The second "roundup" for our Rotary district in Canada

After living for eighteen years in one place, it is strange how familiar life can become, in a completely new situation on the opposite side of the world. When the thought of being back in Penticton crosses my mind, it seems utterly surreal. Life in Italy has become just life; there are high points and low points, and then just endless time spent simply, living in that middle grey area where it is not exciting or amazing all the time.

            Over the past five months, specifically the last three, I have continued to see diverse parts of Italy and become more accustomed to this northern Italian culture, which is extremely different from the southern culture and much less “typical Italian” (although pasta, bread, and prosciutto are still fundamentals of the daily diet). I have had a chance to see one of my favourite musical groups perform in Bologna, a beautiful and historically important city; as well as visit Milan and much of the Friuli-Venezia Guilia region. My Christmas in Italy was surprisingly low-key, due to my small host family, and consisted mainly of eating and a present exchange on December 25. The task of finding something to do for New Year’s Eve is much simpler, as there are bars and festivities in the city all night, including music, dancing and fireworks. The Sixth of January is also a holiday in Italy in which, a figurative old woman, The Befana, brings children stockings (much like our stockings on Christmas morning); these festivities also include bonfires, as they burn the “bad spirits” from the previous year and predict the outcome of the New Year depending on the direction that the smoke blows. At the festival I attended, typical of Italian culture, they had predictions set for if the smoke blew to the west or to the east, unfortunately, since the smoke blew south, I am not able to tell you how this year will be, as they didn’t have a prediction for that particular direction. For the first time in my life, I was extremely excited to go back to school, as the Christmas holidays were long, and in my case, boring. With the Alps only 40 minutes away, I did not have the opportunity to see the mountains, and the fact that I was\am relatively friendless really hit me over these two weeks, but that is all part of exchange.

The “friend” factor and the language are, in my case, the two most difficult aspects of this student exchange.  Unlike university, students at school are not necessarily looking to make new friends, and as friendly as they may be, for the most part, the friendship stays virtually within the doors of the school. I have not yet had the luck of having similar aged host siblings, or even host siblings at all, which makes the “friend” issue much easier. In regards to the language, similar to what we were told, at approximately the three month mark, something just clicked. Italian is an incredible beautiful language (the language of love) and a stupidly complicated language in terms of verb conjugations; for example, one of the most important verb tenses in Italian doesn’t even exist in English. I am, in no way, fluent, but I am conversable, meaning I can easily hold conversations, and I speak only in Italian with Italians, even if they know English. The language factor is still the most frustrating obstacle, as even on good days, with the combination of the stutter I already have and this new language; it seems as if my klutziness has transferred to my speech resulting in constant stumbling over words.

With spring slowly creeping up, this year can only get better. As much as I miss the familiarity that is home, and as much as I loathe this “exchange fifteen”, we might call it (thanks to the Mediterranean diet of pasta every day.  I mean, is that really healthy?), this spring is looking positive, with a move to a new host family (with siblings my age!), a visit from my family, a chance to see a little more of Europe, and Carnival in Venice, just to name a few. Expectations are perhaps the biggest weakness of my exchange so far, as I came here with a set of expectations, most of which have resulted in nothing but disappointment. This experience, as it is nowhere even close to what I was expecting, has resulted in, an important learning experience; a greater appreciation for diversity; some answered questions regarding the type of life and area of study I want to pursue; and a much greater love for Canada. 

Since I last got around to writing, a lot and nothing has happened. Life has changed, yet has stayed the same. Christmas has come and gone. 2010, my graduation year, the year I spent so much time looking forward to, has now gone. Now onto my fifth month in Italy, life is becoming normal, which is both positive and negative. Positive, because I have ways to fill my days and enjoy myself and constantly put myself out there; negative, because life here is just normal, nothing special or exciting and a little lonely still (although I am getting very used to the loneliness). After switching families at the beginning of December, I am living in a huge and old house with 2 senior citizens both of whom I love. They like having some young blood around the house, and think I am a little crazy because I don't always where wool *gasp* (winter here is not like Canadian winter) and make fun of my accent constantly. I am living in a little apartment above the house, which is nice because it gives me my own space. Christmas in Italy was not a huge deal,  just a big lunch and a present exchange. I missed the soup on Christmas eve, the stockings and cinnamon buns on Christmas morning, the do-nothing of the day, and the big family dinner with turkey and stuffing, but hey next year will be twice as exciting and when will I ever be in Italy for Christmas again right? The Christmas vacations are just finishing up, and I can honestly say I have done nothing. I, unfortunately, have no cool trips or excursions to report, and these vacations have made me realize my lack of friends in Italy as I have seen none of my Italians over break! On New Year's Eve, I went to Gorizia to stay with my friend, and we danced and partied at a party in the city. When I think about New Year's in Canada, if there is no house party, the night is usually spent in the snow, so it was a nice change to actually have somewhere to go, even though we didn't really have anywhere to go. In Italy, the sixth of January is a holiday where they celebrate the Buffana (which is really just an old, scary looking woman who brings candy to children in stockings). A Rotarian took me and my friend to the celebrations in a small town outside of Udine, which consisted of a parade of people in traditional costumes and then in medieval costumes. Later, all the festival goers in town trekked a VERY slow 2 km up a hill to watch the bonfire getting lit. This bonfire is a tradition that is said to burn the bad spirits of 2010, and then depending on the direction of the smoke, a positive or negative prediction of the new year is made. The problem is, very typical of the interesting, but slightly unorganized Italian culture, was that they had predictions for if the smoke went east or west. The smoke blew south, so no prediction was made. Quite comical, in my opinion. After this ceremony, the Rotarian took us to a fancy Italian restaurant, which further proved the Italian expertise in the kitchen, as we ate very well that night. School starts on Monday, and it will be back to .... real life? I don't know what to call it. Hopefully it will result in a reconnection, you could say, with my class\school mates. I am still missing my friends, family, hockey games, and life back in Canada, but Italian is really cool and now I can speak it pretty well, which means I have accomplished at least one thing here in Italy. Happy 2011 and I hope this makes some Canadians happy!

When I originally put Italy down as one of my choices, I had a, now very apparent, misconception about the temperature in Italy. I conjured up images of beaches, sun, heat; not rain, wind, even snain (my made-up word for very wet snow). I remember when was told I would be spending this year in Italy, I said "Imagine if I end up somewhere where there's snow". Well the misfortune gods were listening, and they really seem to like me so I am not surprised that it is cold here. Although seasons are nice, although it is VERY wet here, all the time. A cold winter is what I am used to so it isn't too bad.
The past month has been much of the same routine. Attendance of school (it is still hard to get through the day as I don't feel like I am actual a student at the school, more just like a listener) , biking around town, drinking coffee and tea, studying Italian and not too much else. At the beginning of the month, my grandparents arrived in Udine from Germany after spending some time in London with my cousin. We spent a couple of days taking trains to Venice and Trieste, and just playing cards and lounging around. It was nice to see some familiar faces. I traveled to Gorizia (about 30 minutes on a train) to see the town, and visit my friend and a chocolate festival! The chocolate festival was interesting, just a lot of chocolate and rain and a few rides (which were crazy and definitely would have been deemed unsafe if they had been in Canada). This past week, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Milan with my host mom and little sister. We went by train and stayed with my host aunt's family. Milan is a beautiful city always bustling with action and excitement. The exterior of the duomo (cathedral) is probably the most incredible church I have ever seen. We browsed through a Salvador Dali art exhibit which was amazing for me because I studied his work last year in History. I could have spent all day trying to figure out the meanings behind the intricate randomness of his art work. While I was in Milan, I was able to spend a few hours with another familiar face (my friend Kiah, from Kamloops). Her life in Milan is basically awesome, and the Milanese Rotary actually has.. functions and trips (weird for Italy, I know). My highlight of this weekend was eating pancakes, peanut butter and maple syrup, which I have missed so dearly, as well as visiting a rainy, cold Venice which was interesting because it seemed  more like a livable city and less like a toy that tourists play with 90 percent of the year. We found grass, and a basketball court, in Venice! Imagine calling up your buddy and asking him to come shoot some hoops, in Venice. 
This week will be full of packing, for my trip to Bologna to see Kings of Leon, no big deal, (and eat bologna sandwiches although I have been told like a tacky american, no offense, that they don't, in fact, have bologna sandwiches there). More importantly, packing to move host families. Next Sunday, on my three month mark, I am moving into my second host family. I am excited, but nervous because the change could have a better or worse impact on my already kinda difficult life. These next three months may continue to be the hardest months of my life, but after meeting my third host family, I am one hundred percent positive that the last months of my exchange will be great. I will have similar-aged host siblings, who are awesome by the way, as well as very welcoming parents. Also springtime will bring the visit of my parents and Reidy (hahaha), our trips to Rome and Florence (hopefully.. Mom? Dad?), as well as a mini exchange to England with my classmates to improve our English skills (should be helpful for me..), and a trip to Leon, France with my school soccer team. Spring is wonderful.
Christmas is fast approaching and I am really missing the beginning festivities of home like Christmas music in malls and at work, and Christmas lights, and snuggling with the girls in front of some stupid movie with tea and cookies, putting up our ugly, homemade Christmas decorations at home (although that is usually around Dec 23), and a winter wonderland. Honestly, I am a little nervous for Christmas here mainly because I have no idea what to expect with my next family, but fingers crossed that it will be just as festive.
Also as a perfect example of my somewhat enjoyable, but a little depressing life, I went and saw Harry Potter 7 alone at the theatre, but still sat there at the ending credits trying to pull myself together to leave because of it's amazingness.... and I saw it in Italian! Harry Potter is just awesome. Punto.

A summary for the Rotary Roundup Newsletter at home.. in case the rest of you want to check it out.

While almost everyone else is nearing their third month abroad, I am sitting here after being asked to sum up just two months, as I arrived at the beginning September. On September 5^th, my plane dipped down into Venezia, Italy to begin the hardest two months of my entire life. This exchange has been good, but far from easy and so different than anything I imagined or expected. I am living in Udine, Italy which is about an hour northeast of Venice. It is a fairly small town where it rains often, and for any of you who have a preconception that Italy is decently warm all year long, I am sorry to burst your bubble, but my party was rained on (literally) pretty quickly after I arrived. Currently, it is colder here than it is at home, and I’m from CANADA. Udine is a beautiful city, with the typical old architecture, small streets, crazy drivers, old bicycles, le gelaterie (I should mention the gelato really is as good as we think), expensive clothes, beautiful and fashionable people, tons of pasta, great pizza and everything else Italian.

                The first week was spent sleeping and walking around Udine, getting (somewhat) accustomed to the streets. I also had the chance to see Venice on one of the most beautiful days of the year.  Venice is easily the most beautiful place I have ever been. For someone who loves the ocean and water as much as I do, Venice is like a dream, with canals as streets and boats as cars and ferries as taxies. I am seriously in love.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to actually visit any of the museums or attractions but we walked, through Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal(well, beside it at least) and all Venice’s greatness.

Life in Italy is much different than at home, and that is why I am still struggling to adjust. Not only is the Italian lifestyle different, with everything being later (like lunch, dinner, bedtime etc) as well as everything taking more time it seems; but my lifestyle drastically changed. I went from being someone who was busy all the time either working, or out with friends, to having nothing to do most of the time. I attend school in the mornings from Monday to Saturday (it is a struggle pulling myself out of bed on Saturday mornings), which I might add is very different from school in Canada. We stay in one classroom and the teachers move around and basically lecture for an hour and then leave. It is different from the interactive, stimulating type of school that I am used to, where we have relations with teachers and have time to move our feet and get reenergized between classes. The students here work very hard though and school is quite intense. I am in a linguistic school, which means I am in English, German, French, Latin, History, Italian, Philosophy, and now recently after my insistence some social sciences classes which I am actually interested in. I spend most of my time at school studying Italian or desperately flipping through my best friend (aka my dictionary) trying to keep up. The Italian language is beautiful, and although I am not nearly as far as I would like, I can usually understand most of what people are saying, and I can carry on conversations with horrible grammar, but hey I’m still learning. My afternoons are spent studying the language, biking around town, sometimes meeting up with classmates for coffee and shopping (if they have the time), and sleeping (Exchange is exhausting!!). I have had the chance to see two Italian hockey games, which being Canadian and a huge hockey fan, made me happy. I visited Austria at 2am one Saturday which was awesome and a perfect example of the Italian lifestyle as I was with middle-aged adults who had energy and I was the one who was sleeping on the car ride home. On Saturdays (I have stopped calling them weekends), I meet friends in town, go to the discoteca, go to VERY fancy birthday parties, or other various activities.

                These last two months have been incredibly hard as I am not adjusting as quickly as I hoped or as quickly as others around me. I am a very independent person and it is hard for me to rely on others to do everything for me.  I feel like a different person here, someone much quieter and more reserved, which for anyone who knows me, is basically the polar opposite of my usual personality. I am staying optimistic that once I am more comfortable with the language and the people around me, which will start feeling more like myself, and less like an outsider. Although these feelings are challenging, I think, in the long term, they are preparing me for a little thing we like to call Real Life.   Ciao a tutti! 

Dolce far niente. Ironically, an italian phrase I learned not from living in Italy, but from the novel "Mangia, Praga, Ama"(Eat, Pray, Love), that translates to the "the sweetness of doing nothing". Now this phrase, when I read about it last spring I found it very... inspiring as at the time I was constantly overwhelmed with school, work, soccer, etc. Now, ironically, I am in Italy where this phrase it supposed to come true, and oh, it definitely has, for me at least. My host dad informed me that I am staying in the one region in Italy where everyone works EXTRA hard all the time; the neighboring region parties and the other neighbour apparently, mixes partying and working equally, but Udine, just works; I have definitely noticed.  I have accepted the fact that I have no luck as far as life goes, so I just make the best of it. So in the one place in Italy where "Dolce Far Niente" is not applicable, while everyone else works, I am the only one taking this phrase's advice, and wish I wasn't. But hey, Dolce Far Niente is part of some Italian culture so I am integrated somewhere!
   Plus, I do watch hockey, which unfortunately is very Canadian and not Italian of me. I go watch hockey games in  a northern town called Pontebba, with my adult friends who are much older than I am, but hey, I'm growing up right? The hockey is a decent game to watch, probably around the level of the Vees, and waving around my gigantic Canadian flag in a crowd of Italians makes me happy. After the hockey game, typical of the Italian lifestyle, we sometimes go to Austria at the wee hours of the morning. These voyages make me realize how small Europe really is, and how easy it is to get around.
Other than the hockey games, I have little news to report from life in Italy. School is the same, although I am taking more social sciences classes which I enjoy, I think. In these classes, I am able to understand most words and sentences, but I am struggling with the overall ideas as I still have to focus so much on the individual sentences. Halloween in Italy isn't a grande chose, but I went out with some friends from school and hit up some bars and the bowling alley, which proved to be a bad idea as I am a terrible bowler and a terrible klutz who knocks over big toy machines under the watchful eyes of an entire restaurant of fashionable Italians. Go Misha.
People keep telling me that the first 3 months are hard, and that they are. Unfortunately I cannot say that I am past the uncomfortable stage yet, but tomorrow is only my two month mark so I am holding out hope. Also packages from home with Reese's PB cups (they don't have PB here, my host mom said she's seen PB in movies!) make life just a little better. So, Happy November and Happy Eggnog-is-finally-here-NOT!

  

After a week and a half on constant sunshine, my host dad said today "Well, 5 months until we get sunshine again". That's great, just great. A week and a half has brought new friends (Rotary ones, and a few more Italian ones), my first (and hopefully, last) Italian cold, school, slight improvements in Italian, the knowledge of my future parents and house, the hope of possible trips and swimming!
Last weekend, I went to Trieste, which is a beautiful city on the ocean about an hour from Udine, by train. Trieste was hosting Barcolana, the annual sailing regatta, which hundreds of heavy-duty and baby sailboats, even a pirate ship. I met a few new Rotary exchange students, mostly from the USA, who live relatively near me. We went out for dinner on Saturday with Trieste's Rotaract club. On Sunday, we went to a restaurant in a little town nearby Trieste, which was amazing. It was a Tuscan-feeling restaurant with a gigantic outdoor patio with one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Looking out onto green landscape, endless ocean, hundreds of white sailboats, Slovenia, and probably Croatia, I was happy to be sharing it with our little Rotary group, but wished I could have flown some of my loves from home to show them the sheer beauty of it. One thing about Italy, is the meals are very drawn out. We arrived at the restaurant around 9:30am, had little pastries and champagne, relaxed, ate a few courses, relaxed, ate some more courses, relaxed, had dessert, relaxed, had coffee, relaxed, and left the restaurant around 4pm after eating SO much food. The meal is so drawn out, though, that you can continue eating without feeling too full; until you leave, then you never want to eat again. After an enjoyable weekend, and a train ride where we stood the whole hour and a half ride because there weren't any seats, I was exhausted. When I got back to Udine, I went to dinner with my next host family. There are a nice couple, old enough to be my grandparents, who live in a huge, old house. I literally will be living in my own apartment (It has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, a little living room), whereas the kitchen and main living room is WAY downstairs. I feel like I will be living basically alone, which I hope is not the case, because if life stays similar to what is now, I will be even more lonely than I am now. Luckily, the couple's daughter and granddaughter( who is 17) live right next door, so hopefully that will end up being a good situation. I'll just have to see, now won't I?
I am becoming more accustomed to my life here, which is a good and bad. The life I am living here is not one that I would be happy with if I had a choice, it is much to relaxed and alone, but after living 18 years surrounded by close friends and family and engulfed in a life where I spent every moment staying busy with work, school, soccer, piano and my lovely friends, this life here is a slap in the face, but almost in a good way.   I will come back after living a completely different lifestyle, and can therefore be persistent in making sure I am happy with the way I am living, when I have the choice. I started swimming this week at the pool, which is a healthy waste of time, considering how much gelato I eat. I would like all of you to come visit me, for the sole reason of comprehending the utter goodness of Italian gelato. I could eat it all day, and eat nothing else, and not get tired of it.
I can now carry on conversations in Italian, and speak mostly Italian with my school friends, which is good, but as hard as I am trying, shop owners; barmen; customer service people still switch to English automatically when they here me talk. It is hilariously depressing. Last night, I attended a birthday party that was extremely fancy (the birthday girl's dress was fancier than my prom dress), but fun and almost a cultural experience. Some guy who I have seen around school, but is not in any classes with me, is not friends with anyone I know and has never talked to me before said Hi to me. In English. Do I really stand out that much that people can just tell I can't speak Italian..? I was too stunned to even ask how he knew I am from an english speaking, but I intend to find him at school and get an answer. I am trying so hard to learn Italian and these little incidents break my heart a little bit..! As my Italian is improving though (slowly), my English is deteriorating, which makes me miss writing essays and being knowledgeable at something. Next year, at university, I am probably going to have a hard time writing well, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Biking on my neon yellow bicycle makes me happiest, because I get to think of my best friend and be outside, on old looking streets, but I am afraid it is going to rain for the next... five months, therefore making biking a little difficult.
My Sunday was spent, for the first time in my life, at Ikea or as they pronounce it here Eekayah, which my host dad claims is how it is pronounced everywhere else in the world other than us stupid Canadians. He thinks that I live in a hole in Canada, because I don't know any Italian singers, when the only Canadian singer he could name was Avril Lavigne.  I know right?
Italy is getting easier for me, I think, but I have a theory also that maybe I am just getting more used to the feeling of homesickness, rather than it actually going away.
Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving, jerks; they don't celebrate it here. They also don't have eggnog, so drink some for me too (that means you, Britt).

I don't proofread these which explains the spelling mistakes..

After a month of school, I have officially decided that school in Canada is WAY more fun. Maybe I have a biased opinion, and maybe it will get better once I can, ahem, understand what we are actually learning about, but my observation as of now, is that there is absolutely no stimulation for the students. Everyone works hard, and studies hard so maybe that is an improvement to the Canadian system, but honestly I like being able to move around in between classes, and get know know more than just the 21 other people in the class, and be able to get to know the teachers, as you can go in for extra help in the mornings, lunch, and after school in Canada. I like doing activities in class, Mr. Lines' stimulating lectures, having lunchtime to socialize, and looking forward to traditions with the school such as graduation ceremonies, prom, sunrise, sunset, pep rallies, grad-napping, extracurricular sports and programs. Also, if we thought gym class at Pen-Hi was a joke, we didn't know the meaning of easy gym class. We only have an hour a week here, and the gym which is about the size on the old South Gym at Pen-Hi, is split between 3 classes, meaning there is no organization whatsoever, and the 35 minutes we have to actually do anything, is spent playing an unorganized game of volleyball or shooting basketballs. One thing I have noticed is that I can no longer speak French, when the mind is immersed all day in learning Italian, and considering how similar the two languages are, when the teacher asks me anything I say "Si.. I mean Oui" literally every single time, and I forgot words such as "peut-etre" that I should not be forgetting.
This week I learned how to ride a bicycle with an umbrella, which I should note takes serious skill, and honestly doesn't keep you all that dry. I learned that Italians are very honest about themselves, because when asked to write a paragraph on their strengths and flaws (English class, so I understood), they did not hold back, some explaining that they are jealous, others explaining that they are bossy and moody when asked about their flaws; which was extremely refreshing, as I can honestly say that if we were asked to write about our flaws at school in Canada, traits like jealousy and moodiness would probably not be stated, as it is a little too honest.
On Saturday, I got some drinks with some friends from school, and then went to Casomai, the local discoteca. It is much the the clubs at home, I would imagine, except being the opening night of the season, it was literally jam packed, impossible to move. Oh right, and it doesn't open until midnight, music doesn't start until 12:30 and most people stay until 4 or 5 am, but considering we eat dinner every night at 9pm, I guess that makes sense. The discoteca was fun, for sure, I went with Luca, his brother, and my exchange student friend, Milla. I was happy to have her, as I'm pretty sure I would have been alone, had it not been for her, but I am still at the point in this exchange that when I got home, I thought "Yeah that was fun, but it would have been soo much more fun if my friends had been there". I think that feeling with subside, though, with time.
Also, on Friday, the four Rotary girls living in Trieste came to Udine for the afternoon, and I can't explain in, but somehow rotary students just connect, right away, and I felt more comfortable with them, then I have with almost anyone so far. It was a comforting feeling, and the trains make seeing them fairly easy.
On Sunday, I went to a cute little town in the mountains with my host mom for an art show focusing on angels.  Udine is in the center of various small towns, some in the mountains and some near the ocean, all of which the teenages come to Udine for school. Not that I have been to Austria, but this town reminded me of stereotypical Austria. We went on a walk, which turned into an hour and half hike, but it was well worth it, as we ended up at a church way up in the mountains. The gloomy weather only accentuated the overwhelming peacefulness of the church, and the panoramic view of mountains and other surrounding mini-towns. It was beautiful to say the least. The angel art show, although the guide spoke too fast for me, was an incredible cultural experience, as there is honestly not too much culture like it in Canada. The paintings and sculptures were incredible, and I could feel the history seeping out of them. It would have been nice to know the story behind them. I, also met a family from London, who had just moved to one of the mini-towns with their 3 young kids. They said it was nice speaking real English to some, which made me feel happy because that is exactly how I feel sometimes.
Maybe this time in the mountains, or sitting next to someone in class who blows his nose every 5 minutes, caused it, but somehow I ended up with the worst cold I have had in a long time. My host dad keeps saying " I though Canadians were strong people" which eats away at me a little considering I have always been a strong person, and have gone to school and continued on daily life having a cold or not. The truth is, school here doesn't matter, so why not just lie in bed right?
After being here officially a month, it has definitely been far from easy, but I am becoming slowly more comfortable with life here. It has definitely made me realize how much I love Canada, and the way things are done there. I really like Italy, I honestly do, but Canada is still my home and I love it there. With my being sick, and my stuttering being the worst it has been in a long time, speaking a new language all the time is incredibly exhausting. Good thing is it such a beautiful language, because it's a pain in the ass! I will never understand why it is important to have masculine and feminine EVERYTHING, for goodness sakes.