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..