This Thursday through Sunday I had an Intercultura camp in Trento, Italy. Honestly, I wasn't so excited to go because I was missing three days of school and a Saturday night. But I can say now that I love Intercultura camps.
Everyone from Vicenza took the train to Venezia where we met up with all the kids who are living in and around Venezia (Venice) then we all boarded a bus and drove to Trento. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive but that included stops to pick up all the other Veneto (my region) kids at various train stations. All together there were 55 kids with 30 countries being represented including Italy. Pretty amazing right? The whole thing was volunteer run too. We have 7 or 8 volunteers there and they were all very young. We stayed at a hostel/hotel that had a very big gym space. There were three girls in my room, Alma from Iceland, Shiori from Japan and myself. It was very fun because before we went to bed each night we talked about everything. It's like a sleepover (: The first night was pretty laid-back. Friday morning they split us up into groups and we talked about our first months in Italy- problems, fun things, sad things etc. My groups was fantastic (: And then for the rest of the day we had free time, we played alot of games too. I can't describe all of them but I think it's safe to say that playing quite a few of them would get you sent home for Bear Creek icebreaker. Here's an example of one of the funnest. We all sat in a circle and each girl was given a number and each boy a letter. Then you send a girl into the middle and one of the volunteer's would call a letter and a number. The boy who's number was choosen had to run to the girl in the middle and kiss her on the cheek and the girl who's number was chosen had to run to the boy and kiss him on the cheek before he kissed the girl in the middle and vice versa with a boy in the middle. As you can imagine people end up rolling around with eachother on the floor and on top of eachother etc. But it kept all of us teenagers very entertained so it was a very good game. Also the German's surprised us on Saturday nights talent show with a game in which you postition people into kama sutra positions. It was very....strange. Anyway for most of the camp we just talked about our first months in Italy, played games and talked with everyone. I made alot of new friends (: and I can safely say that if I had to choose another nationality other than American I would choose any country in South America, Icelandic or Thai. Iceland is really cool. Alma enjoyed telling me about it. Did you know that there are 320,000 people in all of Iceland and that 60% of them live in the capital city? Also they have candy made out of chocolate and black liquirice and there phone numbers are 7 digits long. It's a really cool country. Thai people are really cute and sweet and South American's are always smiling and know how to dance. Anyway I was very sad to leave everyone this morning and I'm even sadder to know that our next camp is in June and it's the last time we will see eachother until we leave Italy. Everyone is so interesting and wonderful.
For anyone considering exchange (high school or college) I would say do both. The experiance I'm getting as a high school is completely different than the experiance I will get in college. Also you have to know that you're going to be pushed completely out of your comfort zone; not only with language and culture but in meeting and talking to people. 4 months ago I would have been really nervous to know that I was sharing a room with 2 strangers but now I find it really exciting to see who I will learn about. And four months ago I don't think I would have had the courage to walk up to a group of people who were already friends and introduce myself and start talking to them.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Akward Moments & Rough Days
Many days I'll wake up feeling really down. It's probably because I'm tired, cold and hungry. But whatever it is I don't want to go to school or talk to anyone. I would rather just crawl into bed and go back to sleep. When you have days like this it's very important to get yourself up and you have to make a decision about whether your going to make it a good day or bad day. And whenever you decide to make it a good day, everything turns out pretty good. And when you decide your going to go into it with a bad attidude you end up having a pretty crappy day. Funny how that works right? (:
As for akward moments. Subjecting yourself to this experience brings with it an unending supply of akward moments. The best akward moment of today was in Storia. Storia (history) had started and Greta and Ilaria came in the classroom and informed me that the English professor wanted to see me in class three A. Here's the thing, in classical school (you study greek, latin, philosophy etc), they use roman numeral instead of actual numbers for the class name and for some odd reason class 5 is actually class III. So I was taken to class IIIA instead of class 3A and I got to sit in a greek lesson with an entire class of 19 year-olds I have never seen before. It was pretty akward. I just sat there in class and stared at the wall while everyone else stared at me. At the end of class I turned to a girl who had been smiling at me and asked "Do you have any idea what I'm doing here?" and she said "No idea". We figured, which was true, that I had been taken to the wrong class. Fortunatly because they were class 5 students they knew English very well. Also it wasn't so bad because I made a new friend. But Greta and Ilaria were very concerned when I came back to class because a girl from 3A had come up to our room looking for me and said she couldn't find me. Oh well. And once again it's times like those were you get to choose if you want to be upset and embarassed or make the best of the moment. I just laughed it off with my friends who that it was pretty hysterical I just sat there.
As for akward moments. Subjecting yourself to this experience brings with it an unending supply of akward moments. The best akward moment of today was in Storia. Storia (history) had started and Greta and Ilaria came in the classroom and informed me that the English professor wanted to see me in class three A. Here's the thing, in classical school (you study greek, latin, philosophy etc), they use roman numeral instead of actual numbers for the class name and for some odd reason class 5 is actually class III. So I was taken to class IIIA instead of class 3A and I got to sit in a greek lesson with an entire class of 19 year-olds I have never seen before. It was pretty akward. I just sat there in class and stared at the wall while everyone else stared at me. At the end of class I turned to a girl who had been smiling at me and asked "Do you have any idea what I'm doing here?" and she said "No idea". We figured, which was true, that I had been taken to the wrong class. Fortunatly because they were class 5 students they knew English very well. Also it wasn't so bad because I made a new friend. But Greta and Ilaria were very concerned when I came back to class because a girl from 3A had come up to our room looking for me and said she couldn't find me. Oh well. And once again it's times like those were you get to choose if you want to be upset and embarassed or make the best of the moment. I just laughed it off with my friends who that it was pretty hysterical I just sat there.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sciopero!
These past few days have been not very exciting. I came home from school on Wednesday not feeling very well so Paola and Romeo let me stay home Thursday. I ended up getting a fever and now my stomache is all out of wack. Flu bug? I think so. But I did learn about something pretty cool yesterday. I guess this is very common in Italy but today we having a sciopero. A sciopero is basically a strike with some sort or protest going on in town. So we don't have school today because as part of the strike teachers and students don't go to school. I'm not sure why we are having this? Paola was explaining it has something to do with one of Berlusconi's politcal friends but I'm not 100 percent sure. Romeo said they happen all the time and it is a completely normal thing. Many times the strike will invlove all public transport like trains and buses, today just all the schools in Vicenza. However Poala and I looked up other sciopero's coming up recently and on the 20th and 21st of October there is a public transport strike. No bus for me that day (: Anyway I like this whole sciopero thing. I'm just a bit bummed out it couldn't be next week or something. Because I would've stayed home from school today even if the strike wasn't happening. Also I would have liked to go into town and see the protest or hang out with friends. The other fun thing that's happening today is that it's raining and there's a thunder and lightening storm. It's very beautiful (:
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Ragu.
Last night Paola taught me how to make ragu. It's really very simple but oh my goodness does it taste so much better than that store bought 'Ragu' brand ragu. Really. Mom, we are never buying ragu or any other pasta sauce, for that matter, at the store again. Wow. I've become a ragu junkie. I had it for lunch and ate to much and had to go take a nap.
There's a whole lot to talk about other than Ragu so here is a list I made (I actually made it in storia today) of things that are different in Italy.
Boys: Whenever anyone talks about Italian boys they make it sound like all Italian boys have the looks of gods. Not true. There is just about the same ratio of goodlooking boys to strange looking boys. The thing that makes the better looking boys look much better than American boys is that they just dress SO classy. It's nice that they like to be classy.
Juice Boxes: Everyone and I mean EVERYONE drinks from juice boxes. Usually with flavored tea in it. My favourite is peach.
Oral Tests: Once a month in school the teachers give the students oral and written tests. I thought that an oral test was going to be a little question they ask you and if you answer right you get all your points. Wrong. It's a 15 or 20 minute long interrigation peroid. I saw my first one yesterday and I was blown away. It was in Spanish and basically the teacher called 2 people up to the black board and threw continious questions at them for 20 minutes. It was crazy. I'm pretty sure that if a teacher did this to any child at Bear Creek all hell would break loose and also that if any Bear Creek child witnessed this they would shutup about the homework load and be thankful they don't have oral tests. Also I asked my classmates if it was hard and they said it was very easy; philosophy and latin are the hardest oral tests.
Showers: No one in my family takes a shower everyday, except me. They told me I could use the shower as much as I wanted to I don't feel bad about it. But it's not normal for people to take showers once a day.
Alarms In Showers: In every shower I have been in in Italy there has been an alarm in it. You pull the string and the alarm goes off (I haven't done it, thats just what I hear). I asked the boys about it the other day and they said they used it when the needed something in the shower when they were little.
Last Names: Many teachers call there students by there surnames. My math teacher does, but she calls me Isabelle because she doesn't want to pronounce Shively. It's actually pretty funny because barely anyone can pronounce Shively, alot of times they ask me. So all of my classmates and I sit there and are like SHI-V-ELY. But many times I don't even hear my name in roll-call because I don't understand it was my name they called. My friends have taken to answering for me in roll call.
Bikes: Biking isn't really a sport. It's a way to get somewhere. Also the bikes are all very cute with baskets (:
Fashion: Italians are known for being very fashionable people. Again I see the same ratio of fashionable to not fashionable people in Italy. Something i've noticed is that many of the 'fashionable' people ride bikes. Pretty cool. However there is a definite 'cool' style for Italian teenagers. Here is what you need if you want to be a 'cool' girl:
1. a Hard-Rock Cafe shirt or Abercrombie & Fitch shirt
2. a pair of converse tennis shoes (doesn't matter which colour) but white goes with everything
3. a pair of skinny-jeans, preferably with some funky bleaching going on
4. some sort of jumper, Abercrombie & Fitch is perfect
5. atleast one bracelet and if you like, a watch
6. eastpak backpack (any colour)
There you go. You're cool now. It's actually a pretty cute style; it's just not my sort of style. Though I do have an eastpak backpack.
Lunch: Is always pasta. Yum (:
Christ in Schools: Though schools in Italy aren't christian schools. There is a rule that there must be a cross in the room. My classmates get very worked up about it when we talk about it. They think that church and school should be seperate. I think thats fair.
Pizza: Is thin and much more delicious. That's it.
Sparkling Water: Most water is sparkling. The other day we had a pretty heafty run in PE and on the way to the bus stop I decided I would stop at the grocrey store and get a bottle of water. I got it and hopped on the bus and took a giant drink. It was sparkling. My bad. I didn't even think to check to see if the little bottled water was sparkling or not
Cakes: Both of the cakes I have had have had no frosting.
Calculators: No one uses calculators in math. You can they just choose not to. I don't know how they do it.
Bugs: The bugs here are creepy. I had an intense battle with some sort of stinky beatle last night and today I saw what I think was a praying mantis. I got a picture. So i'll upload it later.
Music: 95% of the music I have heard is American. Francesco likes 50 cent.
Mother: The mother is the head of the house, not the father.
Smoking: Everyone here smokes. I just don't think that someone who's wearing braces and is 13 years old should be smoking. But it's their decision.
Done with differnce's. Now here are my cravings:
1. Ixtapa Salsa and chips
2. Target salted pretzel with cheese
3. Chocolate and Oat fiber plus bars
4. Cream Cheese Frosting
Good stuff right?
Something I don't miss: Ice.
Something I miss: My family and Tula.
Ciao (:
There's a whole lot to talk about other than Ragu so here is a list I made (I actually made it in storia today) of things that are different in Italy.
Boys: Whenever anyone talks about Italian boys they make it sound like all Italian boys have the looks of gods. Not true. There is just about the same ratio of goodlooking boys to strange looking boys. The thing that makes the better looking boys look much better than American boys is that they just dress SO classy. It's nice that they like to be classy.
Juice Boxes: Everyone and I mean EVERYONE drinks from juice boxes. Usually with flavored tea in it. My favourite is peach.
Oral Tests: Once a month in school the teachers give the students oral and written tests. I thought that an oral test was going to be a little question they ask you and if you answer right you get all your points. Wrong. It's a 15 or 20 minute long interrigation peroid. I saw my first one yesterday and I was blown away. It was in Spanish and basically the teacher called 2 people up to the black board and threw continious questions at them for 20 minutes. It was crazy. I'm pretty sure that if a teacher did this to any child at Bear Creek all hell would break loose and also that if any Bear Creek child witnessed this they would shutup about the homework load and be thankful they don't have oral tests. Also I asked my classmates if it was hard and they said it was very easy; philosophy and latin are the hardest oral tests.
Showers: No one in my family takes a shower everyday, except me. They told me I could use the shower as much as I wanted to I don't feel bad about it. But it's not normal for people to take showers once a day.
Alarms In Showers: In every shower I have been in in Italy there has been an alarm in it. You pull the string and the alarm goes off (I haven't done it, thats just what I hear). I asked the boys about it the other day and they said they used it when the needed something in the shower when they were little.
Last Names: Many teachers call there students by there surnames. My math teacher does, but she calls me Isabelle because she doesn't want to pronounce Shively. It's actually pretty funny because barely anyone can pronounce Shively, alot of times they ask me. So all of my classmates and I sit there and are like SHI-V-ELY. But many times I don't even hear my name in roll-call because I don't understand it was my name they called. My friends have taken to answering for me in roll call.
Bikes: Biking isn't really a sport. It's a way to get somewhere. Also the bikes are all very cute with baskets (:
Fashion: Italians are known for being very fashionable people. Again I see the same ratio of fashionable to not fashionable people in Italy. Something i've noticed is that many of the 'fashionable' people ride bikes. Pretty cool. However there is a definite 'cool' style for Italian teenagers. Here is what you need if you want to be a 'cool' girl:
1. a Hard-Rock Cafe shirt or Abercrombie & Fitch shirt
2. a pair of converse tennis shoes (doesn't matter which colour) but white goes with everything
3. a pair of skinny-jeans, preferably with some funky bleaching going on
4. some sort of jumper, Abercrombie & Fitch is perfect
5. atleast one bracelet and if you like, a watch
6. eastpak backpack (any colour)
There you go. You're cool now. It's actually a pretty cute style; it's just not my sort of style. Though I do have an eastpak backpack.
Lunch: Is always pasta. Yum (:
Christ in Schools: Though schools in Italy aren't christian schools. There is a rule that there must be a cross in the room. My classmates get very worked up about it when we talk about it. They think that church and school should be seperate. I think thats fair.
Pizza: Is thin and much more delicious. That's it.
Sparkling Water: Most water is sparkling. The other day we had a pretty heafty run in PE and on the way to the bus stop I decided I would stop at the grocrey store and get a bottle of water. I got it and hopped on the bus and took a giant drink. It was sparkling. My bad. I didn't even think to check to see if the little bottled water was sparkling or not
Cakes: Both of the cakes I have had have had no frosting.
Calculators: No one uses calculators in math. You can they just choose not to. I don't know how they do it.
Bugs: The bugs here are creepy. I had an intense battle with some sort of stinky beatle last night and today I saw what I think was a praying mantis. I got a picture. So i'll upload it later.
Music: 95% of the music I have heard is American. Francesco likes 50 cent.
Mother: The mother is the head of the house, not the father.
Smoking: Everyone here smokes. I just don't think that someone who's wearing braces and is 13 years old should be smoking. But it's their decision.
Done with differnce's. Now here are my cravings:
1. Ixtapa Salsa and chips
2. Target salted pretzel with cheese
3. Chocolate and Oat fiber plus bars
4. Cream Cheese Frosting
Good stuff right?
Something I don't miss: Ice.
Something I miss: My family and Tula.
Ciao (:
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