The second week

Observation of the week: everything in Italy is Italian. I know what you are thinking: “Duh, obviously”, but I mean, all the products, from food to towels are all “Made in Italy”. It is a change from Canada, where basically nothing (besides Maple syrup) is truly made in Canada.  This week has been a fun, and still nerve-racking week. I am becoming accustomed to the feeling of being consecutively sad and happy, all the time. The first day of school was extremely confusing, as when I arrived with my host dad, it turns out I wasn’t actually registered, so we dealt with confusion number 1 of what felt like a million all in one day. By the time we finished the paperwork, I was about 20 minutes late. My so-called “exchange counsellor”, who speaks no English and I haven’t seen since, took me to the class and introduced me. For the first time in my entire life, I was the new student who everyone stared at, and got excited about because “oh wow, there’s a foreigner in our class”. In addition to everything, the only seat left was the very front, which makes it hard to nap in class (not that I do, he he he). School in Italy in very different from Canadian high school, as the students stay in one classroom the entire day, and the teachers are the ones who move from class to class. Also, the students stay in the same class, so everyone in my class has been together for at least the past couple of years. The students in the class are mostly a year younger than me, other than a few exceptions, and although sometimes I can feel the age difference, they are all extremely welcoming, kind and helpful. After a week, I feel comfortable enough to go and join a group of them in a conversation, and when I walk into class every morning they all give me “ciao”.  They are really great.  The courses are a different story.  I am taking English (conversation and grammar; two different courses), French (conversation and grammar), German (conversation and grammar), Italian, Latin, History (I think I am at least) and Math. The two English courses, and the two French ones are the only ones I understand, as of now. During German lessons, the teachers speak only German, so I can’t even try to follow along. During the courses in Italian, I am slowly, day by day, being able to pick up more but still if someone asked me what we learned in school, I honestly couldn’t tell them. Capitan Mutanda saved my life during the first week. Some of my classmates brought me easy Italian books to read during class so I spend the classes where I can’t even begin to follow along reading “Capitan Mutanda” (Captain Underpants) and looking up pretty much every other word in the dictionary. We also have P.E. once a week, as well, which I enjoy because I can follow along for once! I think school will get better, once I can understand more of the lessons. For the meantime, I bought an Italian grammar book so I will spend my time learning the one language.

This weekend in Udine was an annual festival called “Fruili Doc”, which is similar to PeachFest only much bigger, with more stands, better food, more music, and way more people. On Thursday, I met up with Luca and some of his classmates and we ate “costa con polenta” which is ribs and a typical Fruilian food (Fruili is the region of Italy, by the way), and French fries, which are way better than any Mcdonald’s fry at home. Friday was a busy day and I definitely like being busy, so it was a very good day. After school, after meeting my host family for lunch, I walked around the centre for a while. Afterwards, my host brother, who lives in Hungary or Slovakia or somewhere else most of the time, took me for a walk around the town, going from bar to bar. It was very enjoyable to get to know him, and do the typical Udine activity, according to him. After, the whole family went to Fruili Doc for dinner, which was amazing. I experience the typical Fruilian food, such as “frico” (potato and cheese cake), gnocchi (with bacon. Amazing!) and of course, vino. After meeting up with some friends for a while, I headed home because Friday is a school night for me. Oh, I forgot to mention that we go to school here Monday to Saturday, but it finishes at 1pm.  On Saturday night, I met up with Luca for a while, then, after he left, met up with some friends that I met last weekend. We went to il Bire, a pub, to watch the soccer game, as it was pouring rain, then went to Friuli Doc for some entertainment and partying. The night was very enjoyable, and very wet. When I arrived home I was pretty much completely soaked, and cold. Sunday was much of the same: sleeping, going for a run, eating with the family, hitting up Friuli Doc with some classmates, getting cold and heading home. The second week of my Italian..  life, as I should start calling it, was eventful and emotionally exhausting. I am still in the stage where everything is new, which is good and bad all at once. I find myself missing home, and the people that are associated with home quite often, which I am told is normal. In the afternoons, after school, I do not have too much to do yet so I get a little bored, which results in homesickness. Today I picked up a grammar book, so I will start working on that, and this week I am going to the international school, which I know a woman from Rotary who works there and offered it as a place to spend time at studying and whatnot. As the second week comes to a close, I am still having a very up and down time here in Italy, with some moments being amazing and others being very hard causing a great feeling of sadness. Only with time will it get not only easier, but more exciting, and I am excited for when I can understand the Italian lessons, and for when I don’t find reading “Capitan Mutanda” extremely difficult, and for when I can stop seeming shy and be able to act more like myself.