So, I am in Milan. It is hot, I have constant swamp ass, and I'm covered in bug bites. This city really isn't trying to make me not hate it.
Despite that fact that Milan sucks, the camp stuff is going alright. The other two tutors besides myself and Allison (who I was with in the previous camp--Allison says to say that she is wicked awesome) are nice...they are actually a couple, so we lucked out when the director decided to let us all stay at her apartment. Originally, only 3 of the 4 tutors were supposed to stay with her and one elsewhere. They wouldn't split up the couple--meaning that either Alison or I would have to be the third wheel. Fortunately, the camp director is awesome and found a way to let us all stay there. It is actually pretty crazy--she just gave us her apartment (she is staying in her mother's apartment nearby). Its all very cool.
Yesterday we headed north to see the traghetto (a sort of a boat) that Leonardo Da Vinci designed that crosses the Adda river. It was nice to get out of the city and we got to meet some of her friends which was pretty cool.
Today was our first day of camp..I am workign with the red group which is the same age I worked with last week. The kids are better behaved her but not as cute. So it is kinda a trade off. Allison and I are the experienced tutors, so it feels like more work that it was the past two weeks. And our directors (we have two here) aren't as involved as Tannith was. So yea, I'm exhausted.
Ingrid is also in Milan, but at a different camp. Hopefully we will be able to meet up soon.
That is it. I am crazy hungry, very tired, and nasty sweaty.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The next two weeks...
So today I found out where I am going next. And of course it is the one place I had said that I didn't want to go to---Milan. Super.
Bad news: 1. The camp has been around for a long time so the kids already know all the songs and games so we have to be really creative. 2. The camp has all the different english levels jammed into 4 classes (for example one class has three different levels in one class---that is far far far too many). 3. Its in the smack dab center of Milan--a nasty ass industrial city that doesn't feel a thing like the rest of Italy. 4. Its another 2 week camp and I was really hoping for just a week camp.
Good news: 1. Another tutor at my camp here, Alison will be going to the same camp as me. First off she's nice and second off she studied in Milan so she knows all the places to go. 2. Although we are doing home stays for the first week (could be awesome or awful) the second week we are staying in an apartment with all the tutors together (aka party central).
So even though I'm bummed I'm going to Milan and there are some shitty circumstances. All things concidered, I still think it will be really fun. I really feel like I lucked out. If I had to be sent to Milan, I'm happy I'm being sent with Alison and that we get an apartment the second week. We are already planning on going clubbing and drinking too much. Joy!
Bad news: 1. The camp has been around for a long time so the kids already know all the songs and games so we have to be really creative. 2. The camp has all the different english levels jammed into 4 classes (for example one class has three different levels in one class---that is far far far too many). 3. Its in the smack dab center of Milan--a nasty ass industrial city that doesn't feel a thing like the rest of Italy. 4. Its another 2 week camp and I was really hoping for just a week camp.
Good news: 1. Another tutor at my camp here, Alison will be going to the same camp as me. First off she's nice and second off she studied in Milan so she knows all the places to go. 2. Although we are doing home stays for the first week (could be awesome or awful) the second week we are staying in an apartment with all the tutors together (aka party central).
So even though I'm bummed I'm going to Milan and there are some shitty circumstances. All things concidered, I still think it will be really fun. I really feel like I lucked out. If I had to be sent to Milan, I'm happy I'm being sent with Alison and that we get an apartment the second week. We are already planning on going clubbing and drinking too much. Joy!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Let's make this quick
Hokey so,
The rest of last week went alright. The kids weren't too awful and we had some fun.
Now to this weekend:
On Saturday we (my host family and I) tried to go for a bike ride, were out about 10 minutes and then it started raining. So we rode to a nearby park that has tents set up for us to huddle under. Of course instead of waiting it out like we hoped to the rain turned into full on pounding rain, with lightning and thunder. A bit upsetting since I wanted to bike but it was all very very pretty and a really fun experience. Everyone ws at the park--including my student from last week Gloria and her parents, and my old student Giovanni. Too cute. Nicola (the father) came and picked us up in the car. Thank goodness. That night we had a meal with all of us tutors, our host families, and the director. We all had pizza--I had kebab pizza, it was a bit strange.
On Sunday all of us tutors and the director drove to Lago Garda in the hopes that the weather would be better there. No dice. Still crazy rain, too much wind, and of course I got car sick. All the same, it was very pretty, and I'll probably put up photos later this week. On our way back we stopped off at one of the largest malls in Europe (based outside of Bergamo). And it was a mall (aka pretty lame).
Today was my first day teaching the red group (aprox. ages 9-11). They are all awesome, except for one student, Davide.He spends the entire time yelling and disobeying me. It is one thing to totally not respect me but to keep it to yourself, this kid does not hide his disrespect at all and by the afternoon I was pretty fed up with kids in general. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to last a little longer before wanting to kill someone. Bleh. Besides him, it is a good class. They are all pretty bright and they all are attentive and sweet.
That is it for now. I'll write again later in the week.
S
The rest of last week went alright. The kids weren't too awful and we had some fun.
Now to this weekend:
On Saturday we (my host family and I) tried to go for a bike ride, were out about 10 minutes and then it started raining. So we rode to a nearby park that has tents set up for us to huddle under. Of course instead of waiting it out like we hoped to the rain turned into full on pounding rain, with lightning and thunder. A bit upsetting since I wanted to bike but it was all very very pretty and a really fun experience. Everyone ws at the park--including my student from last week Gloria and her parents, and my old student Giovanni. Too cute. Nicola (the father) came and picked us up in the car. Thank goodness. That night we had a meal with all of us tutors, our host families, and the director. We all had pizza--I had kebab pizza, it was a bit strange.
On Sunday all of us tutors and the director drove to Lago Garda in the hopes that the weather would be better there. No dice. Still crazy rain, too much wind, and of course I got car sick. All the same, it was very pretty, and I'll probably put up photos later this week. On our way back we stopped off at one of the largest malls in Europe (based outside of Bergamo). And it was a mall (aka pretty lame).
Today was my first day teaching the red group (aprox. ages 9-11). They are all awesome, except for one student, Davide.He spends the entire time yelling and disobeying me. It is one thing to totally not respect me but to keep it to yourself, this kid does not hide his disrespect at all and by the afternoon I was pretty fed up with kids in general. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to last a little longer before wanting to kill someone. Bleh. Besides him, it is a good class. They are all pretty bright and they all are attentive and sweet.
That is it for now. I'll write again later in the week.
S
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Three days down...only 5.5 more weeks of teaching to go...
Okay so, teaching...
Yea. So if you asked me yesterday what I felt about it, I would have told you that I'm having a lot of fun--making some mistakes, but all in all, enjoying myself. Today it didn't go too smoothly and it is going to totally color this post.
Mostly its just hard to get anything done when you are teaching and the children don't understand 90% of the things you say. So you break it down--make everything smaller. You don't say "what color is this?" you say "what color?" or even "what?" & point. meh. But the langauge barrier isn't awful except when we do things in a large group. Today that is mostly what we were doing. I had to entertain children for like 30 minutes by myself when the other tutors were getting things ready and it just drained me and made me feel like a complete dumbass. It is nearly impossible to convey anything to 40+ kids when they don't understand your language. So yea, not a great day. Oh, and to make matters worse, I didn't get much sleep last night. And one of my kids is overly clingly and is always hanging off of me and it is getting on my nerves. I know I shouldn't be all peeved. But honestly, I don't mind hugging or holding hands, but doing it constantly is just weird.
Despite my bitching, I lucked out. Our camp director is English so she speaks perfect English. Most camp directors are Italian and have very limited English so the tutors have to go just as slow with them as they do with the children. On top of being fluent, Tannith (our director) used to also be a tutor with A.C.L.E. so she knows what we need help with/when to back of/how we are feeling. So, in sum, she is amazing, and we are soo lucky.
Speaking of Tannith, she took us (being the tutors) and our two assistants (two native Italians that speak very good English) to Bergamo on Monday. We went to the città alta (which is the old city--lit. translation the high city because it is above the new city). There is an interesting story that goes along with la città alta. So there was this total badass ruler who was so badass people used to say he had three balls. And so there are litteraly three balls on the Bergamo crest. Check out my facebook pictures for some pictures of his three balls on local gates. It is just strange. If I hadn't seen them myself I would have thought she was lying. Anywho, the città alta was very cool...very pretty. So all in all, despite today, I have been enjoying myself.
Okay I am tired of typing....I was going to try to put a link up to my facebook. But I can't figure out copy/paste on this crazy Italian keyboard...so I will try to type it. If this link doesn't work, oh well...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2299115&id=6710589&1=4cbd1ffd2f
Sarah
Yea. So if you asked me yesterday what I felt about it, I would have told you that I'm having a lot of fun--making some mistakes, but all in all, enjoying myself. Today it didn't go too smoothly and it is going to totally color this post.
Mostly its just hard to get anything done when you are teaching and the children don't understand 90% of the things you say. So you break it down--make everything smaller. You don't say "what color is this?" you say "what color?" or even "what?" & point. meh. But the langauge barrier isn't awful except when we do things in a large group. Today that is mostly what we were doing. I had to entertain children for like 30 minutes by myself when the other tutors were getting things ready and it just drained me and made me feel like a complete dumbass. It is nearly impossible to convey anything to 40+ kids when they don't understand your language. So yea, not a great day. Oh, and to make matters worse, I didn't get much sleep last night. And one of my kids is overly clingly and is always hanging off of me and it is getting on my nerves. I know I shouldn't be all peeved. But honestly, I don't mind hugging or holding hands, but doing it constantly is just weird.
Despite my bitching, I lucked out. Our camp director is English so she speaks perfect English. Most camp directors are Italian and have very limited English so the tutors have to go just as slow with them as they do with the children. On top of being fluent, Tannith (our director) used to also be a tutor with A.C.L.E. so she knows what we need help with/when to back of/how we are feeling. So, in sum, she is amazing, and we are soo lucky.
Speaking of Tannith, she took us (being the tutors) and our two assistants (two native Italians that speak very good English) to Bergamo on Monday. We went to the città alta (which is the old city--lit. translation the high city because it is above the new city). There is an interesting story that goes along with la città alta. So there was this total badass ruler who was so badass people used to say he had three balls. And so there are litteraly three balls on the Bergamo crest. Check out my facebook pictures for some pictures of his three balls on local gates. It is just strange. If I hadn't seen them myself I would have thought she was lying. Anywho, the città alta was very cool...very pretty. So all in all, despite today, I have been enjoying myself.
Okay I am tired of typing....I was going to try to put a link up to my facebook. But I can't figure out copy/paste on this crazy Italian keyboard...so I will try to type it. If this link doesn't work, oh well...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2299115&id=6710589&1=4cbd1ffd2f
Sarah
Sunday, June 13, 2010
back in italy
WARNING: I am unable to spellcheck in English...so I appologise for my spelling...
So I haven't writen in this blog for two years. Two years since I went anywhere that was truly adventursome. But here I am, back in Italy.
So this adventure started with me arriving in Milan. I stayed there two nights before heading to San Remo. During the day I went to the duomo, the piazza della Scala (and boy, do I want to go see an opera there just so I can go into La Scala), and the castel Sforza. All of which were kinda cool since I've studied a bit of Milan Renassiance art and history, but for hte most part I have decided that I am not a fan of Milan. Not to mention I realized that even though traveling by oneself they get to do as they please, it is also quite lonely....So...then I was off to San Remo...
As you all know, I'm here working for an organization called A.C.L.E. They have English immersion camps set up all over Italy, and last week I had a week long orientation to learn how to teach English to none native speakers.
The orienation went alright. I made friends with a few of the people, but I was for the most part the shy person I am when I'm surrounded by people I don't know. Or at least I was until they served us wine every night at dinner. = )
Anywho, that is all good and done and now I have been shipped out to Nembro, a town near Bergamo (in Lombardy). Camp starts tomorrow and I was practically quaking in my boots a few hours ago. But since then I have sat down and made lesson plans and I feel so much better already. I'll be teaching the post-beginner, pre-elementary age level (ages 8-10), so keep your fingers crossed that I won't make a complete ass of my self.
So, here in Nembro I am staying with a host family--two parents and three kids. And then a bunch of lively family that live nearby. The brother of the father lives nearby and today I met his girlfriend. In a house in the back (which actually extends above my host family's) is where the father's parents live. They don't speak a word of English, but they are awesome. His father makes a bunch of jokes (only some of which I understand). However, when I do understand, he always gives me a little wink. It is just so cute.
Anyways...my host family is great. The mother understands English pretty well but is embaressed to speak, and the father doesn't understand much but loves to speak, so it is a pretty great house to be placed in. The kids understand very very limited English. I'll have the eldest in my class tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. As for the kids--there is Camilla (the oldest--and she is a total sweetheart), Fillipo (who is currently sick and just today went to the hospital), and a two year old named Ciara (whom I absolutely adore---she doesn't really speak any language, just invents her own, and it rocks).
Okay, that is it for now, I have to get back to preparing for my class.
Baci e amore,
Sarah
So I haven't writen in this blog for two years. Two years since I went anywhere that was truly adventursome. But here I am, back in Italy.
So this adventure started with me arriving in Milan. I stayed there two nights before heading to San Remo. During the day I went to the duomo, the piazza della Scala (and boy, do I want to go see an opera there just so I can go into La Scala), and the castel Sforza. All of which were kinda cool since I've studied a bit of Milan Renassiance art and history, but for hte most part I have decided that I am not a fan of Milan. Not to mention I realized that even though traveling by oneself they get to do as they please, it is also quite lonely....So...then I was off to San Remo...
As you all know, I'm here working for an organization called A.C.L.E. They have English immersion camps set up all over Italy, and last week I had a week long orientation to learn how to teach English to none native speakers.
The orienation went alright. I made friends with a few of the people, but I was for the most part the shy person I am when I'm surrounded by people I don't know. Or at least I was until they served us wine every night at dinner. = )
Anywho, that is all good and done and now I have been shipped out to Nembro, a town near Bergamo (in Lombardy). Camp starts tomorrow and I was practically quaking in my boots a few hours ago. But since then I have sat down and made lesson plans and I feel so much better already. I'll be teaching the post-beginner, pre-elementary age level (ages 8-10), so keep your fingers crossed that I won't make a complete ass of my self.
So, here in Nembro I am staying with a host family--two parents and three kids. And then a bunch of lively family that live nearby. The brother of the father lives nearby and today I met his girlfriend. In a house in the back (which actually extends above my host family's) is where the father's parents live. They don't speak a word of English, but they are awesome. His father makes a bunch of jokes (only some of which I understand). However, when I do understand, he always gives me a little wink. It is just so cute.
Anyways...my host family is great. The mother understands English pretty well but is embaressed to speak, and the father doesn't understand much but loves to speak, so it is a pretty great house to be placed in. The kids understand very very limited English. I'll have the eldest in my class tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. As for the kids--there is Camilla (the oldest--and she is a total sweetheart), Fillipo (who is currently sick and just today went to the hospital), and a two year old named Ciara (whom I absolutely adore---she doesn't really speak any language, just invents her own, and it rocks).
Okay, that is it for now, I have to get back to preparing for my class.
Baci e amore,
Sarah
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