Ciao tutti! I am officially board. I mean really board. I have checked facebook time and time again for the past hour, read a few Internet articles and banged my head against a wall. It's that time again during break. So to beat being board, I've decided to write a short blog post. Okay, shortish. Really maybe a bit long.
Yesterday, I got to go to a friend's birthday. We threw her a surprise 16th birthday party. It was so fun. When she came in and we all shouted "Sorpresa!" she started to cry. I've only been to one surprise birthday party before so this one was a ton of fun. I think my birthday party list is up to 5 or 6 now. I've been to more parties here than I've ever been to in America. We all danced last night. Even I did. This girl with two left feet! All my friends were asking me to teach them American dance moves. I hate to break it to you guys, but your dance moves are way better than anything I've ever seen. Then here's the best part: I met a girl who speaks English like an American. Her mom is from outside of Boston so she's half American. I found out because she was asking me if I was from Colorado Springs or near there. My question: How do you know where the Springs are? Oh I'm American. SPEECHLESS! Nothing came out of my mouth for a good minute, I was so shocked. So I got to speak a little English last night too.
Today was a lazy day. I got to go to the mall in Slovenia for about an hour. Nothing big there. Also, I cleaned my room today with the help of my host sister. My desk is now neat and organized. It is no longer the hurricane it used to be. When we showed my host mom she said it was a miracle. In a way it was. I'm the most disorganized person out there. Now if I can only keep it that way.
Then for New Years I'm in the mountains. So happy! The forecast is saying rain for Gorizia which means snow for the mountains. Yes! Then the 2-5, I'm going skiing with my host dad and host brother. Well my host brother is taking a snowboard course so it's just me and my "dad". From what I've heard this mountain is tiny and okay. I'm expecting Ski Cooper. Or I could be wrong. I'll find out. I want my ski stuff though! Time to write an angry letter or call and beg them to send it by tomorrow afternoon.
Well, this blog post has helped waste more of my time. Maybe I should go do that lab report?
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Holidays
Hello, fellow readers! Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been really busy but now I'm on break and have time to write. Well not that much time. I'm going skiing next week and I'm super happy. Now if only my ski stuff would get here. I was ready to run after the SDR (the Italian version of Fed-Ex) truck when it passed by our house today to see if my package was in it. Except this idea occurred to me 5 minutes after it had passed. There's always tomorrow.
Where to begin? Even with my journaling I've been having a hard time keeping up. Guess I'll just start at the beginning.
August 26th I arrived in Gorizia, Italy.
Kidding! Kidding! Not that far back. But I would like to say my 4 month anniversary was the other day. I've learned so much in 4 months and I don't know if I'll ever come back to Colorado. Well I have to, to finish my senior year but after high school, who knows. I've learned that if I have a dream than to go after it. There's always going to be a way to catch my dreams. So I guess we'll see what happens in the next few years.
From Christmas Eve to San Stefano (Dec. 26) I ate. A lot. No joke. I mean a lot. Christmas Eve, we had dinner with my host father's brother and both of my host parent's moms. Antipasti was a cod spread and bread, then pasta with fish, and then polenta with a fish sauce. Does anyone see a pattern here? In Italy, they don't eat meat on the Virgilia. They eat fish so I had a lot of fish. I think it's meant to cleanse. Not sure. For dessert we had cookies filled with Nutella and marmalade. Plus chocolate covered candied oranges. So good! We talked so much and everyone was interested in what Christmas in America and in my family is like. Well for starters, we don't eat this much food. I stayed up with my host family until midnight so we could ring in Christmas.
Christmas was emotional. I think for every exchange student, Christmas brings homesickness with it. Thanks Santa. Christmas morning we opened presents. I got two new sweatshirts for running, two pairs of gloves, socks and a soap/body cream set. Everyone loved their presents that I'd gotten them. I think my host brother's reaction was my favorite. It goes: gasp "Un maglia di Chicago Bulls!" (A Chicago Bulls shirt!) SUCCESS! The first ever gift I've given a guy is a success. Woohoo!
Here in North Italy, we celebrate Christmas with a huge lunch. Not a dinner but a lunch. And this time we get to eat meat. We had for our first plate lazanna with ragu (meat sauce) and then our second was a mish-mosh. It included, eggplant with Parmesan and maranara, chicken with a white sauce and sausage with sour kraut. It was all really good. Dessert was a home made gubanna (traditional Gorizian dessert) that Claudia's mom had made. We had both of the moms with us and then later after lunch, once we were done food coma-ing, we skyped with Sara. (My host family's oldest daughter who's in the US right now) Both of our Christmas experiences have been really different but really fun. Then I got to call my family later.
The next thing I tell you shall not leave this site: I cried after I skyped my family. I'm at dinner with my host mom talking about what had been said over skype and I just started crying into my burger. Thank god for my host mom. She gave me a shoulder to cry on and told me it was okay. That we all need to cry a little bit. She has become my mom in so many ways. I love to think that now I have 2 sisters, a brother, 2 moms and 2 dads. Exchange is a wonderful thing, it really is. There is so much love going on in my life right now. It's a pretty awesome feeling. Now, I don't want to hear that any of you readers ran around the Battle Mountain parking lot screaming "Annie cried at Christmas!" Thanks.
So for the 26, also known as Santo Stefano day we had a dinner party. My host mom said she's been doing it every year with the same people for forever. We had 11 people in total. 5 was my family the rest, friends. There were two children too. Ages 9 and 11. Both of them are adopted and the 9 year old was just adopted by the family last month. She was born in Columbia and the family just got back form Columbia 12 days ago. The son is from Cambodia and both of them are extremely cute. Really cute! The first plate was another mish-mosh of polenta with a rosemary-pear sauce, two different tarts with sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli and my host mother's friend brought over this type of egg roll thing. I had so much that I was unsure if I could eat the main meal. The main was rice with mushrooms. It was really good too. For dessert we had a yule log, strudel and this yogurt with nuts. I only had a slice of the yule log and strudel.
As you can see, I've ate log in the past few days. And it doesn't stop there. Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's surprise birthday party and then New Years is next week. But as my host dad says, there's always time to start dieting after the holidays.
Okay I know this isn't all of what's happened to me this past week but I've already wrote a lot and I want to spare your eyes. So I'll see if I can write tomorrow.
Happy Holidays, Tanti Auguri, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas!
Where to begin? Even with my journaling I've been having a hard time keeping up. Guess I'll just start at the beginning.
August 26th I arrived in Gorizia, Italy.
Kidding! Kidding! Not that far back. But I would like to say my 4 month anniversary was the other day. I've learned so much in 4 months and I don't know if I'll ever come back to Colorado. Well I have to, to finish my senior year but after high school, who knows. I've learned that if I have a dream than to go after it. There's always going to be a way to catch my dreams. So I guess we'll see what happens in the next few years.
From Christmas Eve to San Stefano (Dec. 26) I ate. A lot. No joke. I mean a lot. Christmas Eve, we had dinner with my host father's brother and both of my host parent's moms. Antipasti was a cod spread and bread, then pasta with fish, and then polenta with a fish sauce. Does anyone see a pattern here? In Italy, they don't eat meat on the Virgilia. They eat fish so I had a lot of fish. I think it's meant to cleanse. Not sure. For dessert we had cookies filled with Nutella and marmalade. Plus chocolate covered candied oranges. So good! We talked so much and everyone was interested in what Christmas in America and in my family is like. Well for starters, we don't eat this much food. I stayed up with my host family until midnight so we could ring in Christmas.
Christmas was emotional. I think for every exchange student, Christmas brings homesickness with it. Thanks Santa. Christmas morning we opened presents. I got two new sweatshirts for running, two pairs of gloves, socks and a soap/body cream set. Everyone loved their presents that I'd gotten them. I think my host brother's reaction was my favorite. It goes: gasp "Un maglia di Chicago Bulls!" (A Chicago Bulls shirt!) SUCCESS! The first ever gift I've given a guy is a success. Woohoo!
Here in North Italy, we celebrate Christmas with a huge lunch. Not a dinner but a lunch. And this time we get to eat meat. We had for our first plate lazanna with ragu (meat sauce) and then our second was a mish-mosh. It included, eggplant with Parmesan and maranara, chicken with a white sauce and sausage with sour kraut. It was all really good. Dessert was a home made gubanna (traditional Gorizian dessert) that Claudia's mom had made. We had both of the moms with us and then later after lunch, once we were done food coma-ing, we skyped with Sara. (My host family's oldest daughter who's in the US right now) Both of our Christmas experiences have been really different but really fun. Then I got to call my family later.
The next thing I tell you shall not leave this site: I cried after I skyped my family. I'm at dinner with my host mom talking about what had been said over skype and I just started crying into my burger. Thank god for my host mom. She gave me a shoulder to cry on and told me it was okay. That we all need to cry a little bit. She has become my mom in so many ways. I love to think that now I have 2 sisters, a brother, 2 moms and 2 dads. Exchange is a wonderful thing, it really is. There is so much love going on in my life right now. It's a pretty awesome feeling. Now, I don't want to hear that any of you readers ran around the Battle Mountain parking lot screaming "Annie cried at Christmas!" Thanks.
So for the 26, also known as Santo Stefano day we had a dinner party. My host mom said she's been doing it every year with the same people for forever. We had 11 people in total. 5 was my family the rest, friends. There were two children too. Ages 9 and 11. Both of them are adopted and the 9 year old was just adopted by the family last month. She was born in Columbia and the family just got back form Columbia 12 days ago. The son is from Cambodia and both of them are extremely cute. Really cute! The first plate was another mish-mosh of polenta with a rosemary-pear sauce, two different tarts with sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli and my host mother's friend brought over this type of egg roll thing. I had so much that I was unsure if I could eat the main meal. The main was rice with mushrooms. It was really good too. For dessert we had a yule log, strudel and this yogurt with nuts. I only had a slice of the yule log and strudel.
As you can see, I've ate log in the past few days. And it doesn't stop there. Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's surprise birthday party and then New Years is next week. But as my host dad says, there's always time to start dieting after the holidays.
Okay I know this isn't all of what's happened to me this past week but I've already wrote a lot and I want to spare your eyes. So I'll see if I can write tomorrow.
Happy Holidays, Tanti Auguri, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 3, 2012
How to make a fire mountain girl style
For those whose host brothers are away at basketball practice, I've made a guide on how to start the stove. Mountain girl style no less.
Matterial: Wood, notebook paper and a lighter.
Steps:
Matterial: Wood, notebook paper and a lighter.
Steps:
- Lay the kindling on bottom of the stove.
- Lay 3 pieces of wadded up notebook paper on top.
- Light the other piece of notebook paper and toss it in the stove quickly.
- Wait for a minute
- Grab a log, toss it in on top of the small flames and hope it takes.
- If it takes, watch the fire for at least 15 minutes to be sure.
- If not, repeat with more paper.
Do not attempt if your host mom isn't home and/or you're afraid of fire.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Autogestione
Last week in America, everyone was enjoying Thanksgiving Break. This week, I'm having my own fall break. It comes in the form of an autogestione.
Autogestione (n):
Where one's school refuses to teach but is still open and thus the students come and do workshops.
That's what's been going on in my school since Wednesday. I come to school, hang out with my friends for the first hour and then go to whatever workshop takes my fancy. Mostly I just go where my friends go.
Wednesday, I had a class assembly for two hours where we watched "Noi, i ragazzi dello zoo Berlino." Also known as "We the children of the Berlin Zoo". We got 3/4 of the way through it. We were watching it on my friend's laptop so the sound was a little funky and we had to wait for YouTube to keep loading. It's about a 12 year old girl who lives in Berlin (This is a German film) in the early 80s, when David Bowie was huge along with LSD, coke and many other phyicadellic drugs. You follow her trip (in more ways than one) for the next two years, falling in love with a boy but also with cocaine and other drugs. It was gross in some parts (throwing up in the bathroom stalls, heroin injections) but you learned about what it was like growing up in the time when drugs and music were everything. After our film, our class reps explained why we were having an Autogestione. It's a protest against the legge Aprae (The Aprae Law). The law says that all funding for public schools will stop and unless the schools find a sponsor than none of the government's money will be filtered towards education. Here's the catch, some of the money will be filtered for private schools. So everyone is a bit ticked about that. There's also the fact that if this law passes, than public schools will be forced to write a type of constitution that everyone has to abide to. All my teachers and friends are very apposed to this law. I am too. It's not fair that private schools get the money when the public schools are already old and falling apart. In my school, we can't even afford toilet paper. (When I get back to Colorado, I better not hear any complaining about how poor our schools are.) My last two hours of workshop, was a workshop on figuring out what Thursdays workshops were going to be. We bounced ideas from self defence to a film to first aid. It was a nice break from all the heaviness of the legge Aprae.
Thursday, Autogestione all day. The workshop I participated in was making banners and posters, saying vote no for the legge Aprae. It was an all day workshop but in reality, making the banners and posters lasted about 2 hours. So for the rest of the day, I talked with friends and made loops around the school. Nothing like doing nothing to make you miss learning.
Today, I was fed to the wolves. Meaning, the workshop my friends and I did, was planning the end of year dance. My school's first end of year dance. The first question asked, should we make it like the American end of school dances?
My Friends: We have an American.
Girl leading the meeting: Where?
My Friends: Right here. (Pointing at me while everyone, 60, swivels to look at me)
Me: Please, no. Oh dear lord, Yes, I'm American.
Girl leading the meeting: Up here right now. Tell us about the American dance.
So that is how I ended up describing Prom even though I've never been. At the end of the meeting, I had a headache because the argument was, should we have beer and wine or not? It was just confusion.
The rest of the day, my friends and I found empty rooms to play cards in. We made our own workshop which I'm sure no one minded. I played a new form of BS and also a new form of Slap. I lost. A lot.
This weekend is the fair. As in, rides and games galore. I'm going with a friend so I'm excited. Plus I get to eat funnel cake. Yey!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Gym Class Loser
Is it possible to fail gym class? I mean really, is it possible? Yes, I'm athletic as in I like to run and do push ups and run some more. But gym class isn't just running. It's theory and sports that require the coordination that I do not have. So in really, I am a gym class loser. Oh well. Just put me on the bench and when my time comes to play whatever sport our teacher has chosen, hope I don't die.
Other than that, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so incredibly thankful that I'm here in Italy and I have two families that love me oh-so very much. I hope all of you are enjoying turkey and pumpkin pie.
This weekend, there's a strike on Saturday so I don't have to go to school. Instead I'm going to the chocolate festival in Gradisca. I know. It's a very dangerous place for me. To be surrounded by all sorts of chocolate just can't be good for me. I'll tough it out though. Hahaha! No, I'm really excited for this festival. I'll be getting some pictures for sure.
Then next weekend I'm going to Venice for an art exhibit and to just walk around. Yey!! Venice!
Other than that, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so incredibly thankful that I'm here in Italy and I have two families that love me oh-so very much. I hope all of you are enjoying turkey and pumpkin pie.
This weekend, there's a strike on Saturday so I don't have to go to school. Instead I'm going to the chocolate festival in Gradisca. I know. It's a very dangerous place for me. To be surrounded by all sorts of chocolate just can't be good for me. I'll tough it out though. Hahaha! No, I'm really excited for this festival. I'll be getting some pictures for sure.
Then next weekend I'm going to Venice for an art exhibit and to just walk around. Yey!! Venice!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Just keep swimmin'
Ciao! Sorry I haven't written in the past few weeks. I get busy and then I don't have time to write so just keep checking in when you have time to see if I've posted.
Well, here's what's been going on in my life:
A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my friend's family. It was really fun. We had pizza and watched "My Name in Tonino". It's such a cute movie. It's about an Italian boy who meets an American girl during the summer and they fall in love. Then a few months after she goes home, he comes to America for a surprise visit. It was really interesting seeing his view on America and how different it is from Italy. Just like my views on how different but yet the same America is from Italy. I also got a book called "Un Italiano in America". It's by an Italian journalist who lived in Georgetown for a year and it's his perception of Americans. It's really funny.
Then last week, I had a cross country race through the school. Originally, I though it was going to be practice, not a race. Then one of my friends who did it with me, told me the day before, Oh it's a race. Not practice. My mind kind of blanked at that. But I got 3rd and now I'm on the team for the race against all the schools in region. But it may not happen because the Italian government is thinking about cutting all after school activities, this includes sports, drama, ect. There have been a lot of strikes about this, the biggest being in Trieste, a few days ago. Next week, there will be a strike in Rome, that a lot of my teachers will be attending because they don't want this to happen. So we'll see what happens.
On Wednesday, I went to Trieste for a Rotary lunch with the other exchange students. I got out of class early and I got to have pizza at a nice restaurant. So it was a good day. Not to mention, I got to hang out with the other exchange students after and get hot chocolate at this really cool bar. I had hot chocolate with Carmel in it. It was so good!!! I mean, I want some more of it. It was really windy in Trieste and I don't know how they put up with it. After standing in the wind for 5 minutes, I was already tired of it. I'll stick to rain, please.
Yesterday, I had a big cross country race. It was 4k and let's just say I was the fastest American but the last person. There was just 7 of us, which is a big change for me. When I do cross country with Battle Mountain, our races are about 100-200 people. So going from a large race to a very little race, that's a change for me. And everyone was saying how big the race was. What's a normal race like then?
School is good. I have this major organic chem test on Wednesday, that I'm sure will kill me. I had an English lit interrogation yesterday, and I think I scared the teacher a little bit. Oops. Though now, in that class, we've started Shakespeare. I can't wait to read Romeo and Juliet out loud for them. My Italian is coming along. I can get most of the present verb contexts and I just learned the difference for when to use Essere and Avere in the past. That always screwed me up so I'm really happy that I know how to use them now.
Just keep swimmin' is my motto right now. That's what I've been doing and what I'll be doing.
Ciao!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Wherefort art thou Romeo?
From the title it's pretty easy to guess where I've been. Verona! Beautiful Verona! I was there for two days Thursday and Friday. In those two days I managed to take about 200 photos and see about 3/4 of Verona. (We had two small children in tow so we had to accommodate to them.) What can I say? It's a beautiful city.
We arrived Thursday afternoon and we stayed with friends of my host parents. They're originally from Russia but because of work, they moved to Italy some years ago and now have two small kids with a third one on the way. We had a late lunch and then went into the center of Verona. It was dark but the light from the street lamps made it very magical. First we went to the Roman arena. We couldn't go inside because it was closing but from the outside it was still amazing. Then we hit up Guilieta's balcony. It was so cool! I know it's a balcony but to think of the love story that went on in that small yard, it just sends me into shear happiness. Next, we went to Piazza of Herba which is the main square which leads into a smaller square. There in the square you have stores and market stalls. Very cool. Since it was next another square we went there. In the middle of this square stands a statue of Dante. Dante, when he was fleeing from the Church, came and stayed in Verona with the highest family, Le Scaligera. Their house is right in that square so... very important square plus their tombs are right next to it. After this we went back home and slept.
The next day, we went up to the old castle on the hill. From here you can see all of Verona. It's a breathtaking sight. You have the old city next to the new city and it's all in closed with the wall. Honestly, I could have spent all day just looking at Verona from afar. Then we went across the main bridge into Verona and walked around. The day went soooo fast! We visited the castle in the city and walked across another bridge. (Verona is surrounded by a river. To get in and out of town, you have to pass through the wall and then a bridge or vise vies.) Then we went back to the main square, and walked around, ate a lot, visited some tombs. By then it was getting dark and I wanted to see Guilieta's tomb. So we went there. First, we had to go through the museum with all the old frescos that used to be in the church next to the tomb and then we got to go into the tomb. That coffin is way to small to have held some one. I mean, it's really small. But the story goes, that we don't know if this is really Guilieta's tomb. When Shakespeare came to Verona, he said this is her tomb and my word is law. So we're going by Shakespeare's word.
What did you do for Halloween Annie? Well, sadly this is the first year I haven't dressed up for Halloween. But I did get to sleep over at a friend's house and I got to see Rocky Horror Picture Show with her and a few other friends. And it was in English! Not dubbed! They did have subtitles which was nice because I came out of the theater knowing some more vocab words than before. It was a ton of fun!
Then yesterday, I got to go to another birthday party for two friends in my class. We played Just Dance (which I'm very bad at) and talked. It was so much fun! I mean I was able to talk with everyone and just hang out. I feel accepted now!
So now without further adew some pictures:
We arrived Thursday afternoon and we stayed with friends of my host parents. They're originally from Russia but because of work, they moved to Italy some years ago and now have two small kids with a third one on the way. We had a late lunch and then went into the center of Verona. It was dark but the light from the street lamps made it very magical. First we went to the Roman arena. We couldn't go inside because it was closing but from the outside it was still amazing. Then we hit up Guilieta's balcony. It was so cool! I know it's a balcony but to think of the love story that went on in that small yard, it just sends me into shear happiness. Next, we went to Piazza of Herba which is the main square which leads into a smaller square. There in the square you have stores and market stalls. Very cool. Since it was next another square we went there. In the middle of this square stands a statue of Dante. Dante, when he was fleeing from the Church, came and stayed in Verona with the highest family, Le Scaligera. Their house is right in that square so... very important square plus their tombs are right next to it. After this we went back home and slept.
The next day, we went up to the old castle on the hill. From here you can see all of Verona. It's a breathtaking sight. You have the old city next to the new city and it's all in closed with the wall. Honestly, I could have spent all day just looking at Verona from afar. Then we went across the main bridge into Verona and walked around. The day went soooo fast! We visited the castle in the city and walked across another bridge. (Verona is surrounded by a river. To get in and out of town, you have to pass through the wall and then a bridge or vise vies.) Then we went back to the main square, and walked around, ate a lot, visited some tombs. By then it was getting dark and I wanted to see Guilieta's tomb. So we went there. First, we had to go through the museum with all the old frescos that used to be in the church next to the tomb and then we got to go into the tomb. That coffin is way to small to have held some one. I mean, it's really small. But the story goes, that we don't know if this is really Guilieta's tomb. When Shakespeare came to Verona, he said this is her tomb and my word is law. So we're going by Shakespeare's word.
What did you do for Halloween Annie? Well, sadly this is the first year I haven't dressed up for Halloween. But I did get to sleep over at a friend's house and I got to see Rocky Horror Picture Show with her and a few other friends. And it was in English! Not dubbed! They did have subtitles which was nice because I came out of the theater knowing some more vocab words than before. It was a ton of fun!
Then yesterday, I got to go to another birthday party for two friends in my class. We played Just Dance (which I'm very bad at) and talked. It was so much fun! I mean I was able to talk with everyone and just hang out. I feel accepted now!
So now without further adew some pictures:
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| Verona at Night |
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| Me and the Arena |
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| Guilieta's Balcony |
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| The City of Verona |
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| Hey Dante |
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| Main Square |
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| Bridge |
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| Tomb of Guilieta |
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| Shakespeare |
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| Food |
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| Food |
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| More food |
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| Yeah, I'm fat |
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| Tomb of Le Scaligeta |
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Rain=No Fun
This past weekend, the skies decided to open up and dump. I mean pouring rain non stop from Friday night to Sunday night. Plus there was wind. And I don't mean a wimpy wind, I mean hurricane force wind. So with that said, I didn't get to go to the festa di zucca. No pumpkin chucking. :(
Instead, I studied and watched skiing. (Yey! Ted Ligety won!) That was basically my weekend. Except there was a bright side. I got to go into the mountains in Slovenia and hang out in the snow! Well, a hostel in a forest where it was snowing. But still snow!
This week, I don't have school on Thursday. It's all Saints day but it's also known as the day the Italian celebrate their dead. Much like dia di muertos in Mexico. I get to go to Verona maybe. The forcast is calling for more rain and wind so we'll see.
Tomorrow, I've been invited to a Halloween party at a friend's house. She said we're going to carve pumpkins, see a film and then sleep over. It sounds pretty good to me. I mean carving pumpkins! Now I just have to think of what I want to carve. Maybe a classic jack o' lantern face. Who knows.
In school, I've changed English classes. I'm now in a 5th year and two 4th year classes. I've only had one class with all of them and they asked me a ton of questions. Like my jaw is still hurting from talking so much. It turns out that I'm the first American some of them have met and all they know about America is from TV. Some popular questions: Do you have the end of year dance? You mean prom? Why yes we do. Is Halloween really like it is on TV? Yep. I've had to explain that one a lot today. Do you know how to drive? Yeah.
It's really interesting hearing their questions. Plus they love it because it wastes class time.
There's one other exchange student at my school. She's from Thailand and she's one of my 4th year english classes. It was so cool today hearing what her school and life is like. She lives in the south of Thailand and it's always hot there. She also goes to an all girls school and has 4 different types of uniforms. We were asked today if we could bring in a slide show of our cities for Friday. I've already finished mine and I'm ready for Friday!
Cross country starts next week!! Yeyey!!! Then there's a race Nov. 17th for track. My coaches are thinking of signing me up for the 4000 m or 4k. 7 laps around the track. What I'm used to. Now if only I could find my race pace.
Instead, I studied and watched skiing. (Yey! Ted Ligety won!) That was basically my weekend. Except there was a bright side. I got to go into the mountains in Slovenia and hang out in the snow! Well, a hostel in a forest where it was snowing. But still snow!
This week, I don't have school on Thursday. It's all Saints day but it's also known as the day the Italian celebrate their dead. Much like dia di muertos in Mexico. I get to go to Verona maybe. The forcast is calling for more rain and wind so we'll see.
Tomorrow, I've been invited to a Halloween party at a friend's house. She said we're going to carve pumpkins, see a film and then sleep over. It sounds pretty good to me. I mean carving pumpkins! Now I just have to think of what I want to carve. Maybe a classic jack o' lantern face. Who knows.
In school, I've changed English classes. I'm now in a 5th year and two 4th year classes. I've only had one class with all of them and they asked me a ton of questions. Like my jaw is still hurting from talking so much. It turns out that I'm the first American some of them have met and all they know about America is from TV. Some popular questions: Do you have the end of year dance? You mean prom? Why yes we do. Is Halloween really like it is on TV? Yep. I've had to explain that one a lot today. Do you know how to drive? Yeah.
It's really interesting hearing their questions. Plus they love it because it wastes class time.
There's one other exchange student at my school. She's from Thailand and she's one of my 4th year english classes. It was so cool today hearing what her school and life is like. She lives in the south of Thailand and it's always hot there. She also goes to an all girls school and has 4 different types of uniforms. We were asked today if we could bring in a slide show of our cities for Friday. I've already finished mine and I'm ready for Friday!
Cross country starts next week!! Yeyey!!! Then there's a race Nov. 17th for track. My coaches are thinking of signing me up for the 4000 m or 4k. 7 laps around the track. What I'm used to. Now if only I could find my race pace.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Get set, Run!
So I've been running a lot. Which is really good! I run everyday with people now. Some days with the triathlon club, some days with the track team. Either way, I'm no longer running by myself. My first day of track was really good. Long run, not to hard. Second day: hard! I mean, I was dying a little. Plus I had the cruel realization that I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. That was true. It was very hard to get up on Saturday for school.
Sunday, I got to do a 6k fun run benefiting the handicap association of Gorizia. I had a ton of fun just running with my friends. I also got to run in Slovenia for half of the race.
It's so cool being next to another country. You don't feel any different but you notice the distinct differences in the way the houses are built to the stoplights. (Fun fact: The stop lights in Slovenia are like drag lights. They go red, yellow then green to go. I feel like a drag racers sometimes.)
This weekend, I get to go to the Festa di Zucca!(Pumpkin Festival) From what I've been told, everything is pumpkin themed. So I'll eat some pumpkin, chuck a pumpkin and maybe take a picture or two with a pumpkin. :)
Then next week, I get to go to Verona. Juliet's balcony!!! Ahhh!!! I want a picture of it so badly. You can tell I'm a hopeless romantic here. We're going to stay with friends of Marco and Claudia who are from Russia. Russians living in Italy. I'm very curious about their accent.
For the next two weeks, it feels like I'll be running around Italy with my family. Still, what a great way to see Italy and spend it with my host family. I will for sure post pictures.
Sunday, I got to do a 6k fun run benefiting the handicap association of Gorizia. I had a ton of fun just running with my friends. I also got to run in Slovenia for half of the race.
It's so cool being next to another country. You don't feel any different but you notice the distinct differences in the way the houses are built to the stoplights. (Fun fact: The stop lights in Slovenia are like drag lights. They go red, yellow then green to go. I feel like a drag racers sometimes.)
This weekend, I get to go to the Festa di Zucca!(Pumpkin Festival) From what I've been told, everything is pumpkin themed. So I'll eat some pumpkin, chuck a pumpkin and maybe take a picture or two with a pumpkin. :)
Then next week, I get to go to Verona. Juliet's balcony!!! Ahhh!!! I want a picture of it so badly. You can tell I'm a hopeless romantic here. We're going to stay with friends of Marco and Claudia who are from Russia. Russians living in Italy. I'm very curious about their accent.
For the next two weeks, it feels like I'll be running around Italy with my family. Still, what a great way to see Italy and spend it with my host family. I will for sure post pictures.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Barcolana
Hey everyone!
Last Sunday, I got to watch Barcolana. Barcolana is this huge boat race in Trieste. According to my host father 1000 boats participated while only 20 finished in the time limit. So yeah, it's a big deal.
I know I posted that I was going to watch it from a boat but that didn't happen because I was taking the train back to Gorizia and there was a train sciopero (strike) too. The good thing: I got home without the sciopero effecting me. The bad thing: I didn't get to go on a boat! Instead, I sat a restaurant near Miremare and watched the races from afar. Plus I ate a lot. I mean I ate almost all day. Good thing it was awesome food! It was a beautiful day too! The weather forecast had predicted rain and no good stormy weather. Instead it was warm and no wind. Warm=Good. No Wind=Bad.
I should have been prepared for boats going slow since there was pretty much no wind. But since I'm used to watching cars go over 200 mph, I thought the boats would be going a bit faster. No such luck.
On Saturday, after school I got all my stuff and then headed off to Trieste. That night I stayed with the exchange students from Verona and a small town that I can't remember the name of. We got to meet the students staying in Trieste and we went out to dinner at an English/Italian pub. Then afterwards, we walked around the main piazza, listening to the concert and just talking. On the way back to the appartment building, Noah, Emily and I got a bit lost. Before we'd left, out host parents for the night said just look for the church steeple. Well we looked and still were lost. Turns out we were a street over and were walking in circles for a good half hour. Oh well.
Some clarifications about my running situation. On the days I'm not training with the triathlon club, I'm training with the track team. So I'm still running everyday just with different people depending on what day it is. And yes, the track team is extremely fast and extremely good. Time to step it up!
I learned that interrogations in class are kind of like the Reaping in the Hunger Games. You can volunteer as tribute, I mean first to go, and then it rolls on from there. I almost fell out of my seat when I learned that.
On Thursday, Nicola had a basket game. I went and watched it and left knowing a little more about basket than I did coming into the game. Such as; if the dads aren't yelling at the refs they're yelling at each other. Did I mention this is a game with 15 year old boys playing? Still it was pretty fun. I met a girl who's about my age and who's brother is on the team as well as in Nicola's class at school. A friend for the next game.
Friday, I went to another basket game. This time it was a game to honor the grand opening of the new basket/volleyball gym that took 2 years to build. Let's just say, it's a very impressive place. Very state of the art in form. The basket was veccio glory or old glory. So we have men from 40-65 playing basketball. Yes it was kind of boring and yes I was afraid one of them was going to have a heart attack but it was really cool seeing how into basketball the Italians are. I've come up with: If they're not watching Formula 1 or soccer then they're watching basket.
I think that's it for now. I have some pictures of Barcolana for your enjoyment.
Last Sunday, I got to watch Barcolana. Barcolana is this huge boat race in Trieste. According to my host father 1000 boats participated while only 20 finished in the time limit. So yeah, it's a big deal.
I know I posted that I was going to watch it from a boat but that didn't happen because I was taking the train back to Gorizia and there was a train sciopero (strike) too. The good thing: I got home without the sciopero effecting me. The bad thing: I didn't get to go on a boat! Instead, I sat a restaurant near Miremare and watched the races from afar. Plus I ate a lot. I mean I ate almost all day. Good thing it was awesome food! It was a beautiful day too! The weather forecast had predicted rain and no good stormy weather. Instead it was warm and no wind. Warm=Good. No Wind=Bad.
I should have been prepared for boats going slow since there was pretty much no wind. But since I'm used to watching cars go over 200 mph, I thought the boats would be going a bit faster. No such luck.
On Saturday, after school I got all my stuff and then headed off to Trieste. That night I stayed with the exchange students from Verona and a small town that I can't remember the name of. We got to meet the students staying in Trieste and we went out to dinner at an English/Italian pub. Then afterwards, we walked around the main piazza, listening to the concert and just talking. On the way back to the appartment building, Noah, Emily and I got a bit lost. Before we'd left, out host parents for the night said just look for the church steeple. Well we looked and still were lost. Turns out we were a street over and were walking in circles for a good half hour. Oh well.
Some clarifications about my running situation. On the days I'm not training with the triathlon club, I'm training with the track team. So I'm still running everyday just with different people depending on what day it is. And yes, the track team is extremely fast and extremely good. Time to step it up!
I learned that interrogations in class are kind of like the Reaping in the Hunger Games. You can volunteer as tribute, I mean first to go, and then it rolls on from there. I almost fell out of my seat when I learned that.
On Thursday, Nicola had a basket game. I went and watched it and left knowing a little more about basket than I did coming into the game. Such as; if the dads aren't yelling at the refs they're yelling at each other. Did I mention this is a game with 15 year old boys playing? Still it was pretty fun. I met a girl who's about my age and who's brother is on the team as well as in Nicola's class at school. A friend for the next game.
Friday, I went to another basket game. This time it was a game to honor the grand opening of the new basket/volleyball gym that took 2 years to build. Let's just say, it's a very impressive place. Very state of the art in form. The basket was veccio glory or old glory. So we have men from 40-65 playing basketball. Yes it was kind of boring and yes I was afraid one of them was going to have a heart attack but it was really cool seeing how into basketball the Italians are. I've come up with: If they're not watching Formula 1 or soccer then they're watching basket.
I think that's it for now. I have some pictures of Barcolana for your enjoyment.
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| My view from where I stayed the night |
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| Exchange Student Greatness! |
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| Barcolana |
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| Barcolana |
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| Please guess which one won |
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| This is from the picnic the week before. Hello Slovenia |
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| My Italian Leather boots and Converse |
Friday, October 12, 2012
Running with the Big Dogs
Parish, I hope your reading this.
Today, I learned that I'm going to start training with the track/cross country club starting Monday. We meet at the track everyday around 3:30. Sounds pretty good right? Right.
Now for the surprise:
When I was talking with the coach today he said, "Look over there. See that girl? She second in Italy for the 800." Mamma Mia! My jaw was on the ground and I'm still trying to process that bit of information.
So as of Monday, I will be running with the big dogs. Can I keep up? Guess I'll find out Monday at 3:30.
Today, I learned that I'm going to start training with the track/cross country club starting Monday. We meet at the track everyday around 3:30. Sounds pretty good right? Right.
Now for the surprise:
When I was talking with the coach today he said, "Look over there. See that girl? She second in Italy for the 800." Mamma Mia! My jaw was on the ground and I'm still trying to process that bit of information.
So as of Monday, I will be running with the big dogs. Can I keep up? Guess I'll find out Monday at 3:30.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Hard Day's Night
More like the past week has been filled with studying hard at night. All my teachers must have planned this. I've had a chem test, a bio test, an Italian test and a physics test all this week. Then I have a math test, English test, and chem interrogation all next week. So needless to say, I've been studying for about 2 or 3 hours each day for a single test. Welcome back to school!
Saturday, I get to go to Barcollana. Barcollana is a boat race/festival in Trieste. I will meet the other exchange students in my district and spend Saturday night and Sunday with them. Then I get to go on this one Rotarian's yacht to see the races. At least I think so. I'm pretty sure.
Cross country with the school starts next month. We start either November 6,7, or 8. I'm pretty excited because some of the kids in my class are doing it. We train in the mornings around 11. Then starting in January, I get to do Cross with the club. I'm gearing up for about 5 months of Cross Country season! Woohoo!
Last Sunday, I got to attend a picnic for the Grado triathlon volunteers. It wasn't like your normal American bbq. Yes, there was bbq but it wasn't hot dogs and hamburgers. Instead it was pork and chicken plus this type of Slovenian sausage. It was pretty good. And there was strudel and tart for dessert. I was a happy camper! I also got to play volleyball with my friends and host siblings. All in all, Sunday was a good day.
Tomorrow, I don't have to go to school. This is because we start at 10 and then end at 12 but since both of my host parents are working, I'm staying home. My "weekend" aka: sleeping in, is tomorrow since Saturday and Sunday, I'll be busy.
I'll post later about Barcollana and I'll put pictures up too!
Saturday, I get to go to Barcollana. Barcollana is a boat race/festival in Trieste. I will meet the other exchange students in my district and spend Saturday night and Sunday with them. Then I get to go on this one Rotarian's yacht to see the races. At least I think so. I'm pretty sure.
Cross country with the school starts next month. We start either November 6,7, or 8. I'm pretty excited because some of the kids in my class are doing it. We train in the mornings around 11. Then starting in January, I get to do Cross with the club. I'm gearing up for about 5 months of Cross Country season! Woohoo!
Last Sunday, I got to attend a picnic for the Grado triathlon volunteers. It wasn't like your normal American bbq. Yes, there was bbq but it wasn't hot dogs and hamburgers. Instead it was pork and chicken plus this type of Slovenian sausage. It was pretty good. And there was strudel and tart for dessert. I was a happy camper! I also got to play volleyball with my friends and host siblings. All in all, Sunday was a good day.
Tomorrow, I don't have to go to school. This is because we start at 10 and then end at 12 but since both of my host parents are working, I'm staying home. My "weekend" aka: sleeping in, is tomorrow since Saturday and Sunday, I'll be busy.
I'll post later about Barcollana and I'll put pictures up too!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Festa di Cibo!
This past weekend was the Gustiera di Frontiera in Goriza. It translates to Taste of the Frontier. So the short version is, an awesome weekend with food from all over Europe and getting fat from all of it. I was able to sample Slovenian food, French food, German food, Mexican (which is better in Colorado) and more. It was really interesting. In the town they had Borgos set up. Borgo is another name for small place. So there was Borgo Latina, Borgo Germanian, Borgo Italiana, you get the picture. I got a pretzel for the first time since I left Colorado! Plus they made the food right in front of you so it was all fresh. There was also farm vendors selling their harvest. I had some really good apple and peach juice.
Here's a very cool story: I was fooling around in class with a euro, flicking and spinning it on the table. Euro coins are good for this kind of fooling around. So I brought out a quarter. Instantly my friend was like, "What's that?" A quarter, no big deal. I let him see it and he told me it was so cool. I go into my wallet and find a quarter with a state on it to show him. A lot of my classmates came over and were in awe just because of a quarter. I had to remind myself they'd never seen this kind of money before and it was like me when I saw a euro for the first time. I thought it was cool.
Also, because I speak English, my classmates think I don't speak Italian. My friend is my helpful translator at times and this last week at school, one of the guys in my class comes up to us and he tells my friend, "Ask her if she was at the track last night?" I understood every part of that sentence and I turned to him, looked him in the eye and said, ask me directly! in Italian. I'm making myself talk in Italian so I can learn a language and communicate with them. This actually seemed to work. Now I talk in Italian with a mixture of English words that I don't know in Italian. Everyone seems to get what I'm saying and I'm understanding more everyday.
I get questioned about if boys and girls in my school are like those on TV. Well, yes and no. Yes we do have mean girls but no they don't attack each other in the cafeteria over a boy. I tell them that people at my school are just like them. That we're all the same. Have to break down the stereotypes some how.
Here's a very cool story: I was fooling around in class with a euro, flicking and spinning it on the table. Euro coins are good for this kind of fooling around. So I brought out a quarter. Instantly my friend was like, "What's that?" A quarter, no big deal. I let him see it and he told me it was so cool. I go into my wallet and find a quarter with a state on it to show him. A lot of my classmates came over and were in awe just because of a quarter. I had to remind myself they'd never seen this kind of money before and it was like me when I saw a euro for the first time. I thought it was cool.
Also, because I speak English, my classmates think I don't speak Italian. My friend is my helpful translator at times and this last week at school, one of the guys in my class comes up to us and he tells my friend, "Ask her if she was at the track last night?" I understood every part of that sentence and I turned to him, looked him in the eye and said, ask me directly! in Italian. I'm making myself talk in Italian so I can learn a language and communicate with them. This actually seemed to work. Now I talk in Italian with a mixture of English words that I don't know in Italian. Everyone seems to get what I'm saying and I'm understanding more everyday.
I get questioned about if boys and girls in my school are like those on TV. Well, yes and no. Yes we do have mean girls but no they don't attack each other in the cafeteria over a boy. I tell them that people at my school are just like them. That we're all the same. Have to break down the stereotypes some how.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Month!
Today marks my month in Italy! I love it here and I've grown used to life here. Today, I'm going bowling with my host family, my second host family and a few friends. Hopefully it goes well because well... I'm not the best bowler. Haha! The bowling place is in Slovenia which is really cool. I get to go bowling in another country!
Last night, I went to two exhibits about Gorizian life during the 1800s and 1900s. I went with my tutor, Luigi and his wife AnnaMaria. Yes, it was interesting and yes, I couldn't understand what the leader was saying but it was still really cool. I learned that this was a really poor part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire and for people to get money, they had to give up a lot of their own stuff. It was sad, really. But they had jewelry and clothes that they found a few years ago all set up on display. Then I learned that the art part of my school actually designed paintings and fashion inspired by the exhibit. That was amazing for me!
Afterwords, we went out to dinner at this really fancy restaurant, Rosenburg. It was a 5 course meal, plus fresh bread and wine. Oh my God! It was soooooooo good!! Talk about a major food coma after the meals.
Now, school on Saturday should be illegal. I had school yesterday and I just couldn't focus. Really bad on my part since I have to focus 110% of the time. Then our schedule changed. Now on Tuesdays instead of getting out at noon, I get out at 2 and on Saturdays I get out at 1 instead of noon. But here's the thing, this new schedule isn't definite. So we'll see what happens.
I got City of Bones in Italian! To say the least, it is slow going. I'm only on Chapter 2 but I'm understanding what's happening.
So I have no idea what's going to happen this week but I'll write soon. Ciao!
Last night, I went to two exhibits about Gorizian life during the 1800s and 1900s. I went with my tutor, Luigi and his wife AnnaMaria. Yes, it was interesting and yes, I couldn't understand what the leader was saying but it was still really cool. I learned that this was a really poor part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire and for people to get money, they had to give up a lot of their own stuff. It was sad, really. But they had jewelry and clothes that they found a few years ago all set up on display. Then I learned that the art part of my school actually designed paintings and fashion inspired by the exhibit. That was amazing for me!
Afterwords, we went out to dinner at this really fancy restaurant, Rosenburg. It was a 5 course meal, plus fresh bread and wine. Oh my God! It was soooooooo good!! Talk about a major food coma after the meals.
Now, school on Saturday should be illegal. I had school yesterday and I just couldn't focus. Really bad on my part since I have to focus 110% of the time. Then our schedule changed. Now on Tuesdays instead of getting out at noon, I get out at 2 and on Saturdays I get out at 1 instead of noon. But here's the thing, this new schedule isn't definite. So we'll see what happens.
I got City of Bones in Italian! To say the least, it is slow going. I'm only on Chapter 2 but I'm understanding what's happening.
So I have no idea what's going to happen this week but I'll write soon. Ciao!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Life on Exchange
Ahh, Italy! I feel so at home here and it's only my 3rd week here. School is good. I can understand my science classes which is really nice. Thank you science world for making translating easy! The challenging classes are history and Italian. Makes sense right? My Italian teacher, gave me a work book last week for learning Italian! I'm so thankful she wants to help. I've started working in it and that plus talking, I can tell that I'm learning a lot. Watching TV helps too. So far my favorite shows have become The OC, some South American teen shows and Once Upon a Time. (Though, I already love that show.)
Saturday, I got to miss school and I went to Grado for the triathlon. It was amazing! I've never been so impressed. It was truly amazing to see how driven the athletes are. Plus they have amazing stamina to do 3 events back to back. While in Grado, I got to hang out with Vicki, a girl from my training, and walk around enjoying the beach. There's a picture of me handing the first place women finisher her shell medal. I don't have it but I'll put it up when I do. We went back on Sunday for the end of summer festival. That was pretty cool too.
School these past two days has been good. I was invited yesterday to go get Chinese with some kids from my class on Saturday so I might take them up on the offer. Then today, a girl in my class named Julia asked if I wanted to join her and her friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. You're probably thinking the Internet game. Nope! It's a writing thing where we can create our own stories. I was so happy! Not only is it a great way to get to know more people, it's the perfect way to practice my Italian. Everyone here is so helpful in that way. They always ask, can you understand this? And if not, they say it in a simpler version. Plus they bear with my really slow Italian and correct me when it's not right. I'm so happy that they're helping me in anyway they can.
Today, I finally got to go into a bookstore. I ordered City of Bones in Italian to start reading. I love it in English and I know it pretty well so I hope I can understand it in Italian. I guess, I'm just hungry to keep learning.
So I've figured out why they call it the Rotary 15. If you don't know how to speak the language then when dinner time comes around, you don't know how to say you've had enough. Hence more weight is gained that way. Plus the food here is really good! Not to mention the chocolate. I've had Kinder once or twice in the States but here, chocolate just tastes better. Yesterday, I had sweet bread which is bread with raisins in it. Add nutella and you have the best combination ever!
Sunday, I'm going bowling with both of my host families so I hope that goes well! Ciao!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
School
Yes, I know, I suck at updating my blog. But look at it this way, if I'm not updating my blog then I must be having fun, right?
I had my first day of school on Monday. I woke up around 7:15, showered, had breakfast and then rushed out the door by 8:10. School started at 8:20 but we had to find my class and everything. We made it to school and to say the least, I was a nervous wreck! I didn't know anyone, I speak enough Italian to get by but otherwise I was on my own. Claudia helped me find my class and once we got there, she started talking with the teacher (who's the wife of Nicola's basket coach) while I stood awkwardly in the doorway. After a few minutes, she motioned for me to come in, where I stood in front of the class, told them where I was from and then she started asking who spoke the best English. Thank God, a boy named Beudine (screwed that name up) knows English pretty well so he became my buddy.
In school, we all stay in the same class while the teachers make their rotations. My classes include: Anatomy, English, Italian, Math, History, Physics, Organic Chem, regular Chem, Religion (Also my free period since I'm not religious), and Gym. Each day our classes change order so I have different classes on Mondays than say Wednesdays. I get out around 1 each day except Tuesdays and Saturdays when I get out at noon. I'm supposed to have another class but we're not sure what that class will be.
Today, I did get to go running with the triathlon club. We did a Fartlec and it felt like good ol' cross country practice. The coach is awesome and the 4 other people on the team are amazing. The coach wants me to start coming to their swim and bike workouts so I might start doing that. Anything that keeps me in shape here.
So what about that camp last week? It was soooo much fun. We went to Trieste, Udine, Venice, Grado, a beach, a chair factory and an air force base. So in all, I learned a lot and I had a lot of fun.
I'll update at the end of this week to give the load down on how my first week of school was. Ciao!
Monday, September 3, 2012
First week: Gone like the Flash
Well last night was completed my first week in Italy! It's gone by so fast. It hasn't hit me that I'm staying here for a year. Weird but I know it will or it should. I think?
Friday night dinner with Anna and Diego was pretty good. We had pizza and Claudia made about 5. I had a slice of each. Hello Rotary 15. We watched an Italian film and even though for about 3/4 of the movie I had no idea what was going on, it was pretty cute.
Saturday was a lazy day. I finished my first impressions report (turns out it's not due for another 3 weeks. Now my next report is due in October! Woohoo, break!) and just lazed around. Then Claudia, Nicola, Carla and I went into Gorizia to do some stuff before we went out to dinner. At dinner, I met a ton of people. Like 12. A lot of people sitting at a table. We had pizza that night too. My pizza was the size of my dinner plate! And it was all for me! Also, Italians don't eat pizza like we do with our hands. They cut it up. Needless to say, I looked like a 6 year old. Plus there was this cute guy sitting across from me watching me have trouble cut my pizza and then stuff the rather large slice into my mouth. Then he goes, cuts his pizza and eats it like a normal person. Oh well, too late to turn back, is what I thought. I also think I involuntarily signed myself up for a triathlon club. So, we were talking and the girl was saying how she was the only girl on the running team and I pipe up, "I'd love to run with the team!" Then later on they were talking about a race they had on Sunday and I asked, "What's the distance?" Thinking, it's a regular 5k cross race. No, 2k run, 250 meter swim and 10k bike. A triathlon. The team is a triathlon team. Time to learn how to swim well and bike well. It'll keep me busy though.
Yesterday, I went to camp. I know I said language camp but it's really just a summer camp. We're touring north Italy for the week and I'm with 7 others in my group. Two of them are full time exchangers, one from India, one from Australia and the rest are just here for the camp. It's a pretty awesome group though. Plus I can practice my Italian with the vendors and translate for everyone. The girl from Australia has been in Trieste for the past 7 months and is completely fluent even though she came here knowing not a word. Good sign for me I hope.We're in Corovado and there was a Renaissance festival going on. My first Renaissance festival and it's in Italy! How awesome is that? So I got to walk around with the other kids and watch the parade go around and watch some of the games. A little background: The town has four sections and where we were, we were gold and black. In each game/competition who ever won got points. The games have been going on for the past week. So last night at 8:30, the lady who we were with screams, "We won!" It was pretty cool. I think they all partied hard into the night. I left at 11:20 and they were still going at it.
Today, we went to Trieste. We rode the train. A train, yes, a good old train! And we went to a castle that was Maximilian and his wife, Catherine's house. (Maximilian was the emperor of Mexico way back when. To say the least, I want to live there. It was so cool but we couldn't take pictures so I'm happy with my memories. Then in the afternoon we went to another castle and the main church of Trieste. I freakin love castles now. Here they're amazing and I think living in one of them with your knight in shinning armor is the way to go.
I had the biggest gelato today. I split it with two others in my group. It had peach slices and all these magnificent gelato flavors in it. Yeah, I'm pretty happy.
Tomorrow we go to Udine for an air show and then the next day we're in Venice! Venice! The place of my dreams. I can't wait for it. Then we spend the next two days at the beach and then I'm back home, preparing for my first day of school on Monday.
Friday night dinner with Anna and Diego was pretty good. We had pizza and Claudia made about 5. I had a slice of each. Hello Rotary 15. We watched an Italian film and even though for about 3/4 of the movie I had no idea what was going on, it was pretty cute.
Saturday was a lazy day. I finished my first impressions report (turns out it's not due for another 3 weeks. Now my next report is due in October! Woohoo, break!) and just lazed around. Then Claudia, Nicola, Carla and I went into Gorizia to do some stuff before we went out to dinner. At dinner, I met a ton of people. Like 12. A lot of people sitting at a table. We had pizza that night too. My pizza was the size of my dinner plate! And it was all for me! Also, Italians don't eat pizza like we do with our hands. They cut it up. Needless to say, I looked like a 6 year old. Plus there was this cute guy sitting across from me watching me have trouble cut my pizza and then stuff the rather large slice into my mouth. Then he goes, cuts his pizza and eats it like a normal person. Oh well, too late to turn back, is what I thought. I also think I involuntarily signed myself up for a triathlon club. So, we were talking and the girl was saying how she was the only girl on the running team and I pipe up, "I'd love to run with the team!" Then later on they were talking about a race they had on Sunday and I asked, "What's the distance?" Thinking, it's a regular 5k cross race. No, 2k run, 250 meter swim and 10k bike. A triathlon. The team is a triathlon team. Time to learn how to swim well and bike well. It'll keep me busy though.
Yesterday, I went to camp. I know I said language camp but it's really just a summer camp. We're touring north Italy for the week and I'm with 7 others in my group. Two of them are full time exchangers, one from India, one from Australia and the rest are just here for the camp. It's a pretty awesome group though. Plus I can practice my Italian with the vendors and translate for everyone. The girl from Australia has been in Trieste for the past 7 months and is completely fluent even though she came here knowing not a word. Good sign for me I hope.We're in Corovado and there was a Renaissance festival going on. My first Renaissance festival and it's in Italy! How awesome is that? So I got to walk around with the other kids and watch the parade go around and watch some of the games. A little background: The town has four sections and where we were, we were gold and black. In each game/competition who ever won got points. The games have been going on for the past week. So last night at 8:30, the lady who we were with screams, "We won!" It was pretty cool. I think they all partied hard into the night. I left at 11:20 and they were still going at it.
Today, we went to Trieste. We rode the train. A train, yes, a good old train! And we went to a castle that was Maximilian and his wife, Catherine's house. (Maximilian was the emperor of Mexico way back when. To say the least, I want to live there. It was so cool but we couldn't take pictures so I'm happy with my memories. Then in the afternoon we went to another castle and the main church of Trieste. I freakin love castles now. Here they're amazing and I think living in one of them with your knight in shinning armor is the way to go.
I had the biggest gelato today. I split it with two others in my group. It had peach slices and all these magnificent gelato flavors in it. Yeah, I'm pretty happy.
Tomorrow we go to Udine for an air show and then the next day we're in Venice! Venice! The place of my dreams. I can't wait for it. Then we spend the next two days at the beach and then I'm back home, preparing for my first day of school on Monday.
Friday, August 31, 2012
First Impressions
It's my 5th day here and it's still amazing! In the past few days, I've gone to the beach, a music festival, around San Floriano and into Gorizia. I've met a lot of Sara's friends whom all seem really nice.
Yesterday, I went to the beach with Marco, Claudia and Carla. I lost count after 15 of all the men in speedos. (This includes Marco) Way different from America where the guys wear shorts down to their knees. There were beach vendors selling anything from jewelry to sunglasses. I've never seen anything like it before. Plus the beach wasn't sand, it was rock! But in any case, the water was warm and I swam for a good hour. Then Carla and I went down to the marina and just hung out there. I had my first taste of real Italian calamari. Much better than the calamari in Vail only because it was fresh and it wasn't rubbery.
I've been invited to a birthday party today. It's a friend of Liza (who I met the other day) and she went on exchange to America so we should be able to talk. I hope that I can make quick friends here as long as they have the patience to deal with my broken Italian.
Last night, we went to a music festival at the local pool. I have never been in a place so loud and in the open (minus the speedway). Everyone was talking and there were singers singing. I met a lot of Sara's and Nicola's friends. I was really quiet because, well, I can't talk really well. So instead I listen to the music and I had this really nice chat with this older women about exchange. It turns out her two sons live in Brazil and America. Even though her English wasn't great and my Italian wasn't great we still got a long pretty well. I think that's it with exchange, as long as your open and you try your hardest with the language, it goes pretty well.
Each day, I learn more and more. It's been difficult but it's worth it. Tonight, Sara's best friends, Anna and Diego are coming over for dinner. I think it will go well.
And as promised, photos for your enjoyment.
Yesterday, I went to the beach with Marco, Claudia and Carla. I lost count after 15 of all the men in speedos. (This includes Marco) Way different from America where the guys wear shorts down to their knees. There were beach vendors selling anything from jewelry to sunglasses. I've never seen anything like it before. Plus the beach wasn't sand, it was rock! But in any case, the water was warm and I swam for a good hour. Then Carla and I went down to the marina and just hung out there. I had my first taste of real Italian calamari. Much better than the calamari in Vail only because it was fresh and it wasn't rubbery.
I've been invited to a birthday party today. It's a friend of Liza (who I met the other day) and she went on exchange to America so we should be able to talk. I hope that I can make quick friends here as long as they have the patience to deal with my broken Italian.
Last night, we went to a music festival at the local pool. I have never been in a place so loud and in the open (minus the speedway). Everyone was talking and there were singers singing. I met a lot of Sara's and Nicola's friends. I was really quiet because, well, I can't talk really well. So instead I listen to the music and I had this really nice chat with this older women about exchange. It turns out her two sons live in Brazil and America. Even though her English wasn't great and my Italian wasn't great we still got a long pretty well. I think that's it with exchange, as long as your open and you try your hardest with the language, it goes pretty well.
Each day, I learn more and more. It's been difficult but it's worth it. Tonight, Sara's best friends, Anna and Diego are coming over for dinner. I think it will go well.
And as promised, photos for your enjoyment.
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| My host sister and I |
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| The view from my room |
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| View from up at the top of San Floriano |
Monday, August 27, 2012
Here! Qui!
I'm finally in Italy!!!! After all these months of waiting and dreaming here I am. It was nothing like I expected it to be. It's a land trapped in time and everyone is so nice. They even say ciao to each other in the street. Either Gorizia is really small or it's just the Italian way of life. Anyways, I love it.
My travel to Italy was surprisingly eventful. I left Denver at 6 PM and on the flight I was served dinner (rather good for airplane food) and I was able to watch a bit of "The Avengers" and all of "The Hunger Games"! Plus it was free. I don't remember if I slept. It's like being on a bus to a cross country meet. You close your eyes and you know that your moving but you still get enough rest to be able to run at the meet. That's how I felt. We arrived in Frankfurt at 11am (5 am Denver time) and I had two hours to catch my flight to Munich. Here's the thing; I had to get my passport checked and then go through a security line. Gah!
By the end of that I had an hour so I went to get a calling card. I got the 10 euro card for free. Story goes I walk into the bookstore and I ask the guy if he sells calling cards. He says yes and then goes onto tell me this guy bought the calling card then decided he didn't want it and gave it back. So I ended up with a free calling card. Sweet!
I then go to my gate, look up and see it's not the right name on the gate. I ask the person at the desk and he says "Oh it was changed to gate A18, don't worry you have half an hour." I end up half running/jogging to my gate because it's about a quarter of the way down the terminal. I get there, sit, drink some coke while the kid across from me (he looked about 16) drinks a beer. Oh Europe.
Plane from Frankfurt to Munich is an hour so I finished my book and then at the airport I walked around a bit. European airports are like malls back home. There are so many shops! And good, nice shops. I pretty much steered clear away from those. Again I found out my flight changed gates and that it was leaving later so I had a nice conversation with a guy from outside of Boston.
The plane to Trieste was like a plane from Denver to Eagle. Short, bumpy and boring. I read Into The Wild so I could try to escape. Ended up having a short conversation with the guy next to me from Belgium going to Udine for a chem conference.
Then we got there. I was so ready to meet everyone. Then my bag never showed up. Here I am, almost zombie like, pulling out my phrase book to tell the lost luggage people, "Il mio bagaglio รจ stato perso." Waiting in line, I'm near tears because I just want to know where my bag is and get a hug. Right as I get up, a group holding a UMN sign come up and there like are you with us. No sorry, Rotary. Then a women and girl come up and the women says "Annie?" I just about lost it there. Claudia, super host mom to the rescue with side kick/host sister Carla. She helped me figure out the luggage problem. (It was still in Munich) Meanwhile another older women whom I didn't know comes up, hugs me and gives me dried lavender. I assumed her to be my host nonna. (grandmother) Nope turns out she's my tutor's wife, Annamaria. Still, she has that nonna vibe. I think it's great.
Once everything was sorted out, I went out the doors from baggage claim and met my host father, Marco, host brother, Nicola, tutor, Luigi and my second host parents. (I regret to inform you that in the heat of the moment, I forgot their names.) Then I got to go home. My host family owns a Fiat and that makes me so happy! It was pouring outside, Claudia said it was the worst storm of the summer but the rain is much needed. My mouth from the time I got off the plane to the time I went to bed was in a constant state of a gap. It was amazing! Even in the dark and rain, it was amazing. I was able to talk in a bit of Italian with everyone and I've been getting most of it. I just need to pay attention really well.
I have my own bedroom, over looking vineyards and the house is so old. It's sooooooo cool! I was never able to imagine my house and here it is exceeding expectation. The mountains next to us, yeah, that's Slovenia. Talk about close.
Today, I was able to get my suitcase and unpack. They say don't over pack, I think I under packed. Oh well, I guess now I have to go shopping. (Not bad at all) Plus I went to the store today and in the deli they cut the meat right in front of you and they have the bread out and when the guy put the tongs on it to pick it up, you could hear it crunch! Ahhh! We stopped by Nicola's basketball practice and I got to meet one of Sara's (their oldest daughter who's in Iowa right now on exchange) friends. Afterwords, Marco and Claudia took me into Gorizia this evening and I had my first taste of gelato. (Strawberry) There was a concert going on in the park so we listen to that for a few minutes and then we walk all around town. I got to meet a lot of their and Nicola's friends. So many. Then we went to Marco's brother's house and I got my first impression of what it's like to be an exchange student. Talking slowly and loudly in English doesn't help me. Talking slowly in Italian will help me.
Well, I had my first "I'm an American and I don't know how this works" moment. It was with.... the toilet. I didn't know how to flush it. So I went with what I did in the airport and pushed the button above it and... it flushed!!!! Now, to figure out the shower.
Tomorrow is Marco's birthday. I have no idea what to expect. I did bring him a gift though so hopefully it goes well. I'm also going on a run tomorrow around San Floriano. Nicola says it's about 3 k or 2 miles. Just have to deal with the hills.
There's no Internet on my laptop so I'm using Nicola's. I don't know when I'll have time to write now so I'll try to keep it as updated as I can. No promises.
My travel to Italy was surprisingly eventful. I left Denver at 6 PM and on the flight I was served dinner (rather good for airplane food) and I was able to watch a bit of "The Avengers" and all of "The Hunger Games"! Plus it was free. I don't remember if I slept. It's like being on a bus to a cross country meet. You close your eyes and you know that your moving but you still get enough rest to be able to run at the meet. That's how I felt. We arrived in Frankfurt at 11am (5 am Denver time) and I had two hours to catch my flight to Munich. Here's the thing; I had to get my passport checked and then go through a security line. Gah!
By the end of that I had an hour so I went to get a calling card. I got the 10 euro card for free. Story goes I walk into the bookstore and I ask the guy if he sells calling cards. He says yes and then goes onto tell me this guy bought the calling card then decided he didn't want it and gave it back. So I ended up with a free calling card. Sweet!
I then go to my gate, look up and see it's not the right name on the gate. I ask the person at the desk and he says "Oh it was changed to gate A18, don't worry you have half an hour." I end up half running/jogging to my gate because it's about a quarter of the way down the terminal. I get there, sit, drink some coke while the kid across from me (he looked about 16) drinks a beer. Oh Europe.
Plane from Frankfurt to Munich is an hour so I finished my book and then at the airport I walked around a bit. European airports are like malls back home. There are so many shops! And good, nice shops. I pretty much steered clear away from those. Again I found out my flight changed gates and that it was leaving later so I had a nice conversation with a guy from outside of Boston.
The plane to Trieste was like a plane from Denver to Eagle. Short, bumpy and boring. I read Into The Wild so I could try to escape. Ended up having a short conversation with the guy next to me from Belgium going to Udine for a chem conference.
Then we got there. I was so ready to meet everyone. Then my bag never showed up. Here I am, almost zombie like, pulling out my phrase book to tell the lost luggage people, "Il mio bagaglio รจ stato perso." Waiting in line, I'm near tears because I just want to know where my bag is and get a hug. Right as I get up, a group holding a UMN sign come up and there like are you with us. No sorry, Rotary. Then a women and girl come up and the women says "Annie?" I just about lost it there. Claudia, super host mom to the rescue with side kick/host sister Carla. She helped me figure out the luggage problem. (It was still in Munich) Meanwhile another older women whom I didn't know comes up, hugs me and gives me dried lavender. I assumed her to be my host nonna. (grandmother) Nope turns out she's my tutor's wife, Annamaria. Still, she has that nonna vibe. I think it's great.
Once everything was sorted out, I went out the doors from baggage claim and met my host father, Marco, host brother, Nicola, tutor, Luigi and my second host parents. (I regret to inform you that in the heat of the moment, I forgot their names.) Then I got to go home. My host family owns a Fiat and that makes me so happy! It was pouring outside, Claudia said it was the worst storm of the summer but the rain is much needed. My mouth from the time I got off the plane to the time I went to bed was in a constant state of a gap. It was amazing! Even in the dark and rain, it was amazing. I was able to talk in a bit of Italian with everyone and I've been getting most of it. I just need to pay attention really well.
I have my own bedroom, over looking vineyards and the house is so old. It's sooooooo cool! I was never able to imagine my house and here it is exceeding expectation. The mountains next to us, yeah, that's Slovenia. Talk about close.
Today, I was able to get my suitcase and unpack. They say don't over pack, I think I under packed. Oh well, I guess now I have to go shopping. (Not bad at all) Plus I went to the store today and in the deli they cut the meat right in front of you and they have the bread out and when the guy put the tongs on it to pick it up, you could hear it crunch! Ahhh! We stopped by Nicola's basketball practice and I got to meet one of Sara's (their oldest daughter who's in Iowa right now on exchange) friends. Afterwords, Marco and Claudia took me into Gorizia this evening and I had my first taste of gelato. (Strawberry) There was a concert going on in the park so we listen to that for a few minutes and then we walk all around town. I got to meet a lot of their and Nicola's friends. So many. Then we went to Marco's brother's house and I got my first impression of what it's like to be an exchange student. Talking slowly and loudly in English doesn't help me. Talking slowly in Italian will help me.
Well, I had my first "I'm an American and I don't know how this works" moment. It was with.... the toilet. I didn't know how to flush it. So I went with what I did in the airport and pushed the button above it and... it flushed!!!! Now, to figure out the shower.
Tomorrow is Marco's birthday. I have no idea what to expect. I did bring him a gift though so hopefully it goes well. I'm also going on a run tomorrow around San Floriano. Nicola says it's about 3 k or 2 miles. Just have to deal with the hills.
There's no Internet on my laptop so I'm using Nicola's. I don't know when I'll have time to write now so I'll try to keep it as updated as I can. No promises.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Last Day
Tomorrow I leave for Italy. I will get on a plane at 5:50 PM for 10 hours until I land in Frankfurt. Then I spend 2 hours in Frankfurt and fly to Munich for a 3 hour layover and then finally I reach Trieste around 6:25.
I'm all packed. (Minus socks and bath stuff) My bag weighs only 35 pounds so I still have 15 pounds of room. The only problem? I have no room left in my bag. I'm only taking my suitcase and my backpack. I might take my shoulder bag but that's only if I need it.
Today has seemed like a dream. It's really hard to wrap my mind around that I'm leaving for a year and won't see this place for a year. I won't see my friends for a year and I won't know what's going on in the valley. Weird.
I don't know when I'll have time to write once I get there. I hope that I don't because that means that I'm rather busy. That's what I want to be. Very busy so I can focus on the important things.
The good thing is that my awesome aunt gave me a journal. I only started journaling when I went into the backcountry and I'm glad I can journal now. It means that I can relay the day's events onto paper and then onto this blog. Yey!
Pictures to come soon.
Ciao!
I'm all packed. (Minus socks and bath stuff) My bag weighs only 35 pounds so I still have 15 pounds of room. The only problem? I have no room left in my bag. I'm only taking my suitcase and my backpack. I might take my shoulder bag but that's only if I need it.
Today has seemed like a dream. It's really hard to wrap my mind around that I'm leaving for a year and won't see this place for a year. I won't see my friends for a year and I won't know what's going on in the valley. Weird.
I don't know when I'll have time to write once I get there. I hope that I don't because that means that I'm rather busy. That's what I want to be. Very busy so I can focus on the important things.
The good thing is that my awesome aunt gave me a journal. I only started journaling when I went into the backcountry and I'm glad I can journal now. It means that I can relay the day's events onto paper and then onto this blog. Yey!
Pictures to come soon.
Ciao!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Departure Looms
Well I just spent about 3 weeks in the Wyoming back country away from all contact. Right as I got back, I learned that I will be leaving two weeks from today. I leave August 25 and arrive in Trieste August 26.
I can't believe that this summer has gone so quickly! Now, in these next two weeks I have to pack and get everything in order before leaving. The heat is on! I will be constantly going from appointment to appointment to cross country practice starting Monday. Eep!
I can't believe that this summer has gone so quickly! Now, in these next two weeks I have to pack and get everything in order before leaving. The heat is on! I will be constantly going from appointment to appointment to cross country practice starting Monday. Eep!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Visa: Paperwork, Interview, and more Paperwork
Ciao everyone!
Tomorrow, I'll be flying to Chicago to get my visa for Italy. We wanted to go to Denver for it but the consulate was banned for some odd reason. So instead, I'm off to Chicago for some fun. :)
Visas include; a ton of paperwork, making an appointment with the consulate, an interview and my parents signing a piece of paper saying they grand me permission to go on this wonderful exchange. I think the interview is just so the Italian government knows they're giving a visa to a responsible young adult, not some teenage vagabond. I have no idea what I'm going to be asked in the interview. The one thing I do know is that I do have to wear my blazer. Apparently, my blazer will get me moved up in the line and everything will go quicker. (Crossing Fingers!)
The good thing about my visa is that once all the signatures are filled, the travel company will book my flight and then I will know when I leave for San Floriano Del Collio. Then the real adventure will start!
Ciao!
Tomorrow, I'll be flying to Chicago to get my visa for Italy. We wanted to go to Denver for it but the consulate was banned for some odd reason. So instead, I'm off to Chicago for some fun. :)
Visas include; a ton of paperwork, making an appointment with the consulate, an interview and my parents signing a piece of paper saying they grand me permission to go on this wonderful exchange. I think the interview is just so the Italian government knows they're giving a visa to a responsible young adult, not some teenage vagabond. I have no idea what I'm going to be asked in the interview. The one thing I do know is that I do have to wear my blazer. Apparently, my blazer will get me moved up in the line and everything will go quicker. (Crossing Fingers!)
The good thing about my visa is that once all the signatures are filled, the travel company will book my flight and then I will know when I leave for San Floriano Del Collio. Then the real adventure will start!
Ciao!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
New Adventures
Ciao! I've never blogged before and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. So instead, I'll start at the beginning.
Last September, I decided that I wanted to go on exchange. Didn't know where or with what program. So I went to the Edwards Rotary and said, "I want to go on exchange, can you help me?" They gave me a 13 paged packet for Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) that I had to fill out. It included a letter I had to write, introducing myself and why I wanted to go on exchange. (You learn a lot about yourself in those kind of letters.) Then I went to an interview. Plain, simple, 43 minute interview. By the end, I was feeling like the Edwards Rotary would sponsor me and let me go to the BIG 5470 district interview. The next week, I'm told, 'Sure we'll sponsor you. Now go make us proud at the interview weekend in December.'
The end of November rolls around and my family is helping prepare me for my interview. It was awesome to know that they were behind me and supported my choice, even though I didn't know if I was going to be selected to go or not. Then comes the big day, December 4th. My mom picked me up early from school and we drove down to Grand Junction. I enter the hotel where everyone is staying and I honestly wanted to run back out to the car. It was so overwhelming! But instead I went up to the check in and introduced myself like an adult. I wanted this and I had to act the part. That first night, all 32 candidates met and we learned what the weekend was going to be like. The next day, I had one interview while my mom had another. While I waited for my interview, I went around all these different stations where all the countries we could go to were around us. Mostly, I stuck around Germany, Italy and Austria. After a while I was called for my interview. Trust me, it was stressful. It wasn't easy like the one I had with the Edwards Rotary. 4 people interviewed me that day and they asked some difficult questions. (e.g: What was the most difficult thing you've gone through? What do you regret in life?) After a half hour, they let me go and the rest of the day consisted of fun games and situations. That night we were given a sheet of paper and asked put the top 4 countries you want to go to. My mom and I talked for about 3 hours and I called my dad and we talked for an hour. Before I went to bed that night I put down; Italy, Austria, Germany and Denmark. On Sunday, I had one more interview with 4 more Rotarians and then I left. I didn't know if I was going to be one of those lucky 28 students going on exchange or not. It was just kind of up in the air.
2 weeks later, I got home from work and among a letter from a friend, and a DU packet was my letter deciding my fate for the 2012/2013 school year. I was so scared to open it, I read my friend's letter first and I was about to open the DU packet when my dad told me to just put my fear aside and open the letter. The funny thing is, I didn't read through the whole letter. The only three words that jumped out were Congrats, Exchange and Italy! It took me about 20 minutes to calm down and read the whole letter. By then, I was crying a bit.
At the start of March, I went down to Colorado Springs for orientation. There I met the rest of the students going on exchange and we learned the ropes of being an exchange student. The weekend was filled with information, (It was like being in school!) and it was exciting. By the end of the weekend, I knew what was going to happen and I received my blazer for exchange. (Must be worn at all times in the airport and at Rotary meetings!)
In May, I learned about my first host family, the Braidas, and where I would be staying in Italy. Marco and Claudia will be my host parents and Nicola, is my host brother along with Carla, my host sister. I've only talked with Claudia but they seem really cool. The place in Italy, I'll be living in for 11 months is called San Floriano Del Collio. It's a small village (800 people!) out side of Gorizia which is on the Italy/Slovenia boarder. I started to dream about what exchange was going to be like and how I would survive but it's just been a blast so far!
Now I'm dealing with all my visa paperwork and next week, I'll be going to Chicago to another interview for my visa. It's been crazy trying to get all the paperwork right but after next week, I should know when I leave for Italy.
Ciao for now!
Last September, I decided that I wanted to go on exchange. Didn't know where or with what program. So I went to the Edwards Rotary and said, "I want to go on exchange, can you help me?" They gave me a 13 paged packet for Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) that I had to fill out. It included a letter I had to write, introducing myself and why I wanted to go on exchange. (You learn a lot about yourself in those kind of letters.) Then I went to an interview. Plain, simple, 43 minute interview. By the end, I was feeling like the Edwards Rotary would sponsor me and let me go to the BIG 5470 district interview. The next week, I'm told, 'Sure we'll sponsor you. Now go make us proud at the interview weekend in December.'
The end of November rolls around and my family is helping prepare me for my interview. It was awesome to know that they were behind me and supported my choice, even though I didn't know if I was going to be selected to go or not. Then comes the big day, December 4th. My mom picked me up early from school and we drove down to Grand Junction. I enter the hotel where everyone is staying and I honestly wanted to run back out to the car. It was so overwhelming! But instead I went up to the check in and introduced myself like an adult. I wanted this and I had to act the part. That first night, all 32 candidates met and we learned what the weekend was going to be like. The next day, I had one interview while my mom had another. While I waited for my interview, I went around all these different stations where all the countries we could go to were around us. Mostly, I stuck around Germany, Italy and Austria. After a while I was called for my interview. Trust me, it was stressful. It wasn't easy like the one I had with the Edwards Rotary. 4 people interviewed me that day and they asked some difficult questions. (e.g: What was the most difficult thing you've gone through? What do you regret in life?) After a half hour, they let me go and the rest of the day consisted of fun games and situations. That night we were given a sheet of paper and asked put the top 4 countries you want to go to. My mom and I talked for about 3 hours and I called my dad and we talked for an hour. Before I went to bed that night I put down; Italy, Austria, Germany and Denmark. On Sunday, I had one more interview with 4 more Rotarians and then I left. I didn't know if I was going to be one of those lucky 28 students going on exchange or not. It was just kind of up in the air.
2 weeks later, I got home from work and among a letter from a friend, and a DU packet was my letter deciding my fate for the 2012/2013 school year. I was so scared to open it, I read my friend's letter first and I was about to open the DU packet when my dad told me to just put my fear aside and open the letter. The funny thing is, I didn't read through the whole letter. The only three words that jumped out were Congrats, Exchange and Italy! It took me about 20 minutes to calm down and read the whole letter. By then, I was crying a bit.
At the start of March, I went down to Colorado Springs for orientation. There I met the rest of the students going on exchange and we learned the ropes of being an exchange student. The weekend was filled with information, (It was like being in school!) and it was exciting. By the end of the weekend, I knew what was going to happen and I received my blazer for exchange. (Must be worn at all times in the airport and at Rotary meetings!)
In May, I learned about my first host family, the Braidas, and where I would be staying in Italy. Marco and Claudia will be my host parents and Nicola, is my host brother along with Carla, my host sister. I've only talked with Claudia but they seem really cool. The place in Italy, I'll be living in for 11 months is called San Floriano Del Collio. It's a small village (800 people!) out side of Gorizia which is on the Italy/Slovenia boarder. I started to dream about what exchange was going to be like and how I would survive but it's just been a blast so far!
Now I'm dealing with all my visa paperwork and next week, I'll be going to Chicago to another interview for my visa. It's been crazy trying to get all the paperwork right but after next week, I should know when I leave for Italy.
Ciao for now!
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