Ciao!
today was my last day of school for this year!!!! and we did absolutely nothing!!!
oh wait that's not totally true.. we had a party and sang christmas songs all day!!!
one of my favorite christmas songs in italian is:
Auguri di Buon Natale
Auguri di Buon Natale
Auguri di Buon Natale
e Felice Anno Nuovo!!!
the translation to english isn't exactly the same, but it's the song:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!!!
i don't start school again till January 7th!! so I have a little more than 2 weeks vacation.. but I have homework.. math, spanish, and a little italian... oh well... I have a lot of spanish homework, because I just got my book this past week.. so I have to make up chapters 1-6 :( and memorize a dialogue in spanish... :( oh well it's CHRISTMAS!!!
Merry Christmas to all!!!!! and a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ciao for now,
Heather
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Pictures from Austria
1 2 3
4 5
1: I took this picture while in the car. I really like it, because you can see the fog among the mountains
1: I took this picture while in the car. I really like it, because you can see the fog among the mountains
2: A picture I took of snow covered mountains. In reality, no pictures or words could ever describe the beauty of snow covered mountains!
3: You may say the New York pretzel is the best, but you must try the "bretzel"!! It is really good!! (a breztel is a pretzel)
4: A picture of a sign I took, because it's in German
5: A picture of my host sister and me.
Trips/ News about my life!
Again, I am sorry...
Trips:
- This past saturday night (dec 6) I went with my family to a town farther north than here, and slept there for the night. Then on sunday, I went to Austria for the day!! that was cool! I will post some pics shortly..
- This coming sunday, I believe I am going to Slovenia for the day. That should be interesting!
- At the end of January, I am going skiing for what the Italians call "una settimana bianca" (a white week- skiing for a week). As I have never been skiing before, I am looking forward to that (and afraid..haha) !!!!!!
- In the middle of March, I am going to Monaco, Germany for a week. My class takes a trip every year to a country of which they are studying the language, this year it is Germany.
- And I'm not sure but I might be going to Kroatia and Rome with my family.. I hope so, that would be so fun!!
News:
- Other than all of those trips, my life has become pretty normal. I get up, eat, go to school, come home, eat, study Italian/do homework/watch tv, eat, go to bed... That is basically my life here in Italy.
- Also, we set up our Christmas tree yesterday. My family has used the same one for the past three years, because they are growing it themselves...
- I am teaching myself how to play the piano and read music..
- And my Italian is coming along pretty well...
Hopefully I won't forget to update this again....
Ciao for now!
-Heather
Trips:
- This past saturday night (dec 6) I went with my family to a town farther north than here, and slept there for the night. Then on sunday, I went to Austria for the day!! that was cool! I will post some pics shortly..
- This coming sunday, I believe I am going to Slovenia for the day. That should be interesting!
- At the end of January, I am going skiing for what the Italians call "una settimana bianca" (a white week- skiing for a week). As I have never been skiing before, I am looking forward to that (and afraid..haha) !!!!!!
- In the middle of March, I am going to Monaco, Germany for a week. My class takes a trip every year to a country of which they are studying the language, this year it is Germany.
- And I'm not sure but I might be going to Kroatia and Rome with my family.. I hope so, that would be so fun!!
News:
- Other than all of those trips, my life has become pretty normal. I get up, eat, go to school, come home, eat, study Italian/do homework/watch tv, eat, go to bed... That is basically my life here in Italy.
- Also, we set up our Christmas tree yesterday. My family has used the same one for the past three years, because they are growing it themselves...
- I am teaching myself how to play the piano and read music..
- And my Italian is coming along pretty well...
Hopefully I won't forget to update this again....
Ciao for now!
-Heather
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
An Update...
Sorry it's been so long... i will hopefully put up some more pictures soon.. my italian is coming along pretty well.. this friday will be exactly 2 months since i got to my host families house.. so ive got about 8 months left.. i should be pretty fluent in italian by then :)
school is... well its going now.. last week i barely went to school.. monday i went but the kids were occupying the school, not letting any teachers in.. so we didnt have any classes... and then the kids slept in the school and occupied it until thursday.. so no school tuesday or wednesday.. then thursday was a general strike including teachers and students... so i didnt go to school.. then i went to school friday but kids were still occupying the school... which i guess the teachers could call the police this time.. so they threatened the kids.. and so after about and hour and a half we started to have classes.. then no school on saturday cause it was a holiday.... so i basically had a week vacation, that wasnt planned....
my schedule is halfway done.. just waiting for a final copy.. so thats good news.. i have half my books.. so im getting places now..
ill try to updated this again soon and more...
Ciao for now!
school is... well its going now.. last week i barely went to school.. monday i went but the kids were occupying the school, not letting any teachers in.. so we didnt have any classes... and then the kids slept in the school and occupied it until thursday.. so no school tuesday or wednesday.. then thursday was a general strike including teachers and students... so i didnt go to school.. then i went to school friday but kids were still occupying the school... which i guess the teachers could call the police this time.. so they threatened the kids.. and so after about and hour and a half we started to have classes.. then no school on saturday cause it was a holiday.... so i basically had a week vacation, that wasnt planned....
my schedule is halfway done.. just waiting for a final copy.. so thats good news.. i have half my books.. so im getting places now..
ill try to updated this again soon and more...
Ciao for now!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The gateway to understanding the Italian mind
Italian Schools: The gateway to understanding the Italian mind
September 15th was my first day at an Italian school. And now I realize why AFS is an advocate of the phrase, "It's not good, it's not bad...it's just different."
Monday, I come to school and am put in a 3rd year class. Incidentally, in Italy students do not change classes. We stay put and the teachers change. And most of the time, the teachers are tardy...by a good 5-10 minutes. Being here for now 1 month, I can honestly say that the importance of punctuality is a big cultural difference.
It's nothing personal, it's just their way.
And as different as the culture here is, it is very interesting to discover that people all over the world are the same. We have our class clowns, our jerk clowns, the boys that should be supermodels, the painfully artsy crowd, the self-imposed punks, the brown-nosers, the over-opinionated, and the ever-naive freshman...or in this case, 8th graders who also attend ITAS Gabriele D'Annunzio. This school, however, is different because everyone attempts to form cliques but ends up hanging out with each other. They like each other, despite forced differences. And this is evident, as they reconvene daily in the bathroom to share a cigarette during the 10-minute (but in actuality, 15-20 minute) break between 3rd and 4th period.
Another thing about Italians is that they love greeting each other (well atleast people they know). But once again, it's nothing personal. They just enjoy having an excuse to hug and kiss. Point blank: Italians like to "be friendly". And yet, if they don't know you; they won't even acknowledge you, smile, say hi, or anything. It's nothing personal, it's just their way.
I was told that Italian schools would be difficult and that I would have to study for 5-6 hours a day. This was a lie. Italian school is not difficult. The teachers just don't teach, nor explain, and therefore waste an hour of our time and force us to learn it by ourselves. Luckily for me, I don't have to take all those classes, they are in the process of fixing my schedule (which could take them a long time); so my only task is to try to learn Italian, a job within itself.
Coming to Italy makes me realize I really do have an attitude, but luckily, Italians appreciate sass and sarcasm.
My friends are great and surprisingly so similar to people at home. It affirms who I am and I've learned that no matter where I go, I can always find people who are like me. Maybe not in abundance, but nonetheless. I think that's what makes them so rare and special.
Italians are the same as Americans. They have experienced the same things as us, their minds work the same way as ours, they are trying to figure out their lives and their futures while still trying to hold onto the present. This is the most disorganized country in the world. There are no rules. And if there are, I couldn't tell you because they are all overlooked. Still, they somehow manage to make good choices and make this crazy culture work.
Aside from appreciate, I can't help but to laugh at the abundance of hair scrunchies and mullets that still haven't gone out of style here.
Finally, I love when people are talking to each other and then I walk by and they automatically switch to whispering... and I think- they probably think that I can understand what they are saying, but the fact of the matter is, even if they were speaking out loud, I would still have no clue what they were saying. But good news is that I am starting to understand a lot more of Italian, and I am starting to speak it too! Its very exciting!!
Ciao!
Heather
September 15th was my first day at an Italian school. And now I realize why AFS is an advocate of the phrase, "It's not good, it's not bad...it's just different."
Monday, I come to school and am put in a 3rd year class. Incidentally, in Italy students do not change classes. We stay put and the teachers change. And most of the time, the teachers are tardy...by a good 5-10 minutes. Being here for now 1 month, I can honestly say that the importance of punctuality is a big cultural difference.
It's nothing personal, it's just their way.
And as different as the culture here is, it is very interesting to discover that people all over the world are the same. We have our class clowns, our jerk clowns, the boys that should be supermodels, the painfully artsy crowd, the self-imposed punks, the brown-nosers, the over-opinionated, and the ever-naive freshman...or in this case, 8th graders who also attend ITAS Gabriele D'Annunzio. This school, however, is different because everyone attempts to form cliques but ends up hanging out with each other. They like each other, despite forced differences. And this is evident, as they reconvene daily in the bathroom to share a cigarette during the 10-minute (but in actuality, 15-20 minute) break between 3rd and 4th period.
Another thing about Italians is that they love greeting each other (well atleast people they know). But once again, it's nothing personal. They just enjoy having an excuse to hug and kiss. Point blank: Italians like to "be friendly". And yet, if they don't know you; they won't even acknowledge you, smile, say hi, or anything. It's nothing personal, it's just their way.
I was told that Italian schools would be difficult and that I would have to study for 5-6 hours a day. This was a lie. Italian school is not difficult. The teachers just don't teach, nor explain, and therefore waste an hour of our time and force us to learn it by ourselves. Luckily for me, I don't have to take all those classes, they are in the process of fixing my schedule (which could take them a long time); so my only task is to try to learn Italian, a job within itself.
Coming to Italy makes me realize I really do have an attitude, but luckily, Italians appreciate sass and sarcasm.
My friends are great and surprisingly so similar to people at home. It affirms who I am and I've learned that no matter where I go, I can always find people who are like me. Maybe not in abundance, but nonetheless. I think that's what makes them so rare and special.
Italians are the same as Americans. They have experienced the same things as us, their minds work the same way as ours, they are trying to figure out their lives and their futures while still trying to hold onto the present. This is the most disorganized country in the world. There are no rules. And if there are, I couldn't tell you because they are all overlooked. Still, they somehow manage to make good choices and make this crazy culture work.
Aside from appreciate, I can't help but to laugh at the abundance of hair scrunchies and mullets that still haven't gone out of style here.
Finally, I love when people are talking to each other and then I walk by and they automatically switch to whispering... and I think- they probably think that I can understand what they are saying, but the fact of the matter is, even if they were speaking out loud, I would still have no clue what they were saying. But good news is that I am starting to understand a lot more of Italian, and I am starting to speak it too! Its very exciting!!
Ciao!
Heather
Sunday, September 28, 2008
some random pictures that I have...
This picture is a panorama view of the sea from on top of some mountain...
This is a picture of a random soccer game that one of Costanza's friends plays on one of the teams.. watching this game made me miss playing sports and soccer so much!
This is me on top of the mountain overlooking the sea with the Duino New Castle in the background.
This is a picture of the Duino New Castle... I didnt go in it.. but i am told that i will sometime..
This is an overview of the sea/beach that i went to one time..
This is a picture I took on the way to school one morning...Update
Yesterday was my last day of my second week of school... Things are going great with my family and friends.. but for school they still have to change my schedule around and i still dont have any books... also i havent started tutoring lessons yet..so thats not good. I do have some good news though... my host dad found a good book for learning Italian from English.. so ive started that.. and i might take an italian class for non-italian people at a school... also i met my liaison finally.. her name is Lorenza (sp?) and she went to USA (specifically Detroit) 3 years ago on AFS.. so shes in her early 20's and she goes to some college and plays basketball (as you may not know, the sports arent connected to the schools here) so if i decide to play basketball i could be playing/ practicing with her... but as far as sports go right now, they are non-existent in my future.. unless my school gets their act together and my schedule is figured out, i get my books, and i start tutoring lessons..
Other than that, I went to Udine for the day this past friday to celebrate European Day of International Language with AFS.. so 3 other exchange students and I were welcomed to Italy and we got some books on all the history of Italy (needless to say they were big books, cause Italy has a LOT of history!!)..
Also, last night (Saturday night) Costanza, a friend of hers, and I went to Trieste! It was my first time going to Trieste.. It was sooo beautiful!! we went around 5ish by train.. so when we got there, the sun was starting to set, it was gorgeous.. we walked around for a while and they told me some of the history (i forget it all now, but it was cool)... then at night there was a market, so we walked around there for a while looking around at stuff... it was a fun night! and if you ever have a chance to go to Trieste, DO IT!!! it is so different and beautiful, especially with the sunset in the background... i was really mad, because i forgot my camera.. but my family says we'll definitely go back again.. so next time ill get some pictures and post them for you...
i'm looking forward to my fourth week in Italy.. hope all is well at home..
ciao for now!
Other than that, I went to Udine for the day this past friday to celebrate European Day of International Language with AFS.. so 3 other exchange students and I were welcomed to Italy and we got some books on all the history of Italy (needless to say they were big books, cause Italy has a LOT of history!!)..
Also, last night (Saturday night) Costanza, a friend of hers, and I went to Trieste! It was my first time going to Trieste.. It was sooo beautiful!! we went around 5ish by train.. so when we got there, the sun was starting to set, it was gorgeous.. we walked around for a while and they told me some of the history (i forget it all now, but it was cool)... then at night there was a market, so we walked around there for a while looking around at stuff... it was a fun night! and if you ever have a chance to go to Trieste, DO IT!!! it is so different and beautiful, especially with the sunset in the background... i was really mad, because i forgot my camera.. but my family says we'll definitely go back again.. so next time ill get some pictures and post them for you...
i'm looking forward to my fourth week in Italy.. hope all is well at home..
ciao for now!
Friday, September 19, 2008
school...
I have good news! i was able to stay in my class... cause they realized i already had friends in there and that i liked that class, so they didnt move me!!
My classes i am taking this year are: italian, english, german, spanish, latin, chemistry, math, gym, history, and history of art.. yes that is correct 5 languages... ugh.. its going to be really hard! but i might switch out of latin and take another italian course instead.. not sure yet... then italian tutor after school (maybe)... oh yeah and the good news- all those language courses are based in italian!! so it makes them that much harder!!!
my school day is different each day.. on three days i have 6 hours of school and the other three i only 5 hours.. but in school the hour is like 45 or 50 min.. and then a 10 minute break between periods 3 and 4.. so i start school at 8 25 and end either around 1 or 2 (depending on the day)... so a lot shorter than Granby.. but i think i still prefer granby hours compared to going to school on saturdays... oh well...
My classes i am taking this year are: italian, english, german, spanish, latin, chemistry, math, gym, history, and history of art.. yes that is correct 5 languages... ugh.. its going to be really hard! but i might switch out of latin and take another italian course instead.. not sure yet... then italian tutor after school (maybe)... oh yeah and the good news- all those language courses are based in italian!! so it makes them that much harder!!!
my school day is different each day.. on three days i have 6 hours of school and the other three i only 5 hours.. but in school the hour is like 45 or 50 min.. and then a 10 minute break between periods 3 and 4.. so i start school at 8 25 and end either around 1 or 2 (depending on the day)... so a lot shorter than Granby.. but i think i still prefer granby hours compared to going to school on saturdays... oh well...
Monday, September 15, 2008
School Cont.
Ah.. What a first day... it was very different.. the thing that was the most different was the fact that the students stay in one classroom and the teachers change classrooms. also they dont have any technology (computers, tvs) in the classrooms except for maybe some of the science ones... today i had 6 periods each of which are an hour. i started the day off with latin. next i had 2 hours of italian, in which the teacher didnt know i was not from Italy and didnt speak Italian. so he just started the class and did not stop until it was over; so while everyone has pages and pages of notes, im sitting there with not even one sentence... the same thing happened in history because he is my history teacher also... so needless to say, i will have to talk to him about that, but i dont think he knows english... after italian i had spanish, that teacher was very nice. also this is the first year that my class has taken spanish, so we will be learning all at the same pace (but then again spanish is close to italian, so maybe not)... after spanish was ENGLISH!! as much as i am a math person and dont like english class, i never thought i would actually really look forward to english class, but i will for the next year!! haha.. and finally after english was history...
i made some friends also, about 5 or 6. they are all very nice and tried to help me as much as they could with translating... which they could do pretty well considering they have been taking english for about 9 years...
so after this fun first day of school, i was looking forward to going to school for the next 10 months in italy, but then i find out right after school that they put me in the wrong class.. so i might have to switch classes and completely change my schedule and try to make some new friends... ugh.. why couldnt they just get it right the first time.... anyway ill let you know what happens with that...
bye for now
i made some friends also, about 5 or 6. they are all very nice and tried to help me as much as they could with translating... which they could do pretty well considering they have been taking english for about 9 years...
so after this fun first day of school, i was looking forward to going to school for the next 10 months in italy, but then i find out right after school that they put me in the wrong class.. so i might have to switch classes and completely change my schedule and try to make some new friends... ugh.. why couldnt they just get it right the first time.... anyway ill let you know what happens with that...
bye for now
Sunday, September 14, 2008
School
I start school tomorrow... I'm pretty nervous.. Although I know I have many people willing to help me, so thats always a good thing... I will let you all know how the first day of school goes...
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Italy
I made it in Italy.. after a 7 and a half hour flight to Zurich.. then 4 hours in Zurich.. 1 and a half hour flight to Rome.. two day orientation in Rome.. im finally at my host parents house.. i got here on sunday night...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Host Family
I have gotten the information on my host family! They live in Gorizia, Italy. I will have a host father (Oscar), host mother (Maura), and a host sister (Costanza); their last name: Savarin. I will shortly post more information on my host family (their address, phone number, etc.).
I have gotten my visa! So everything is all set, I just have to pack and then go to New York on Wednesday.
If you want to contact me while I'm in Italy, you can email me at: Chandlerbing4evr@aim.com or heather.jordan.mcilroy@gmail.com ... or there is always facebook for those of you who have one...
I have gotten my visa! So everything is all set, I just have to pack and then go to New York on Wednesday.
If you want to contact me while I'm in Italy, you can email me at: Chandlerbing4evr@aim.com or heather.jordan.mcilroy@gmail.com ... or there is always facebook for those of you who have one...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Placement in Italy
I have a placement, though the staff in Italy are still awaiting all of the paperwork on the host family to come in to their office from the local volunteers in my area. I will be placed in the Gorizia area (Northeastern), in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, of Italy. I will let you all know more information as I get it.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Departure
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know my departure date is scheduled for September 4th out of New York. Although I have to be in New York on the 3rd for an overnight orientation. I am scheduled to have a layover in Zürich, Switzerland and from there fly into Rome, Italy. I have not yet been notified about a host family, I will let you all know as soon as I do. While in Italy, I will try to keep my blog as updated as possible.
Feel free to comment on this, just to see how it works. The whole blogging thing is new to me, so I apologize if I am bad at this.
Just wanted to let you all know my departure date is scheduled for September 4th out of New York. Although I have to be in New York on the 3rd for an overnight orientation. I am scheduled to have a layover in Zürich, Switzerland and from there fly into Rome, Italy. I have not yet been notified about a host family, I will let you all know as soon as I do. While in Italy, I will try to keep my blog as updated as possible.
Feel free to comment on this, just to see how it works. The whole blogging thing is new to me, so I apologize if I am bad at this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
