#31 Exchange Student Tag

Hi guys! I've decided to do this tag so you can get to know me and my adventure a bit better.

❤ What is your name, age, nationality and company?
I'm Emma, I'm 17 (18 next month), I'm from Italy. My Italian travel organization is WEP and my American one is CHI. I give you the links if you are interested in taking a look at their websites.

https://www.wep.org/

https://www.chinet.org/


❤ Where are you living your exchange year?
I'm currently in the United States, in the city of Salem in the state of Oregon, on the west coast.


❤ Why did you decide to be an exchange student?
There were always some exchange students in my Italian high school from different places every year and I always admired them just for being there. Two years ago I met this Austrian girl and she told me the name of her organization so I did some researches, read a loooot of blogs, spoken with a loooot of people, did a loooot of things and here I am. I needed to do this to go beyond my limits and experience something new, and I can promise you it's completely worthwhile.


❤ What did you think when you first stepped out of the plane?
I think I already mentioned it in another post, but anyway, once I stepped out of the plane my only thought was to find my luggage. You should know that before departing I had all the plans in my mind about what to do at the airport, so as soon as I walked out of the plane my mind was set with "Find your luggage and then find your family". It probably sounds crazy but I wasn't ready to see them before my luggage.


❤ What is the weirdest thing you have tasted so far?
It might sound banal but I have to say that the weirdest thing for me was pineapple pizza. You have to understand that as a small, innocent Italian I had just heard about this myth of pineapple on my beloved pizza. Well, after almost 10 months in the U.S....I like it. Yes I actually really enjoy pineapple on pizza or on everywhere else.


❤ How do you like the school in your host country?
I really like some aspects of American high schools but I also think that there are some lacks in thus system. Students are provided a wide range of courses of all kinds (from cooking classes to pottery and mythology, forensic science and engineering) and of all levels (from basic math to college classes), the only problem is that it's all really simplified and since students are not required to take all the classes they don't really have a general basic culture of a little bit of everything. I'm not talking about all the students, because those ones who want to learn are really prepared, but I have the impression that they are not enough.
I like the fact that teachers focus more on working in class than giving a bunch of homework and the relationships teachers-students are completely the opposite of what we have in Italy. I also love that the school supports and encourages sports and other extracurricular activities like clubs or others.
Overall though, I have to say that the Italian system is really strict and it requires to study hard, but it also prepares students better. (Personal opinion)... just to be clear this doesn't mean that I'm missing my Italian school. Not at all.


❤ How do people dress in your host country (in your opinion)?
At school everyone can wear what he/she wants. No one id going to judge you if you show up in your pijama or in green and bright pink. I noticed that at school people dress up either really casual or really fancy. (because America is either all or nothing hahaha).


❤ If your exchange year was a song, what would it be?
Probably I Lived by the One Republic. Listen to it and you'll get why.


❤ How do you imagine the day you are going home?
Well, this may be even crazier than the luggage thing. I had a dream about me going home. In this dream I was looking at myself from the outside, meaning my point of view was as an outsider watching what was going on. I dreamed myself open the front door of my house in Italy, stepping inside with all my stuff, seating on the new couch that my parents bought while I was here, and just looking around completely lost for who knows how long.


P.S. 21 days til graduation.

#30 Prom

Festeggiamo il 30esimo post di questo blog cooooon....un bel post sul Prom. Quando sono arrivata qua ad agosto quel giorno sembrava lontano anni luce, un miraggio e una specie di coronazione di quest'esperienza. Ho passato ore ad immaginarmi quanto magico sarebbe stato ed ora eccomi qua, due settimane dopo, a realizzare quanto tutto stia passando velocemente.
Vediamo se riesco a riassumere tutto e darvi un'idea di come è stato.

1. LE PROVE
E si ragazzi, non pensate di arrivare il giorno del ballo e non avere un piano d'azione per la giornata! Mercoledi' 19 Chiara e io abbiamo passato il pomeriggio a fare le prove per le acconciature con tanto di piastra e trecce di qua e di la'. Alla fine ho deciso di farmi fare solo i boccoli cosi' non avevo da stare li ad aggiustarmi ogni cinque minuti. Venerdi' invece la mia fantastica, e I mean really really awesome host mum mi ha cucito la chiusura del vestito dietro, l'ho provato ed era perfetto.

2. LA PREPARAZIONE

Sabato 22 mattina mi sono svegliata intorno alle dieci, fatto colazione, skypato con la mia migliore amica, e poi ho cominciato a girare per casa a fare cose a caso perche' non volevo cominciare a prepararmi troppo presto. SBAGLIATO! Prima cominciate meglio e'! A mezzogiorno mi sono lavata profumata e ho cominciato a truccarmi. Mi raccomando se i capelli ve li nfate da sole lavateli la sera prima e non il giorno stesso se no non stanno. Chiara e' arrivata a casa mia verso le due, sua mamma si e' occupata del suo trucco ed era veramente wow. Dovevamo uscire verso le tre per andare a fare le foto al parco, ma ovviamente ci abbiamo messo anni a farci i boccoli e quinzi siamo uscite quasi alle quattro.

Non vi dico per farmi stare su il vestito che abbiamo dovuto inventarci, non so perche' ma la sera prima andava bene e poi sabato cascava! Allora mia mamma con tanto di ago e filo mi ha letteramente cucito il vestito addosso, e poi siamo dovute andare al supermercato a comprare il tape per vestiti per farlo stare su. Ce l'hanno fatta i nostri eroi? Ebbene si, come notate dalle foto e' andata bene hahahaha.

3. SERVIZIO FOTOGRAFICO

Dico solo una cosa: 642 foto, 2 parchi, tanto divertimento e quattro fratellini annoiati a morte haha.

4. LA CENA

Anche per questa dovrete avere un piano, perche' tutti vanno a cena fuori  prima del Prom, quindi dovrete assolutamente prenotare in anticipo per non trovarsi poi con tutti i ristoranti vicini alla location pieni. Io sono andata con un gruppo di amici alla Spaghetti Warehouse. Bocciato alla grande ma va be e' la cmpagnia che conta. Consiglio vivamente di non abbuffarsi se il vestito vi sta stretto o giusto, e anche perche' poi dovrete ballare.

4. PROM 💜

Finalmente alle 8:30 siamo saliti al secondo piano del Red Opera Downtown Mall, dove c'era una pista da ballo, un dj, dei tavoli e un angolo con il fotografo allestiti per la nostra scuola. Le decorazioni erano semplici ma d'effetto e il posto era abbastanza piccolo per il numero di persone ma non aveva molta importanza.

Subito siamo andate a farci fotografare e poi via alle danze fino a mezzanotte! Si lo so e' assurdo che il ballo di fine anno sia dalle 8 alle 12, ma qua va cosi'. C'era per lo piu' musica pop intervallata da lenti smielati.

5. AFTER

Siccome a mezzanotte it was over, io Swantje Jocelyn e Chiara abbiamo deciso di andare al bowling per una partita veloce e poi Jocelyn ci ha riaccompagnato a casa. Sono andata a dormire alle 2 e la mattina dopo ho dormito fino alle 11, per me e' una conquista considerando che non dormivo fino a cosi' tardi da mesi.

6. SUMMARY

E' stato un giorno bellissimo, mi sono divertita tanto nonostante almeno il mio prom non sia stato davvero come quello che mostrano nei film, ma alla fine quasi niente lo e'. Ah e ultima cosa, non rinunciate ad andare al prom solo perche' non avete un date, tante persone sono nella vostra stessa situazione e secondo me e anche meglio perche' cosi' potete stare con i vostri amici.

E se siete un exchange student dovete per forza andare al prom. Punto.

It's picture tiiiiiime ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

me and my dwarfs

don't judge my shoes

Gli italiani stereotipati non potevano certo mancare

#29 Mente aperta

Eccola qua, e' gia' iniziata. Quella sensazione che senti dentro, che ti stringe lo stomaco e ti fa venire il groppo in gola. Quella sensazione che non sai cos'e' e se e quando arrivera'. Sono sicura che ogni exchange student sa di cosa sto parlando, e se siete un futuro exchange o semplicemente state leggendo questo post perche' non avete nient'altro da fare (o perche' sono coooosi brava e coinvolgente e vi manco talmente tanto che leggete il mio blog ahahah sure) cerchero' di spiegarlo come riesco.
Non si tratta necessariamente di una sensazione negativa, ma nuova  e diversa da qualsiasi altra. La sensazione che quando tornero' non riusciro' a far capire alle persone a cui tengo che cosa ho provato, che quando mi chiederanno "Allora com'e' l'America?" "Dai raccontami qualcosa di strano sugli americani!" io non riusciro' a trasmettere che cosa voglio veramente, che cosa significa, che cosa mi ha cambiato.
Mi assale la paura di ritrovarmi da sola seduta sul mio letto nella mia cameretta in Italia, guardarmi attorno e semplicemente chiedermi "E adesso?".
A questo punto dell'esperienza comincio a capire veramente che cosa vuola dire quella frase che ho letto talmente tante volte

perche' veramente tu arrivi qua, ce la metti tutta per integrarti e quando finalmente ce la fai...boom back home. E lo so che qua ci potro sempre tornare poi, e non e che non rivedro mai piu' nessuno, pero' non rivivro' mai MAI quello che sto vivendo adesso, e questa cosa per quanto normale sembri e' difficilissima da accettare.

 La consapevolezza di aver vissuto una realta' completamente diversa, aver esplorato una cultura cosi' lontana da casa ma ormai cosi' vicina a me.
La paura di sentirmi da sola perche' nessuno capira' cosa ho provato. Fortunatamente ho l'impressione che mia mamma un po mi capisca, dato che anche lei ha vissuto all'estero e ad esempio le racconto cose che a me spiazzano lei non si scompone una virgola hahaha. Poi mi dice sempre "Mente aperta Emma, mente aperta", che e' diventato un po' il mio motto.

Cambiando discorso lo scorso weekend ho finalmente trovato il vestito per il Prom, pagandolo solo 10$. Grazie ad una cordinatrice della mia organizzazione partner ho trovato questo evento in una citta' non lontano da salem. Era un negozio che solo per un giorno offriva tantissimi vestiti costosi e di marca, donati a questa associazione, a soli 10$. Siamo stati in coda per tipo un'ora emmezza  ed e' stando in coda che ho notato questo bellissimo vestito in vetrina sul manichino. Mi sono venuti gli occhi a cuoricino e quando l'ho provato e' stato amore. Ne ho provati tanti altri ma quello era semplicemente gia' mio.
No non ve la posto la foto del vestito, dovrete aspettare il Prom!

PROM: In the United States a prom, is a semi-formal (black tie) dance or gathering of high school students. This event is typically held near the end of the senior year (the last year of high school). Proms figure greatly in popular culture and are major events among high school students. 


In the US Prom is a BIG thing.
















P.S. Ci stiamo attrezzando per andare a fare Paintball  *EXCITEMENT*

#28 Spokane and Spring Break

I apologize for the delay, I really want to post but I've kind of the idea that every time I do it...it means that another chapter of this adventure is closing, and believe me it's so overwhelming...

Spokane volleyball tournament was a success! We placed fourth out of forty!(we would have been third if they didn't count the sets)
My spring break started a day earlier, on Thursday 23rd, so that we had time to drive up to Spokane, in Washington before the tournament started on Friday. it's a 7 hours drive... but it took us 12 hours hahaha.
Driving there we stopped first at a big mall in Clackamas where we did a little bit of shopping, and then we did a stop at one of the little lake on the Washington border. It was pretty cool.
The hotel was a little room rental place, really nice. Our room had three big rooms and there was also a little kitchen. We played every day three games, so we were done always around 3pm.
On Saturday we went to the main park in Spokane downtown and saw the big red wagon, ne of the symbol of the city. reaaally cool too! After that we went out for dinner we all the team and parents at Buffalo Wild Wings. I think so far is one of my favorite restaurant eheh, the chicken is ssoo good. By the way another restaurant that I really like is Chipotle, a Mexican place.
Anyway, the last day of the tournament was awesome, we won or brackets and the championship match against a team from Texas. Fortunately we had the room for Saturday night too, so we didn't have to rush home after the tournament was over.
We went to dinner at a sushi place and everybody enjoyed it, even my hostdad that never really appreciated sushi!
It's been an amazing three day weekend <3, I couldn't have asked for any better.

The rest of Spring Break was more low key since we ended up not going to Southern Oregon as we've planned to. the family of friends hat we were supposed to go to was sick, so we'll go down there another time, when I'm gonna have a Friday or a Monday off from school.
Last Saturday I went shopping in Eugene with my mum and her sister, and on Sunday me and my family went to Tillamook, to the cheese factory and to the beach. It was a nice one day trip, and I got to put my feet in the ocean for the first time of 2017!

#27 Travel

I found this quote some time ago: "Travel, it leaves you speechless and then turns you in a storyteller". Mi ha fatto pensare tanto a cosa vuol dire davvero viaggiare. Non è soltanto voler vedere posti nuovi perché sono belli, è qualcosa di diverso, di più profondo, viaggiare è un po come cercare di ampliare i propri orizzonti. Che tu lo voglia oppure no, se viaggi e vivi in posti diversi da quelli in cui sei cresciuto cambia il tuo modo di vedere le cose, cambia il tuo modo di vedere le persone e cambi tu. Capisci tante cose di te stesso che prima non sapevi oppure davi per scontate.
Quello che voglio dire è che se ne avete la possibilità viaggiate, andate, partite e scoprite cose nuove. E se non ne avete la possibilità ma volete, non smettete di provarci, inseguite questa voglia di andare al di là di quello che già conoscete; perché alla fine noi siamo quello in cui crediamo, ci comportiamo in base a quello che sogniamo e che abbiamo sperimentato.
So per certo che al mio ritorno ai miei occhi tante cose saranno diverse, so che sarò più sicura di me e più indipendente, e nonostante le difficolta auguro questa esperienza a ognuno di voi. Ci sono tanti modi per uscire dalle nostre aree di comfort e capire di più su noi stessi. Si tratta poi anche di riuscire a trovare i propri equilibri, magari nuovi equilibri, con quella cosa pazzesca che spaventa tanta gente: lo SPIRITO DI ADATTAMENTO. La vera sfida e' imparare ad apprezzare cose nuove e adattarsi ad un modo diverso di fare e pensare le cose. All'inizio si etichetta tutto come "diverso", perche' non e' come lo abbiamo sempre visto o provato, ma dopo un po' diventa normale e quando pensi a come facevi prima e' quello che ti sembra diverso. E alla fine quindi capisci che e' tutta questione di prospettiva, una prospettiva che si amplia sempre di piu' e ti fa sentire piccolo rispetto a quanto e' grande il mondo.
Per farvi un esempio pratico vi spiego un esperienza personale: quando sento mia mamma al telefono le dico sempre che mi manca mia sorella, e lei mi risponde sempre che non capisce perche' abbiamo praticamente come tutte le sorelle non siamo mai andate troppo d'accordo, sia perche' abbiamo abbiamo 5 anni di differenza sia per altro. E le do tutte la ragione del mondo, ma e' proprio quando ti mancano le cose che davi per scontate che capisci quanto sono importanti. Sento che mia sorella sta crescendo tanto mentre io non ci sono e mi dispiace non essere li, mi manca averla nella camera accanto e mi manca litigare per cosa guardare in tv. Ah e Bianca non ti preoccupare che non mi lamentero' mai piu' delle carte della merenda sul tavolino (maybe). Non vedo l'ora di riabbracciarla e di recuperare non solo quest'anno ma anche quelli prima.

Dato che mi sento poetica vi lascio con un pezzo di una canzone di Marco Mengoni che mi piace tanto tanto.

"Mi sentirei di dirti
Che il viaggio cambia un uomo
E il punto di partenza
Sembra ormai così lontano
La meta non è un posto
Ma è quello che proviamo
E non sappiamo dove
Nè quando ci arriviamo"


P.S. Post on Volleyball tournment and updates coming soon! Se avete suggerimenti o idee su argomenti che potrei trattare in particolare o volete chiedermi qualsiasi cosa relativa alla mia esperienza commentate qua sotto <3

#26 Vegas baby

I am currently on the flight from the layover in San Francisco to Portland. I'll probably post this tomorrow when I can check everything with my laptop.

I'm going in chronological order otherwise I know I'll make a mess.

This long weekend in Las Vegas for the volleyball tournament was one of the best vacation of my life. No kidding.

Friday morning I left Salem at 2:30am, me and my mum got my poor four sleepy siblings in the van and she drove me to the airport up in Portland (an hour away). When we got there she said "Remember that what happens in Vegas does not stays in Vegas" and "Do not get married over there because it is an actual marriage as everywhere else!" Hahahahaha, she was joking of course....I think.

Anyway, I took off around 4:30, after having had the best Capuccino I've had since I'm here, and around 7 I landed in San Francisco. I was so disappointed because the weather was really foggy and rainy, so I didn't get to see anything out of my window.

After half an hour layover, that I spend running from one gate to another one (San Francisco airport is huge) I got on the second flight for Laaaaaas Veeeegas baby.

As soon as I got there I saw slot machines everywhere hahaha, literally everywhere  (I noticed a small one in the restroom too). Heading out I met with two of my team mates and we walked out in order to wait for parents to pick us up. 

The house that we rented was exactly American/Las Vegas style: big, beautiful and.....with a POOL AND A HOT TUB! Omg I didn't know that until I got there. The vacation just started and I was already unable to contain my excitement.

We took a nap in the afternoon and waited for everyone to arrive. In the evening we went shopping to a big mall. I almost cried when I found Kiko makeup store, it was 7 months since I've seen one and it's so cheap compared to other brands popular here.

Some girls looked for prom dresses and then we came back to the house.

Saturday was first day of the tournament. We played in one of the three big pavilions of the Global Market Center. It sounds really cool but it wasn't actually, it was raining so much that it started leaking on the courts and every minute we had to grab a towel and soak up the water in order not to kill ourselves slipping on it. Also at a certain point, who knows why, the fire alarm started and didn't stop for at least twenty minutes. I'm glad we weren't playing but reefing (still got headache though). We played three teams and none of the matches went well. Sunday though was awesome! We won all three matches and had so much fun. We went to In 'n Out for dinner, a famous fast food really popular in California and other states. It was pretty good and cheap but I'm still not a fan of burgers and fries. I also got my dad a shirt of this year of the place, he said he loves In 'n Out so I hope he likes it.

On Monday we had a single, which means that if you lose you're out, well we lost. At around 2pm we were done so we went to the nearest outlet to shop and have lunch.

Since we had a little bit of time we had fun in the pool until it was too cold outside. 

Finally we started getting ready for the night. We went to the strip, meaning downtown of Las Vegas (center). One of the best day ever. Really walking through all those high skyscrapers and shiny billboards was great. We went to the New York  City part and we did the roller coaster, we went into the Bellagio Hotel, we walked through the gambling areas in the casinos, we saw the mini Eiffel tower. It was so cool. For dinner we went to Hard Rock Cafe and the owner/manager(/I don't know who he was) told us that we could go upstairs in the private concerts area.

We were all soo happy and we couldn't believe that we were there. It was like a dream. We went on the backstage and sat on the same couch where famous people like Imagine Dragons, Justin Bieber, Nirvana and so many others hang out before performing.

 After that (felt like a dream I promise you) we started our tour in the Strip and we walked in a lot of fancy hotel and Casinos. We watched the fountain show in front of the Bellagio Hotel and then we saw the world largest chocolate fountain. Everything was so big and shiny!

We were home around 2 and we were so much tired but so so happy. And that's not even all!

Next day since my flight was at 4, in the morning I went to the famous Las Vegas sign to take pictures and we visited the Pyramid Hotel and the Mandala Bay Center (me and one of my team mate with her mom).

Now that I' on the flight back I can't believe it's over, these girls are so sweet and I had one the best time ever in the fabulous Las Vegas.

I really hope this summer we'll stop them again with my parents during our road trip.

P.S. I just found out that my external camera is broken. I hate myself and my life. What in the world happened.

P.P.S. By the way at the tournament there were 200 teams from almost all the US. We played both in the pavilions and in some big high schools. We placed around half through so pretty good.

BEST THING WE DID: I think the best thing was having the chance to see (and touch the toilet) of the private stage and backstage of the Hard Rock Cafe, and see the city from its big balcony!!

#25 Letter to myself

I opened it.

I opened the drawer of my desk, I pull out the wep folder and I grabbed it.

I thought i would cry, but I didn't, I had a smile on my face that was always bigger as I kept reading. I smiled because I wrote about the fact that I didn't have a host family yet, and I wished for one where I would be supported, understood, respected and involved in their life. 

Well, I now can say that that wish came true. When one morning my dad said: "Emma, sometimes I can't just be just that awesome guy that lives in your house, sometimes I have to be your dad" and I had to hold my tears back, cause I was happy.Or the moment when they asked me to help them choose the next exchange student for next year and I really had to keep myself from start crying right there, suddenly a sense of jealousy started to make its way through my heart, and I realized that it's already half of the way, half of this.

These six months have been fun, have been painful, have been surprising, have been hard, have been a lot of things, they've been full of tears, of love, of homesickness, of joy.

These six little kids are taking small pieces of my heart every day, and I can't stop them, I don't want to. I knew that at some point I would've been divided in two, as if my heart was made into two different part. And here I am, there's one half that doesn't want to surrender and every day it reminds me of all my friends, my family, my sister (gosh if I miss my sisi) and then there's the other half, which is expanding its roots here and will never want to leave. Because when you are an exchange student 90% of the time there's no balance with emotions, the minute before you are happy nad smiling and laughing and then booom, you see something, you remember something and you are lost for a range of time that can vary from second to hours.

Then I'm on the court, a volleyball court. Silence. Everybody is facing the flag. The anthem is playing. I look around and every time I think: "This can't be real, I'm playing volleyball on the other side of the world, I'm surrounded by Americans/Ketchup-eaters (no offense I love you all and I like ketchup too)". So I hold back tears, without even knowing if they are for joy or whatever.

Yes, sometime I feel really crazy, but I can take it. Also because there's always someone who brings me back to reality with questions like: "EEmmaaaaaa, if you are in the space and pee...does the pee go up or down?".

P.S. Si piange e si scherza e intanto la mia sorellina qua mette il parmigiano sulla pasta e poi infila il piatto nel microonde...calma emma, mantieni la calma.