Currently it is late (yep, that line is back). I got back to Australia on Thursday and, despite exhaustian, I didn't succumb to jetlag because I didn't go to bed until it was properly bedtime and then I slept until afternoon the next day. I'm quite tired now, it's 5am and I haven't slept but it's my own fault for drinking such strong coffee so late at night. So it's all a bit screwed up, I have to work tomorrow night and I'm hoping my 14 hours sleep last night will see me through the day.
I've had an awesome time since being back, now and then I get that "I still call Australia home" song stuck in my head along with images from the old QANTAS ad.
I went into town today and couldn't help grinning madly at so many little things around me and getting super excited when sales assistants were polite to me (I may have scared a few people). I'm glad I came back so close to Australia Day, seeing all the flags and posters is almost like a special "Welcome Home" from the whole country.
There are so many things I've come to appreciate more since living away from home. Some of them I never expected like wheelie bins, sealed roads, supermarkets with labeled isles, waxing parlours and "discount variety stores".
I really did intend to write more entries while I was OS but, whilst away from home, I realised that the blogs people really enjoy reading are those about monotonous, everyday things they can relate to but given a humourous twist. Sorry folks, but it's true. You have a look t the blogs you read and the entries you find funniest and you'll agree.
Ciao for now a tutti, please excuse typos as I'm just getting back into the habit of using an Australian keyboard again. (After getting so annoyed with the ones in Italy, who'd have thought I'd actually grown acustomed to them)
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Monday, 14 January 2008
Need a bit o' help
Can I ask a question to y'all out there in cyber space? How do I put pictures in my blog? Furthermore, how do I put links in so that people can click on them and the site pops as oposed to just having them as part of the text that people have to then copy&paste them?
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
What I'm going home to
It has come to my attention that most of the blogs I've been posting have negative ones, I haven't put in an awful lot about what I've been doing in Italy, what I've seen and all that jazz. Sorry about that ladies and gents, my trouble is that my blog is my way of getting things off my chest.
So, today's post will be a nice one.
I just finished reading this article: http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=334188
and I thoguht it was brilliant, it sums up what I believe are the real Australian values. It made me very proud to know I come from this country, will soon be going home to it and living with such a friendly group of people.
Now, I know I should write something positive about Italy too but, as I've said, I tend to put the bitchy things in the blog and the nice things in my letters home.
So, it's been very exciting living in Italy. I've learned to appreciate a lot of what I have and don't have and can now look at things in my own life as an outsider might because I've seen how things can be done differently.
No doubt that all sounds very clichè, but who cares? It's true.
My favourite thing about living here, funnily enough, has been my Italian lessons. That is, Italian as a Second Language. The class is after school two days a week and there are only two other people in the class, a girl from Japan and a girl from Thailand. The lessons can be hard because they're taught in Italian but we (the students) are all on an equal footing, all of us are learning Italian and are a little shaky with it. Unlike with my Italian classmates who can all speak English, the conversatinos are slow but enjoyable and we feel like we've accomplished something at the end. (And we have, we've crossed three language barriers to communicate with each other)
So, today's post will be a nice one.
I just finished reading this article: http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=334188
and I thoguht it was brilliant, it sums up what I believe are the real Australian values. It made me very proud to know I come from this country, will soon be going home to it and living with such a friendly group of people.
Now, I know I should write something positive about Italy too but, as I've said, I tend to put the bitchy things in the blog and the nice things in my letters home.
So, it's been very exciting living in Italy. I've learned to appreciate a lot of what I have and don't have and can now look at things in my own life as an outsider might because I've seen how things can be done differently.
No doubt that all sounds very clichè, but who cares? It's true.
My favourite thing about living here, funnily enough, has been my Italian lessons. That is, Italian as a Second Language. The class is after school two days a week and there are only two other people in the class, a girl from Japan and a girl from Thailand. The lessons can be hard because they're taught in Italian but we (the students) are all on an equal footing, all of us are learning Italian and are a little shaky with it. Unlike with my Italian classmates who can all speak English, the conversatinos are slow but enjoyable and we feel like we've accomplished something at the end. (And we have, we've crossed three language barriers to communicate with each other)
Thursday, 3 January 2008
What I miss most
I'm about to break the Code, everyone. You all know what I'm talking about, all kids live by this Code and continue to live by it until they become parents when it still exists but the meaning has changed a little for them. The Code is this: Vegetables are the enemy.
I MISS VEGETABLES SO MUCH! I just finished my dinner and realised that for the past week (maybe longer) I have been craving carrots. Fresh carrots and lettuce and celery! Fresh veggies don't exist here, they have no place in italian society and the food mafia has made damn sure they don't show faces in this country again. Here there are tomatoes, cheese and pasta. Now the Italians have done great things with their food, don't get me wrong, and desserts here amazing. But everything's cooked, I'm not used to that. I'm an Aussie and fresh veggies and I are like this: *imagine two fingers crossed over each other*. Like that!
But, for the next three weeks, I have to live without them.
I swear I could kill that food mafia.
I MISS VEGETABLES SO MUCH! I just finished my dinner and realised that for the past week (maybe longer) I have been craving carrots. Fresh carrots and lettuce and celery! Fresh veggies don't exist here, they have no place in italian society and the food mafia has made damn sure they don't show faces in this country again. Here there are tomatoes, cheese and pasta. Now the Italians have done great things with their food, don't get me wrong, and desserts here amazing. But everything's cooked, I'm not used to that. I'm an Aussie and fresh veggies and I are like this: *imagine two fingers crossed over each other*. Like that!
But, for the next three weeks, I have to live without them.
I swear I could kill that food mafia.
Monday, 31 December 2007
Il pericolo di Australia
You know what's really fun? When you come fom a country that's home to some of the most poisonous animals in the world (which you come in little contact with, but that that's beside the issue) and you can impress all the Italians who think they're so macho.
One of the boys in my class here asked me a little while ago if we had jellyfish in Australia and had I been bitten by one. When I said 'no' I could see a smirk forming on his lips, he was going to tell me about how many times he'd been bitten and how excruciating it was, etc, etc. Standard male behaviour. So it was with great joy I could tell him 'In Australia, if you're bitten by a jellyfish, you die." quite matter-of-factly.
This sort of answer always makes people stop and think. I just love it! They asked about sharks too, they wanted to know if any sharks came close to the beach and was it dangerous. I said "Well, yes. But it's not really dangerous." Oh the shock on their faces! "But we learn shark safety in school, it's OK."
But what's funny is it makes me realise just how much danger we ignore. There are safety precautions there like the flags the lifesafers put up and we do learn about these things in school. (Bushfire safety, beach safety, what to do for a snake bite, the list goes on) But the odds really are stacked against us Down Under. I remember thinking once how crazy the Japanese were to not think about earthquakes when the country is on such a huge fault line, but it's what we all do, isn't it? The danger isn't affecting you now so you don't think about it.
The Italians probably think I'm crazy for being so scared to cross the road here but I'm more likely to be hit by a car than bitten by a shark and, given the way Italians drive, I think the statistic is doubled here.
One of the boys in my class here asked me a little while ago if we had jellyfish in Australia and had I been bitten by one. When I said 'no' I could see a smirk forming on his lips, he was going to tell me about how many times he'd been bitten and how excruciating it was, etc, etc. Standard male behaviour. So it was with great joy I could tell him 'In Australia, if you're bitten by a jellyfish, you die." quite matter-of-factly.
This sort of answer always makes people stop and think. I just love it! They asked about sharks too, they wanted to know if any sharks came close to the beach and was it dangerous. I said "Well, yes. But it's not really dangerous." Oh the shock on their faces! "But we learn shark safety in school, it's OK."
But what's funny is it makes me realise just how much danger we ignore. There are safety precautions there like the flags the lifesafers put up and we do learn about these things in school. (Bushfire safety, beach safety, what to do for a snake bite, the list goes on) But the odds really are stacked against us Down Under. I remember thinking once how crazy the Japanese were to not think about earthquakes when the country is on such a huge fault line, but it's what we all do, isn't it? The danger isn't affecting you now so you don't think about it.
The Italians probably think I'm crazy for being so scared to cross the road here but I'm more likely to be hit by a car than bitten by a shark and, given the way Italians drive, I think the statistic is doubled here.
Saturday, 29 December 2007
I thought I was in Italy, not England
I do not understand Italian frozen food. I do not understand because it is terrible, absolutely horrible. Why anyone would choose to sustain themselves with it is beyond me and it’s even harder to understand because, as a general rule, Italian food is fantastic. Every food product I have tasted here outdoes itself in deliciousness but the frozen food is crap. Spam would turn its proverbial nose up at Italian frozen food.
The other day we had a meal of frozen food and, my cold still in full swing, I couldn’t really taste it. I didn’t realise just how bad my sense of taste had been struck until today when we ate the same food again for lunch and I almost gagged. No kidding, I think it was shock as much as anything but I felt betrayed. How could Italians do this to their own people? More importantly, how could they do this to unsuspecting visitors of the country?
For shame.
The other day we had a meal of frozen food and, my cold still in full swing, I couldn’t really taste it. I didn’t realise just how bad my sense of taste had been struck until today when we ate the same food again for lunch and I almost gagged. No kidding, I think it was shock as much as anything but I felt betrayed. How could Italians do this to their own people? More importantly, how could they do this to unsuspecting visitors of the country?
For shame.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
I am trying so hard to be the perfect exchange student. I really am. Because I know from experience how bad it can be from the host family’s perspective with... imperfect excahnge students.
So, I have not been using their phone at all, I have not asked them to buy me things or take me places, I’ve tried not to turf people off the telly or the computer (I use these things only when they’re free), I don’t play music too loudly, I’m polite, I help with setting the table and cleaning up and other odd jobs, I have not yelled at the dog and I did not even say anything when it bit me.
BUT this has not worked it seems. I am far from the perfect excahnge student because I am not intergrating into the Italian culture. Despite the fact I go to Italian school, talk to the students and teachers here, have made friends and gone out with them a few times.
I haven’t been doing enough with the family. I found this out on Christmas Eve when I said I didn’t really want to go with them to a party because I was not feeling well. (I have a cold and I can’t breathe and eat at the same time. My bones feel tired and I fall asleep as soon as my body becomes vertical. I thought it would be fair enough.) No. What I thought of as being polite and not being a burden on people when they want to go out with friends was actually me living in my own world and not absorbing the Italian culture.
I am trying so hard here. But the fact is, I found social situations difficult at the best of times when I don’t know anyone. When I also don’t speak the same language as the rest of the people at these social places it makes me a little nauseous.
When I was little and I’d go to parties with my family I used to get a plastic cup of chips or pretzels and one of lemonade and hide under the stairs until my supplies ran out. I had the best time under those stairs, I was never once unhappy. What did make me unhappy was being forced to talk to all the grownups at these parties who would ask “So what year are you in at school?” to start the conversation. After answering this you can’t really ask the same question in return since they’re obviously not in school, it’s rather difficult to find a question to relate to this for the same reason.
As I’ve grown, it’s become a little easier meeting new people but I still don’t really enjoy it. I know also, that what would happen is that I would end up clinging to my host sister and she would just want to be with her friends. So, I have been to a couple of parties with her but I thought it would be nicer for all concerned if I did my own thing and let her do hers.
My host mother apparently doesn’t agree and thinks I have a very negative attitude to it all. So I went to the Christmas Eve party, in spite of my cold, and spent most of it with my host sister.
While it’s never tortuous to got to these parties where I feel to embarressed about my Italian to start a conversation with anyone, it’s uncomfortable and I tend to just sit there for most of the night and I find it a relief when it’s time to go.
It hurt a bit to find out I’m not doing things right and I tried to explain why I am this way but I don’t think they quite understood. It was hard also because I heard my host mother talking on the phone to my real mother in Australia the day before and saying waht a wonderful student I’ve been and how nice, etc, etc. So am I doing other things wrong too and they just haven’t told me? I don’t know if I want to ask because I might cry, which I loathe to do in front of people I’m not close to, and it would probably be just thought of as homesickness.
Sorry about the bitching session ladies and gents, I just needed a bit of a vent. Thanks for reading.
PS: Sorry for any typos, I’m still getting used to this keyboard.
So, I have not been using their phone at all, I have not asked them to buy me things or take me places, I’ve tried not to turf people off the telly or the computer (I use these things only when they’re free), I don’t play music too loudly, I’m polite, I help with setting the table and cleaning up and other odd jobs, I have not yelled at the dog and I did not even say anything when it bit me.
BUT this has not worked it seems. I am far from the perfect excahnge student because I am not intergrating into the Italian culture. Despite the fact I go to Italian school, talk to the students and teachers here, have made friends and gone out with them a few times.
I haven’t been doing enough with the family. I found this out on Christmas Eve when I said I didn’t really want to go with them to a party because I was not feeling well. (I have a cold and I can’t breathe and eat at the same time. My bones feel tired and I fall asleep as soon as my body becomes vertical. I thought it would be fair enough.) No. What I thought of as being polite and not being a burden on people when they want to go out with friends was actually me living in my own world and not absorbing the Italian culture.
I am trying so hard here. But the fact is, I found social situations difficult at the best of times when I don’t know anyone. When I also don’t speak the same language as the rest of the people at these social places it makes me a little nauseous.
When I was little and I’d go to parties with my family I used to get a plastic cup of chips or pretzels and one of lemonade and hide under the stairs until my supplies ran out. I had the best time under those stairs, I was never once unhappy. What did make me unhappy was being forced to talk to all the grownups at these parties who would ask “So what year are you in at school?” to start the conversation. After answering this you can’t really ask the same question in return since they’re obviously not in school, it’s rather difficult to find a question to relate to this for the same reason.
As I’ve grown, it’s become a little easier meeting new people but I still don’t really enjoy it. I know also, that what would happen is that I would end up clinging to my host sister and she would just want to be with her friends. So, I have been to a couple of parties with her but I thought it would be nicer for all concerned if I did my own thing and let her do hers.
My host mother apparently doesn’t agree and thinks I have a very negative attitude to it all. So I went to the Christmas Eve party, in spite of my cold, and spent most of it with my host sister.
While it’s never tortuous to got to these parties where I feel to embarressed about my Italian to start a conversation with anyone, it’s uncomfortable and I tend to just sit there for most of the night and I find it a relief when it’s time to go.
It hurt a bit to find out I’m not doing things right and I tried to explain why I am this way but I don’t think they quite understood. It was hard also because I heard my host mother talking on the phone to my real mother in Australia the day before and saying waht a wonderful student I’ve been and how nice, etc, etc. So am I doing other things wrong too and they just haven’t told me? I don’t know if I want to ask because I might cry, which I loathe to do in front of people I’m not close to, and it would probably be just thought of as homesickness.
Sorry about the bitching session ladies and gents, I just needed a bit of a vent. Thanks for reading.
PS: Sorry for any typos, I’m still getting used to this keyboard.
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