Hello, everyone. How are you? How are you doing? I'm Bernat, the community manager of the Spanish community. With this video, I want to introduce myself to all of you, so you can see that I'm not a robot but a regular person. Also, I want to create a closer and more familiar atmosphere among all of us. I won't lie; making this video makes me a bit nervous. I'm camera-shy and deeply detest being the centre of attention, so don't expect many more videos like this.
who am I?
What's my name? My name is Bernat, which is a Catalan name. I'm from the region of Catalonia, specifically from a city called Sabadell. Sabadell is located about 15/20 kilometres north of Barcelona. Of course, I encourage you to visit Sabadell, but I must admit it's not the most beautiful city in the world or even in Spain. Nevertheless, it's my city, and I like it just the way it is, with all its flaws and virtues.
I speak Catalan, Spanish, English, and Italian. I also have some knowledge of French and Romanian, but my level in these two languages is quite limited.
Academically, I studied journalism. In Spain, most degrees usually take four years to complete, so I did a four-year degree... well, actually, that's NOT TRUE; it ended up taking five years because I failed the last exam of the final year. Besides that, I have a master's degree in Intercultural Studies, a subject I'm very passionate about. I love everything related to cultural diversity, especially the cultural diversity of Latin America and Spain.
On the work front, it's needless to say, but I work for OLS. However, throughout my life, I've worked in very different and diverse sectors. I've worked in newspapers, news agencies, communication departments, universities, and international organisations, but I've also worked in "humbler" jobs, such as a cashier, waiter, cleaner, food delivery person, and distributor of flyers, both in Spain and abroad.
where have I lived?
Like most of you, I love to travel. It's one of my passions. But not just traveling for a weekend here or fifteen days there. What truly excites me is living in other countries to discover different cultures, societies, and ways of life. I think it was in 2015, yes, in 2015, I finished my degree, and I immediately found a job as a journalist, but I wasn't feeling very good about myself. Not because I doubted my abilities, but because I felt disloyal to my readers. I constantly asked myself: How can I interpret the world without knowing it? How can I explain the world to my readers without having left Spain? And, out of these quite recurrent concerns, the idea of living abroad emerged.
At that time, I worked two jobs. One as a journalist for a news agency in Barcelona, and the other as a cashier for a well-known multinational company whose name is not relevant. Thanks to these two jobs, I managed to save enough money to buy myself a plane ticket to New Zealand and enrol in an English course, a language I didn't master at all back then. So, in the end, I went to live in New Zealand, the land of kiwis. To support myself, as it's quite an expensive country, I found a job as a dishwasher. It was quite tough and challenging, but at the same time, it was a very formative experience. After New Zealand, always with the goal of continuing to grow, I went to live and work in Italy, then Romania, then Australia, then Denmark, Belgium, and finally, Mexico.
And why am I telling you all this? Well, basically, to let you know that I understand you. I understand you perfectly. 100%. I've experienced the initial nervousness and the sadness of having to return home myself. So please, anything you need, don't hesitate to send me a private message through the platform, or simply start a discussion topic in the forums. We're here, both me and the entire OLS team, to help you.
what kind of person am I?
I believe I'm a fairly normal person, or at least I hope so. I'm a curious, restless, humble, friendly, empathetic, and generous person. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and competitive, but in a good way, not in a bad way. And... while I'm a bit shy, I do enjoy being in contact with people, being with friends, being with family, and I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER harm anyone to benefit personally from something.
hobbies and pastimes
I'm almost done, I promise, but before I finish, I want to share with you my favourite pastimes, or, in other words, my hobbies. I love going on hikes in the mountains, reading apocalyptic books, writing, cooking, swimming (which is actually my favourite sport), and, naturally, learning languages. And then, I admit, I have a somewhat unusual hobby, which is cleaning. I love cleaning because it's an activity that relaxes me.
goodbye
Ah, I'm exhausted. Making a video was more challenging than I thought. I hope you liked it. It might not be the best video in history, but for me, it was important to introduce myself in a more informal and authentic way so that we could get to know each other better. Anything you need, you know I'm here to help. And please, I implore you, participate in the forums. The more people who participate, the more useful information there will be for everyone. And that's it. See you later. Ciao.
Bernat, OLS Community Manager – Spanish