So. Here we go. I've got this whole notebook bursting with words. I figure it's time to share. This blog entry will consist of the best (and when I say best, I don't mean highest quality writing, I mean what I feel like typing up as I go through reading it) from my notebook, accompanied with real images from its actual pages. I'm sorry if this isn't interesting, but I'm sure it's better than nothing. Ready? Go.
October 26th: ... Another thing that is making me sleepy is the weather. Yesterday and today have been one because onstage during (I have no idea what I was just saying there) The sentence was supposed to be: Yesterday have been very rainy and gloomy. (Oh my gosh, what's wrong with me?) I mean "Yesterday and today have been very rainy and gloomy." Okay - YES. Gosh, I can't even write a simple sentence and I know it's because I'm so sleepy.
November 3rd: ... One of the most relaxing times of my daily routing here in Italy is when I ride the bus home and listen to my iPod. The best is when the bus isn't that busy and I actually get a seat. I can gaze out the windows at the passing scenery and play relaxing music and it's great. That time of day is approaching. I'm ready for it now. Come on Philosophy class. End already!
November 4th: I got to miss Physics to help my English teacher in class 1L again. They read a text about Halloween. It got some facts wrong, like it said that in the United States kids always wear their costumes and masks to school on Halloween. I explained that that was wrong and told them some about what it's really like. They wanted to know about my costumes from past years, so I ended up having to explain what hippies are, which led to an explanation of the Vietnam War and all that.
November 10th: I've been using my Italian mini-dictionary a lot lately and trying to always answer in Italian, no matter what language people address me in. I've been here two months as of yesterday and it feels like way more and way less at the same time. They say you'll probably start understanding everything by the time you finish your third month, but I don't feel like I'm learning fast enough to be that far that soon. It's hard, and I'm learning so so much, but it's an entire language and I can only learn so much at a time...
... I really want to go home for just a week. I want to eat a good hamburger, some goat cheese, peaches, a ham and American cheese sandwich on plain old wheat bread. My mom's squash casserole. Campbell's soup - bean & bacon, chicken noodle, creamy tomato. I want cream of chicken soup with rice. I want (cheddar) cheesy grits, because polenta is similar, but not the same. I want Mexican food: chips and salsa, pollo con crema from El Cancun, quesadillas from Moe's. I want curry chicken and beef & broccoli from that Chinese restaurant by the grocery store. I want honey-baked ham and deviled eggs and asparagus with hollandaise sauce like we have on Easter. Stouffer's macaroni and cheese. Aunt April's macaroni and cheese. Chick-Filet. A Wendy's milkshake. Baked potato salad from Jasmine cafe. Oh gosh. A starbucks frappucino. Chocolate chip cookies. Daddy's Love-You-Long-Time noodles. OHHHHH GOSH.
November 12th: Here's something I'm learning: An exchange student can't be passive. I might learn Italian eventually just from listening and saying what I need to say, but I think it's a whole lot better if I actively try to push it along. This means in spare moments I need to take out my notes from Italian lessons, take out my dictionary and teach myself something. More often, I need to do what I just did and try writing a sentence and then get a classmate to either tell me it's right or help me correct it. I need to look up words I've been wondering about, write them down and learn them.
November 14th: Last night, all I had for dinner was a cup of hot tea. While I drank it, I watched a cooking show and I still did not want anything to eat. It was the first time in my life I can recall watching chefs prepare glorious gourmet meals and not wanting even a single bite. But I wasn't sick or losing my mind or turning into a different person. I was just still completely full from The Greatest Lunch Ever.
November 17th: One good thing in my life is that yesterday I bought some nail polish in the center and I painted my nails and I like the color and the way it looks. It is a soft, muted shade of purple.
November 18th: I just had an Italian lesson with 1L. We mostly just sat and talked and they taught me some Italian. I like going to that class because they make me feel like a celebrity. When I walk in they explode into "CHANDLER! CHANDLER! CHANDLER!" It's neat. Maybe something of it has to do with the fact that they're younger than the other classes. They aren't "too cool to get excited about the American exchange student" yet. We talked about things like discos and Harry Potter. There's this one kid in that class who cracks me up because every time he starts a sentence in English, he begins with "First of all..." I am in a much better mood today than I was yesterday, even though this morning I did PE and it was horrible. I'll tell you all about it when I feel like complaining... This evening I am going to the theatre with my class. I think I might have aperitivo or dinner or something with some of the girls beforehand, so that's exciting!
... An observation: teachers just love BANGING on the desk to get attention or make a point or display dissatisfaction. They BANG on the desk with their fists. It always startles me.
... I just helped my friend Sara write a letter in English to a university in Milan that she wants to go to. I helped make it SUPER good. Hopefully they will be extremely impressed. I hope she gets in because she seems to want to go there very badly.
December 1st: ... When I am totally finished with college applications, I'm going to start reading again. I'm going to start reading again. I was doing well for a while there. I finished five books within a couple weeks. But lately I've been so busy and I only get few a few pages at a time before I'm distracted by the realization that something desperately needs doing. I miss reading when I don't read. I want to read a book in Italian. I saw that Rijuta was reading one. I think she must be more advanced with Italian than I am. I don't want to be behind. I know everyone learns at different speeds, but maybe if I pushed myself a LITTLE harder, I'd learn faster. I can't explain how much I'm dying to be fluent in Italian. I know there isn't an exact definition of fluency, but I want to be able to speak and understand without any problems. I am so terrified that I'm just never going to catch on and I'll have to go home before I get as advanced as I want to be...
Ciao! -Chandler
