So sorry, this got quite long, but I think that is because right now, EVERYTHING is new, hopefully for you guys next months report will not need to be quite as lengthy, but who knows because I do so much here. I am very happy here, and am rounding this first month off very happily.
Family-
My first family is so nice. They do such a great job making sure to include me, and double and triple check that everything is ok with me. They are super accommodating, making sure I can do as much as possible, with them, with the other exchange students, with my friends and go to gymnastics practice.
My host mother is so kind. She makes great meals and we always talk about our day in the car ride back from school/gymnastics. She speaks english very well, and while we do use it sometimes, I am at a point now where I can communicate all things with her at a certain level. I sit with her at the breakfast bar while she makes breakfast or dinner, she is an amazing cook. We always eat very fresh food.
My host sister, Sara, is 19, and studys at the University of Milano. She also speak english wonderfully, and it is good because of course when I use Italian I make mistakes and she can explain it to me well. We are very similar, both interested in fashion, and art. She is studying communications and that is what I think I might like to study.
My host father speaks english well enough that we could talk when I was swimming in a pool of italian I did not understand, but now it is just as easy for me to use Italian. I watch every Juventus(the #1 soccer team of Italy) game with him. I really enjoy this, it is a regular things and connects us. I like doing this because it is not something I usually do, watch a sport regularly. He is a very passionate watcher. My host mom told me he said that he is very happy to have someone to watch the games with. He drives me and my host brother to school everyday.
My host brother, Andrea, is 12. He speaks only Italian, but thinking about this month, I don’t feel like this has been a barrier for us at all. The first time he had heard me speak Italian was 2 or 3 days after I arrived(because he was at practice or a friends house during these days), Sara told me he was very happy, because he didn’t think I spoke any Italian. I usually watch tv with him, it is helpful to watch shows because I really do learn a lot from tv. Even if he is just playing a game on the tv, I sit with him and watch, I try to read any instruction on the screen. Also I can always ask him the meaning of words and he acts them out for me. Sometimes he even trys out his English on me.
I very much enjoy having siblings. I feel like we all fit together very well. This family and I get along perfectly. Every night we eat dinner together. They are very active there is always somewhere to go with them, and I always tag along.
Daily routine-
6:55 wakeup
7:30 leave for Lecco, where Andrea and I go to school
8:00 school starts
1:00 or 2:00 school ends
(on Mon., Tue., Thurs., Fri.) I go to gymnastics after school, just around the corner from my school. I can eat lunch with my teammates. Practice starts at 2:30 and ends at 5:30, this is very nice for me, since I get home early enough that I still have the rest of the night to rest, or spend with my family.
6:30-7:30 I sit in the living room with whoever is around
8:30 we all eat dinner
Then we watch TV, a movie or a show(in Italian of course) until 9:30 or 10:00 and we go to bed
Everyday I am very tired, I have full days, and constantly processing Italian or working to prepare my next statement is difficult, but slowly getting quicker.
Language- When I think about my first week, and how little I knew, to what I know now, in just a month, I am very very proud. Italian is becoming more automatic now, which feels good considering how slow it felt in the beginning. I think now it is so much faster because now I have enough words to make sentences, where before I knew many words but only on their own, so it was difficult to form a sentence. The first week, and first week of school, Italian felt like molasses, now not so much. But of course I know it is not the most correct, but people usually understand me, I am happy it has gotten easier to communicate. My classmates speak limited english. I feel very lucky for this, since I think it is one of the main reasons I can process and learn at the rate I am. I think about language all the time, trying to understand Italian has made me think about English in a different way to. I think about things I have never noticed before, it is very interesting. I think this month’s monument in speaking, is that now when I say things to myself like “oh here” or “aww come on” I say them in italian, just the little things but they are instinctive.
School- Our class stays together for every class, so I will know them very well, they are quite chatty and fun. Maybe for the first week, I tried to just listen and process because I would only catch every 10th word, and a classmate that I ride the bus with(who speaks the best english) asked me if I was quite or just shy. At first I was a little hurt because my class is very open and I knew I was being quiet but it was too difficult for me to speak. I am very glad I talked with her that day though, she told me that I should be more open, as to not seem rude. The next day I tried very hard and always smiled and greeted every one. I am so thankful she talked to me so openly, because she was right, as soon as I did that, everything was easier. Of course they understood I couldn’t understand them very well, but since they saw I was trying, they worked with me and spoke slower and I already feel apart of the class. Now I am to the point where although it is not word for word, I keep up with everything going on in the class, and we can all joke around and chit chat, it makes me very happy. Already they include me in everything. One day when school started late, we all went to get breakfast together. This week after school I will get pizza with them. I can ask them questions about Italian grammar or what a word means and they always help and explain it.
I also attend a weekly Italian lesson with the other exchange students. I almost feel I am a week ahead of whatever we learn, I will have already picked up the concept we talk about, but I think they are helpful because yes I picked it up, but on my own, so the classes clarify and cover the specifics of it for me, validating what I had believed was correct.
The actually lessons are difficult, mostly because I do not understand the teachers. Spanish is especially difficult because she uses Italian and Spanish and to me they blend together, and when I learn Spanish I translate back to English. I enjoy physics, math and chemistry because the words are similar enough, and I understand it, more of less.
Friends- Lecco is a great place for me, there are 8 exchange student here and they get together often. Mostly I can’t make it because I have practice or am doing something with my family, but it is good to know that if I every have a day I want to do something we can spontaneously get together. The host moms have a group chat, just as us students have a group chat. So they make sure we can do group things too. Last week we went on a wonderful sunset hike, and the week before that we all did a local 11k, where we learned about a very famous local author, who is from our town. One of the students is a very good photographer, so I will have amazing photos to remember everything we do. 4 Americans(California, Ny, Texas, and Arkansas), a french girl, a german girl, an australian girl and a Taiwanese boy. At our multi-district meeting I met so many great students, I cannot wait to meet up with them again. We will all make trips to each others hometowns here, as well as meeting in Milan. Our district trips will be lively.
Gymnastics- I do gymnastics 4 days a week, for 3 hours each day, but my coaches said 3 days is still ok, which is good since there are often Rotary or school activities I don't want to miss. It is more work than at home, but I love it. I’d rather have gymnastics all the time and just miss practice when I need/want to , than to sit at home during the week with nothing to do. It is much harder, not that the coaches are any less nice, but our practices are harder here. There is a lot of focus on flexibility and form. Although practice is challenging, I feel placed well, with my teammates and skill wise. It is just challenging enough. I am with a group of 6 or 7 girls 13-15, but I do not feel old, we all get along perfectly. Luckily it was easy to pick up gymnastics here, I think it is good for me to have another group of friends outside of school friends. It is a sport of its own to learn the names of gymnastics skills in Italian. I think I may try to compete this season… but we will see.
Places-
One of the first days I went on a boat excursion with my host grandmother(80) and her friend(93), both only Italian speakers. It was strange, especially since I had virtually no level to communicate with. But It was a sunny day and I got to see a lot of the local cities along the lake very early after arriving. We stopped in Bellaggio, a very famous city.
The first weekend I visited Lovere since Andrea had a sailing competition at the lake there. I listened to all the sailing moms speak Italian, I didn’t understand but it got me ear ready for Italian. We walked around that town, visited the local church and bell tower, of course all was stunning.
Lecco is the city closest to my house, this is where I go to school, gymnastics, meet with friends, and can shop or walk around. The lake here is beautiful, and everywhere I go I see mountains. I live on the top of a mountain, I have a beautiful view everyday and when the weather was warmer we would eat outside for lunch and dinner. They sky is always clear. I love how often things are done outdoors, or with the windows open, everywhere I go. I also appreciate how everything is colorful, every building, every house, even the schools and apartments.
Varese is where our Multi District orientation was held. We stayed at a gorgeous grand hotel, got pizza, and took great photos in our matching shirts and with all of our different flags.
This last weekend I went to Santa Caterina, where my family has a house. It is close to Switzerland, since it is in the Alps. We did a hike maybe 2 hours each way, it was so beautiful. It was sunny and the grass was still green, the water running down, and we saw many cows. The next day we did another hike 1hr 15min each way, again beautiful views, glaciers. It was sunny enough I got sunburnt.
Food-
Sorbeto- a lemonade milkshake
Gelato- my favorite flavors are banana, melon, and raspberry. I have also tried egg cream, fig and vanilla, also great, of course
Amazing seasoned olives
Risotto
Ravioli
Lasagna(homemade)
Pesto(homemade)
Tiramisu(Andrea made, since it is the World Cup of tiramisu today)
Margherita pizza
Miakawa- a fruit that is a mix of a clementine and a lemon
Fig- fresh, I have never had one before
Pizzoccheri- local to S Caterina, a pasta with vegetable base with lots of cheese
Sciat- also local to S Caterina, fried balls of local cheese
Polenta- it is better than the polenta I’ve had before, but it is the ONLY thing I would not choose to eat again
Bresaola- a dry aged deli style meat
Fish- Salmon and Swordfish, I thought I didn’t like fish, turns out I do
With every meal we have fresh bread, and the best olive oil and cheeses
Overall reflection- I am extremely happy and proud with how far I’ve come with the language already. It has only been a month and I think that the level I am at is functional for most intents and purposes. My family has been more than welcoming, and I feel close with them. I love looking outside every morning and seeing the mountains, and every single night, the sky looks picturesque. I am a little sad it’s already been a month, it went so so fast. But looking back there has not been a single day I have come home straight from school without doing something first, or a weekend that I didn’t packed with plans. Sometimes I wish I had this time because I’ll feel I need to just rest, but in the end it is better to be so busy because I know I have not wasted a single day. There have been a handful of moments where I was too tired and too lost in the language that I felt a little sad, but never for more than one activity(one practice, one school day, one night). And even when I was sad I thought, “yes I am a little sad right now, but I do not want to go home, it is not that sadness, just a little overtired sadness”. Just an overtired, overwhelmed feeling, but it was not true homesickness and I know this, and I am thankful that, at least for this month being my first, I didn’t have to fight with homesickness. And I am always with people so it always passes. Luckily I do not feel, when I look back on this month, that language has created a barrier between me and any classmates, or coaches, or family, and that makes me feel very sound here. I also feel sound here since I have my host family, my teammates and coaches, my classmates, and my exchange friends, so for different problems, I know I have many people I can talk to.
