to get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

The next day was full of activities and Paloma didn’t have time to think about her problems. In

the morning, they went sailing on the lake near the field school and everyone had a good time.

In the afternoon, they went on a jeep trip and then had a choice of an hour’s cycling or horse-

riding. Paloma chose the horse-riding, although it wasn’t easy. She was happy that she did it

very well.

At 12.00 am, they all went on the midnight hike, which continued till 2.00 am. Sometimes they

had to climb small hills and it was difficult because the paths weren’t very good and they

couldn’t see well in the dark, although they had torches with them. Once or twice Paloma

nearly fell, but fortunately she was walking with Gary and Steve, who held her hand and made

sure that she was OK. Paloma was secretly very happy that they were being so attentive to her,

especially Gary, who she was beginning to like more and more. And it was quite good for her

ego that a handsome, popular boy like Steve was also paying her so much attention!

Sunday was another busy day followed by the disco in the evening. Paloma danced a bit with

Gary but most of the time she danced with Steve. Paloma loved dancing and Steve was a

fantastic dancer! The disco was great and everybody went to bed very late that night. In spite

of her worries, Paloma enjoyed herself.

When she came down for breakfast on Monday morning, Paloma was conscious of some

tension in the air. She and Alexa got their food and went to sit at the table with Susan and

Karin, but were surprised to see that Julia and some other girls were sitting there, so that there

was no room for them. Julia didn’t even say good morning to Paloma, and Susan and Karin

looked very embarrassed. Paloma and Alexa walked to another table and Paloma could fell the

student’s eyes on her.

She couldn’t understand what was wrong. “What’s happening, Alexa?” she asked.

But before Alexa could reply, Gary and Steve decided to change tables and sit with them.

Paloma was happy to see that the boys weren’t angry with her and laughed and joked with

Page 22: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

them, until she saw that Alexa wasn’t joining in. She looked round the dining room and was

horrified to see the looks on the faces of some of the others students.

Gary saw Paloma’s face. “Don’t worry, Paloma, it’s nothing,” he said. “I’ll explain to you later.

Just try to smile.”

But it wasn’t easy for Paloma to smile. She ate her breakfast in silence without paying

attention to the food. “Why are they so angry with me?” she thought. “What did I do?”

Chapter 13

After breakfast, Paloma left the dining room with her head down, followed by Alexa, who was

very quiet.

Paloma stayed in Gary and Steve’s group all that day. People came and spoke to the group but

paid no attention to Paloma and she was conscious that the girls were talking about her

behind her back. As the day continued, Paloma became more and more unhappy, even though

Alexa and Gary stayed with her. She couldn’t wait for the field trip to finish.

Finally, it was time to take the bus back to London. Gary came and sat beside her on the bus. “I

know the girls are being horrible to you, Paloma, and I think that Julia is responsible for the

whole situation,” he said. “She’s fancied Steve for a long time – he’s very popular you know,

and all the girls want to ‘catch’ him. She’s envious that he was so attentive to you on the hike,

and that he danced with you all the time at the disco.”

“But that’s ridiculous!” Paloma exclaimed. “I’m not interested in Steve; I just liked dancing with

him. That’s all.”

“Well, Julia isn’t a nice person and she’s been telling everybody terrible stories about you,”

Gary continued. “I think the best thing is not to pay any attention to it. When we come back to

school after the half-term break, nobody will remember anything about it.”

Paloma thanked him for being honest with her, but didn’t really agree with him. That night she

went to bed and cried. It was bad enough having problems in the family, but now this. Paloma

couldn’t imagine how life would become normal again.

The next morning, Alexa phoned as Paloma was leaving for the airport. “I just phoned to say

goodbye,” she said, “and to see how you’re feeling this morning.”

“Well, Gary explained to me about Julia and the stories she’s been telling about me,” Paloma

said, “but he thinks everyone will forget about it during the holiday. I hope he’s right.”

“Don’t worry,” Alexa said. “I’m going to speak to the girls. They’re just being stupid. You’re a

good friend and I’ll make sure everything will be OK. Goodbye and have a good trip.”

“Alexa’s great,” Paloma thought as she put the phone down. “I really hope she’ll be able to

solve this problem for me.”

Page 23: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

Five hours later, Paloma was in her grandparents’ house in Madrid. She was happy to see

Marta again – and even quite happy to see her brother, who was having a great holiday with

his grandparents’ two dogs. After lunch, she and Marta went for a walk and Paloma told her

sister about her problems during the field trip. Marta was very understanding and also very

practical, as usual. “Don’t worry, Paloma,” she said, putting her arm round her sister. “I’m sure

Gary’s right. Alexa will explain the truth to the girls. When you go back to school, everything

will be OK.”

But Paloma wasn’t convinced.

After dinner, David watched TV in the living room, and Marta and Paloma sat in the kitchen

with their grandparents. Grandma came and sat at the table with them. There was silence for a

few moments, and then Grandpa said, “We need to talk to you about something, girls.”

“Yes,” said Grandma. “You know your parents have got problems at the moment, but your

mother finds it too difficult to talk about, so she asked me to explain the situation to you.”

She was silent for a moment, looking at Marta’s and Paloma’s worried faces. “Your father has

got a drinking problem,” she said slowly. “He’s an alcoholic and has been for a long time now.

That’s what’s causing the problems in your parent’s marriage.”

“But that’s terrible!” exclaimed Paloma. “How can he be an alcoholic?”

“There’s a lot of pressure in life today and some people can’t take so much pressure,” said her

grandmother. “Your father is one of them but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a good person or

that he doesn’t love his family. He wants to get better and has been going to meetings of

Alcoholics Anonymous and also to special clinics to try to learn to control his alcoholism.”

“We couldn’t understand why he was never at home,” Marta said. “But that explains it.”

“Yes, and if you want him to get better, you’ll have to show him a lot of compassion and

understanding,” Grandma continued. “That’s why your mother sent you here. She thought it

might be good to have some time alone with your father to see if they could find a way of

solving their problems.”

“Do you think they will find a solution?” asked Marta in a quiet voice.

“I hope so,” said Grandma.

Soon afterwards, their grandparents went to bed but Paloma and Marta sat in the living room

for a long time after that talking about the situation. Marta found it easier to accept than

Paloma.

“It’s not like being a common drunk,” Marta explained, “and Dad’s never violent. We must give

him all the love and support we can and hope that things will improve.”

“Marta is so mature,” Paloma thought. “It’s so complicated being an adult. How can I learn to

be more like Marta?”

Page 24: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

It was very late when the girls went to bed. They didn’t sleep very well that night because they

had too many difficult things to think about.

Chapter 14

While they were having breakfast the next morning, the phone rang. It was Daniel. Paloma had

e-mailed him that she would be in Madrid and that it would be nice if they could meet. Daniel

was going to stay with his aunt and uncle in Madrid the next day and so they decided to have

lunch together a little restaurant in the centre of the city.

When she had finished her conversation with Daniel, Paloma stood for a moment, holding the

phone. “Should I phone Eva?” she thought. “It’s not very nice if I’m here and don’t call her.”

She started to dial Eva’s number and then stopped. “No,” she thought. “I know that Eva was

never a good friend to me. I don’t want to see her again.”

But it was good to see Daniel again. While they were having lunch, Paloma told him all her

problems. Daniel was a good listener and he also gave her excellent advice. By the end of the

lunch, Paloma felt a lot better.

After lunch, they walked though the centre of the town, looking at the shops, talking and

laughing. “Everything is the same as it was before I went to England,” Paloma thought. “It’s so

easy to be with Daniel.”

When it was time for Daniel to leave, he took Paloma’s hand and gave her a kiss. “It was good

to see you again, Paloma” he said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll come and visit you in London one day.

Write to me and tell me what happens when you get home. And remember: there’s always

somebody who’s got worse problems than you. Enjoy the rest of your time in Madrid.

Goodbye and good luck.”

“Goodbye, Daniel,” said Paloma. “Stay in contact.”

The next day, Paloma got a phone call from Eva. “Hi Paloma, how are you?” she said. “Daniel

told me he’d seen you. Why didn’t you phone me?”

“I’ve been busy,” Paloma answered. She felt a little guilty. Eva always knew how to make her

feel that way.

“You know, Daniel’s got a really nice girlfriend now,” Eva continued. “Did he tell you about

her?”

“She hasn’t changed!” Paloma thought. “I’m happy that I can see now what she’s trying to do.”

But she didn’t say anything except. “I’m sorry, Eva, I can’t talk now. My grandparents are

waiting for me. Goodbye.” Paloma put down the phone, feeling happy. “I’m finally free to her,”

she thought. “Nobody needs friends like her! It took me time to understand that. Maybe I’m

finally becoming more mature, like Marta!”

Page 25: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

The rest of the holiday passed quickly and soon it was time for the girls to return to London.

Paloma felt quiet nervous when she got on the plane.

Paloma’s mum was waiting for them at the airport. She wasn’t sure what her daughter’s

reaction would be to their grandmother’s explanations and she was feeling a bit nervous.

David ran to his mother and said, “How’s Rex? Is he OK?”

Marta gave her mother a kiss. “It’s OK, Mum,” she said. “Grandma told us everything and now

we understand. We’ll help you as much as we can.”

Her mother smiled. “Thank you, Marta,” she said and then turned to Paloma. “How do you

feel, Paloma?” she asked.

Paloma wanted to be positive like Marta, but it was difficult for her. Her mother saw her

indecision and said, “You’ve had so many problems this year, Paloma - a new country and a

new school; you had to leave Eva. You’ve done so well. I know you helped Alexa a lot with you

to be unhappy. I’m sorry you’ve now got another problem, but maybe we can help each other

solve it together.”

Paloma looked at her mother for a moment before replying. “Yes, Mum, maybe we can,” she

said.

Chapter 15

On the way home in the car, Marta sat in the front beside her mother and told her all about

their time in Madrid. Paloma sat in the back with David. She didn’t talk much. She was

thinking. “Mum doesn’t prefer Marta to me,” she thought. “I understand now that I was just

envious of Marta, but I was wrong. I was so obsessed with Eva that I never tried to talk to Mum

about things. But I’m going to change now.”

When they got home, David took Rex for a walk and the girls sat and talked with their mother,

who gave them more details about the situation. “It was because of Dad’s alcoholism that he

was always changing jobs,” she explained. “We didn’t want to come to London but this was his

last opportunity. He thought it might help if he was in a different country, but it was still

difficult for him. But now he’s trying very hard to overcome his problem and I think this time

he might succeed.”

“But are you going to get divorced?” Paloma asked.

“No, I hope that won’t happen,” Mother said. “The week alone helped us. We talked a lot and

we understood that we still love each other. It’s going to be a long, difficult process for Dad

and it won’t be easy for us either, but if we work together as a family, I’m sure everything will

be OK.”

That night, Paloma went to bed feeling much better. But she was nervous about going back to

school the next day. “Will the girls still be so unfriendly?” she thought. “I don’t think I could

accept that. I don’t want any more problems.”

Page 26: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

The next day, when she woke up, she was so nervous that her stomach hurt. She didn’t eat

breakfast and she was very quiet in the car on the way to school. As they walked towards the

school entrance, Marta put her arm round Paloma and said, “Don’t worry, Paloma, the girls at

school will be OK.” But Paloma wasn’t so sure.

As Paloma walked through the school entrance, the first person she saw was Julia, who was

standing there, alone. Paloma felt even more nervous. She saw Alexa and Gary standing under

a big tree and for a moment felt happy at seeing them again. Then she was that Steve was also

standing with them. “Oh, no!” Paloma thought. “That’s going to cause more problems with the

girls!”

Near the door, she saw Susan and Karin. Everybody seemed to see Paloma at the same

moment and to her surprise, came running towards her and gave her the best welcome she

could imagine!

“Alexa explained everything to us,” Susan said. “We’re really sorry we were so horrible to you.

Can you forgive us?”

“We were envious,” Julia explained. “We all like Steve and we thought that he preferred you.”

“You like Steve, you mean!” Susan said. “Julia’s fancied Steve for a long time, so she was very

envious when he danced with you all the time at the disco, Paloma. It was very difficult for me.

Julia’s my friend but you are too and I didn’t know who to support. But I behaved very badly

and sorry.”

“And Steve asked me to go to the cinema with him, so everything’s OK now!” Julia said,

laughing.

The group went to their lessons talking and laughing happily together. “Well, that problem is

solved,” thought Paloma. “But I’ve got another problem now. Should I tell them the truth

about Dad? Will they understand? I don’t know what to do.”

At lunchtime, the six friends sat together and told each other what they had done during the

holiday. Everyone had really enjoyed themselves.

“How was your trip, Paloma?” Gary finally asked. “Did you meet up with all your old friends?”

“No,” Paloma answered. “Only one good friend.” She was silent for a moment and then

suddenly found herself telling them all about her father and his problems.

“That must be very difficult for you, Paloma,” Gary said when she had finished. “But I’m sure

everything will be OK.”

“And don’t forget that we’re your friends,” Alexa said. “We’ll do everything we can to help

you.”

“That’s right,” said Susan and Karin together. “That’s what friends are for.”

Page 27: Culture Shock de Janet Chandler

At that moment, the bell rang and they all went to their lessons. As they left the canteen, Gary

said to Paloma, “I’ve got tickets for the Amazons’ concert on Saturday night. I love their music,

they’re my favourite group. Would you like to come with me?”

Paloma’s heart jumped. “Thanks, Gary, I’d love to come,” she said. “I also think they’re great. I

missed their concert when they came to Madrid, so it’s fantastic that I’ll have the opportunity

to see them now.”

When their mother was taking them home from school that day, she said, “I’ve got good news.

The therapists think that Dad is finally beginning to make process. He’s still got a long way to

go, but at least it’s a beginning.”

That evening, as she sat doing her homework, Paloma thought about everything that had

happened that day. She felt much more positive about everything now and she was sure that

her father would succeed in overcoming his alcoholism.

“I’ve only got one big problem now,” she thought. “What I wear for the concert on Saturday

night?”


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