Rich
Rich
Sheffield is famous around the world for steel and metal goods like knives and forks, which have been made in the city since the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Sheffield is also called the Steel City and one of the city’s football clubs, Sheffield United, is also known as the Blades.
This was the team I first supported as a boy and I remember going to the matches with my dad as a kid and then with my friends as a teenager. They’re not doing very well at the moment but I hope they get back into the Premier League soon. If they play Liverpool I won’t know who to support!
Here in Spain, I support Gimnastica Segoviana, which is a little team in Segovia. They get about 1000 fans at home matches. Most people support Real Madrid or Barcelona in Spain and when the two clubs play in 'El Clasico', everything can go a little crazy.
I love to eat...
... seafood. My favourite food is 'pescaditos fritos'. These are little, fried fish, usually sardines or anchovies. You eat the whole fish - the bones, tails, heads and everything! It might not sound great but they are delicious. On a Saturday afternoon in a Spanish square with a cold drink - a plate of little fried fish with freshly squeezed lemon is just the best!
I live in the centre of Spain, so fish and seafood is not the local speciality. In Segovia, we have something called ‘cochinillo’, which is piglet. Nearly every restaurant in Segovia sells it and it’s delicious. It’s part of a very big meal - usually three courses. To start, you might have a big bean soup with bits of meat, then you have the ‘cochinillo’ and a cake for dessert. It’s not something you can eat every day or even every week but for special occasions on a cold winter’s day it really fills you up!
Now I love Spanish food - paella, tortilla and all different types of seafood, but there are things I miss from the UK. I love fish and chips and different types of pies, which are things I can’t get in Spain. Did you know that it’s a tradition to eat a pie at halftime at football matches in the UK? But the meal I miss the most is a Sunday dinner - roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and lots and lots of vegetables. It’s funny that I’ve spoken a lot about meat - my wife is a vegetarian!
I love to go...
... to the mountains. I live next to the Guadarrama mountains, which is a high mountain range near Segovia. The highest mountain is nearly 2500 metres high. I’ve never climbed to the top but I enjoy walking in the mountains on a Sunday morning with my family. Most people think that Spain is hot and sunny but while I’m writing this, I can see snow on the mountains and it’s minus four degrees outside! If I get the chance, I'll take my boys sledging. I've lived here for nearly 10 years so I should really learn to ski (lots of people do) but I find it much easier to sit down than stand up on snow and ice!
I would love to be...
... John Barnes! When I was growing up, Liverpool were the biggest and best team in England. My hometown team, Sheffield Utd, were not very good. I couldn’t go to Anfield because my dad said it was too far away. I, like lots of my friends at school, decided to support Liverpool. We used to play football at break times in the playground and every day after school on the school fields. They weren’t organised matches, just friends playing together. We usually used jumpers for goalposts and didn’t play offside. The matches would often finish 25-24, after two or three hours. We would always pretend to be our favourite players from our favourite teams. I was always John Barnes - he was brilliant. If you don’t know who he was, check out the goal he scored for England in 1984 against Brazil in the Maracana Stadium!
What do you think?
Did you learn anything new about life in the UK or life in Spain? Do you do any of the things that Rich wrote about?
Tell us about where you are from and some of the things that are special about where you live.
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Comments
28/04/2023
points
Congratulations Rich, your hometown Sheffield United FC. guaranteed to promote Premier League after Burnley.
28/04/2023 16:28
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
Congratulations Rich, your hometown Sheffield United FC. guaranteed to promote Premier League after Burnley.
13/06/2020
points
The story sounds amazing and I love Spain as well as England. Actually I have a Spanish friend here in Izmir who is originally from Madrid and his wife is from Argentina and they are so nice people but he's not into football much. He supports Atletico Madrid though and he sometimes teaches me Spanish.
I will ask him more about Segovia and I'm sure he will tell me more about the city and the food you've mentioned earlier because he is a history teacher.
Thanks Rich for sharing your lovely times with us and I really hope to be here with the lads as a fan of the week or the year hahaha :)
13/06/2020 13:31
Manchester United
6539
The story sounds amazing and I love Spain as well as England. Actually I have a Spanish friend here in Izmir who is originally from Madrid and his wife is from Argentina and they are so nice people but he's not into football much. He supports Atletico Madrid though and he sometimes teaches me Spanish.
I will ask him more about Segovia and I'm sure he will tell me more about the city and the food you've mentioned earlier because he is a history teacher.
Thanks Rich for sharing your lovely times with us and I really hope to be here with the lads as a fan of the week or the year hahaha :)
17/06/2020
points
Hi MoBeckham,
Thanks! A Spaniard and an Argentinian that is not into football? I didn't think they existed!!
Rich
17/06/2020 08:13
Liverpool
594
Hi MoBeckham,
Thanks! A Spaniard and an Argentinian that is not into football? I didn't think they existed!!
Rich
09/08/2018
points
Hello, Rich! Your story is very interesting! 'Pescaditos fritos' sounds very tasty and I'd like to find out this in my city and try to cook! I have a personal questions about learning. Could you give me email where I can ask about it. Thank you.
09/08/2018 09:52
Chelsea
1859
Hello, Rich! Your story is very interesting! 'Pescaditos fritos' sounds very tasty and I'd like to find out this in my city and try to cook! I have a personal questions about learning. Could you give me email where I can ask about it. Thank you.
09/08/2018
points
Hi Violinka
You can write to Rich using the Premier Skills email: premierskills@britishcouncil.org.
Thanks
Jack - The Premier Skills English Team
09/08/2018 16:29
Arsenal
560
Hi Violinka
You can write to Rich using the Premier Skills email: premierskills@britishcouncil.org.
Thanks
Jack - The Premier Skills English Team
12/07/2017
points
Correct me, I am from Palestine , but I live in the U.A.E because I study here, on the holidays I like going to the beach and watch the sea and the waves, the view is really great.Also I love playing football with my friends at the park, we do not by all the rules in football.I love seafood and meat, my favorite dich is rice with meat and yoghurt.I do not watch the local league here in the UAE because it is boring and there are few fans who watch the match,you can enter the match for free because they want more fans to come,Fortunaley,The winner of the UCL will come here next year and this year,My favorite team is Juventus and after that Liverpool,I wanted them to win the UCL so they can come here, but unfortunately they lost in the final,i hope next season if they can win the trophy that they have not won for more than 20 years,and i will be glad if Buffon can win the title in his last season as a player,but i will be happy if Liverpool win the UCL. I would like to be a coach or a fotballer one day,my idol is Alessandro Del Piero.
12/07/2017 21:08
Liverpool
3705
Correct me, I am from Palestine , but I live in the U.A.E because I study here, on the holidays I like going to the beach and watch the sea and the waves, the view is really great.Also I love playing football with my friends at the park, we do not by all the rules in football.I love seafood and meat, my favorite dich is rice with meat and yoghurt.I do not watch the local league here in the UAE because it is boring and there are few fans who watch the match,you can enter the match for free because they want more fans to come,Fortunaley,The winner of the UCL will come here next year and this year,My favorite team is Juventus and after that Liverpool,I wanted them to win the UCL so they can come here, but unfortunately they lost in the final,i hope next season if they can win the trophy that they have not won for more than 20 years,and i will be glad if Buffon can win the title in his last season as a player,but i will be happy if Liverpool win the UCL. I would like to be a coach or a fotballer one day,my idol is Alessandro Del Piero.
12/07/2017
points
Actually i liked your life Rich,and i also love seafood,it is delicious.
12/07/2017 20:56
Liverpool
3705
Actually i liked your life Rich,and i also love seafood,it is delicious.
13/06/2017
points
Hi Rich,
Great and interesting story. Congratulations on the Blades’ promotion to the Championship. Hope they will be in the Premier League soon and you will tell us more about Sheffield United.
13/06/2017 14:20
Watford
4417
Hi Rich,
Great and interesting story. Congratulations on the Blades’ promotion to the Championship. Hope they will be in the Premier League soon and you will tell us more about Sheffield United.
15/06/2017
points
Hi Liubomyr,
Thanks, I'm glad you liked my story. I was very happy that we finally got promoted from the third tier of English football - it had been too long! We actually got 100 points - more than any season in our history so it was a very good season indeed! I'm hopeful for next season but one our main ambitions should be to finish above our city rivals - Sheffield Wednesday!
Rich
15/06/2017 08:15
Liverpool
594
Hi Liubomyr,
Thanks, I'm glad you liked my story. I was very happy that we finally got promoted from the third tier of English football - it had been too long! We actually got 100 points - more than any season in our history so it was a very good season indeed! I'm hopeful for next season but one our main ambitions should be to finish above our city rivals - Sheffield Wednesday!
Rich