An English Teacher

It's been a year and half now that I've been teaching English as a foreign language. About two years ago I thought that I would want to be a teacher and considered looking into a Master's Program and the University of Minnesota. So I volunteered at an Italian middle school, and after two lessons I decided this was definitely not the job for me. Ironically only a year later I was back in Italy taking the TEFL course to get my certification to teach English. 

My first 6 months of teaching, were at a very small school with about 5 teachers, run by a guy in his 30's. The majority of my classes were conversation groups and I had only a few classes focused on grammar. It wasn't very serious, and my position didn't require any preparation. However I probably should've prepared and studied more, because despite being a native English speaker, it doesn't mean you know everything about your language. For example, one day I told my class there is absolutely no difference between using will or be going to for the future. Only later to find out that there is actually a big difference. 

Will  is used for predictions, promises, or decisions made in the moment. Be going to is used when something is already planned, organized, on your calendar. For example: The phone is ringing and your mom says " someone answer the phone!" and you say " Ok! I'll do it!" -- a decision made in that moment. Or: your friend invites you out for drinks tomorrow evening and you say " I'm sorry, I can't, I'm going to the cinema with my boyfriend" It's already been planned.  So having said there was no difference many of students were very confused and thought they had been taught a lie in every other English class, only later to probably find out that I was a terrible teacher who didn't know her material. 

I have learned however, that even if you really don't know the answer, as a teacher you can never say " I don't know" As soon as you say you don't know, you lose any trust with your students and they will question everything you say. So you must be convincing and sure of what you say. Which for me is difficult because I'm a big blusher. And as soon as I don't know something I blush, and I give myself away. 

So my first 6 months was an important learning period for me and I grew a lot as an English teacher. It was good to start at a school that wasn't very serious, with a few classes, to get my foot in the door, make mistakes, learn from them, and gain experience. 

However, come Autumn, it was time to find a teaching position at a better school that would offer me more hours, and pay better. So I went around to different schools and quickly found a new position at a much larger school that has been around for over 30 years. 

I began to teach children as well as adults, and was working all different levels. It was a good balance to work with all ages. The atmosphere was very different from the previous school, and I now had to prepare the majority of my lessons from scratch. Having to prepare lessons for various levels made me feel more confident and when students asked questions not related to the topic we were discussing I was able to answer them.

Teaching is great when you've taught a lesson and you know it went well. Your students understood you, they were interested, engaged, it was light hearted and they laughed. Or teaching can be really stressful and frustrating when you've prepared a lesson and you teach it and everyone leaves with a blank stare on their face and a headache. So you approach the topic at a different angle and they still don't get it. Then you question whether or not your'e a good teacher, you ask yourself what you're doing wrong, and you get disheartened. 

These past 15 months have been a huge learning curve, and I'm hoping that as I approach my 2nd year of teaching that I can only improve as a teacher and keep on improving. But in the meantime I can say that it has definitely been a challenging, exciting work experience. 

Gone Girl

Unfortunately the last book I read, I have to admit, I read only because I had to for my Advanced English class. However I am in the process of reading other books, it's just that I'm very slow, so I think I failed my new years resolution to read at least one book a month. But I know I am reading more than I had been before, so that counts for something! 

Back in February we chose to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn throughout the semester. I hadn't heard anything about it, but it's a mystery/thriller and so I knew it could'n't be so bad. 

"Marriage can be a real killer. 

   On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? 

   As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife?"

Gone Girl is narrated in two parts; from the perspective of the two main characters: Nick Dunne and Allison Elliot Dunne. At the beginning it's a little confusing because the two lines of thinking don't follow each other. You read excerpts from Allion's diary but then you're in the present time reading Nick's story. 

The beginning is very slow and the writing style drove me crazy. There was so much detail and it felt like it went on forever giving too much information which wasn't really important. However, as you continue to read, big curves are thrown your way and you really are surprised. And there is a reason for all the descriptions and over exaggerated details. 

Over half way through the book I had a hard time putting it down and when I finished it I was left with the feeling that I wanted to read more! I didn't want the story to end! 

I would highly recommend this book for a fun, summer, easy beach read. 

And I hear they are also apparently making a movie too! 

StraBologna 2013

Strabologna is an event organized by UISP that is supposed to promote getting up off the couch, going outside, and moving your body whether that's walking or running.  It isn't competitive, but instead an event just for fun. This year they were raising awareness of diabetes. 

Strabologna Mascot

It's an all weekend event with a photo treasure hunt on Saturday and on Sunday the choice of a 3.8 km (2.4 miles) course, a 6.8 km (4.2 miles) course or the longest one 11.5 km (7 miles). I decided that I would walk the 6.8 km course since I'm not a runner and I've already been walking about 5 km in the gardens on the south end of Bologna. 

I went with my friend, Giulia, who also decided to walk the 6.8 km course. The "race" beings in Piazza Maggiore and you go all around town weaving in and out of the narrow old streets. I had read that this year they had a record number of people sign up. Which was easy to see from how packed the piazza was. 

6.8 km course

However, to start the "race", someone had the great idea to start with kids, disabled people, and the walkers and have the runners go last. Of course doing so there was a big human traffic jam. It felt like we were cows being herded through the beginning part of the track with barriers on either side. When we finally broke through the barriers and got into the open streets Giulia and I decided to run so we could get beyond the massive crowd of people. 

Barbara, Luca, Me, Giulia

It was actually quite funny seeing people jumping overs chains, zig-zagging from under the porticoes, around other people, hopping posts and whatever obstacles there were because you simply couldn't walk or run normally. 

In the end, Giulia and I felt pretty good about the running so we set a goal of running the short course, and walking from 3.8- to 6.8 kilometers. We successfully met our goal and at the end we sprinted the last bit. 

Festa In Collina

Last weekend we headed down into the heart of Tuscany for the "Festa in Collina", a whole town barbecue. 

We drove about another 30 minutes south of Siena until we arrived at this small, rustic, picturesque town- Casciano di Murlo, up in the hills. 

The whole center was lined with tables, ready for the hundreds of people that would come and gobble down sausage, steak, ribs, pasta, and drink local wine and artisan beer.  

In one of the piazzas there was huge grill set up, with raw meat handing down from the ceiling ready to be grilled up. 

 When your food is hot off the grill, they'd serve it on this big wooden tray and you'd go and find a picnic table open to enjoy the delicious food with live music in the background and the smell of meat wafting through the air. Mmmm! 

Amalfi Coast

It's been hard to get away for a weekend since I work Saturday mornings and so it doesn't give us much time. However, Wednesday May 1st was a holiday, and so we decided to take advantage of it and go somewhere. My work schedule has lightened up a lot with summer nearing and nearly all my kids classes ending. So all I had to clear off my schedule was my Saturday morning class. Which I easily got covered, but did not go over well the school, which is whole other story in itself. 

We had originally wanted to go to Paris, but flights were just to expensive so we decided to do a trip along the Amalfi Coast. I had always wanted to visit the beautiful famous coast line, and funnily enough, before I studied abroad in High School in Italy, when I received my placement  "Revello" I went immediately to google and searched it. These amazingly gorgeous photos came up but only to soon realize it had auto corrected to "RAvello" which is one of the picturesque towns on the coast.  Two very completely different town. 

If you ever go to the Amalfi Coast: 

-Bring sunscreen and use it!

- If you get car sick bring something to help with the motion sickness! 

- Be prepared for everything to be over priced ( 5 euros/hour parking, 20 euros plates of spaghetti) 

- Enjoy good limoncello 

We thought it would be best to rent a car since the buses don't run so frequently and we wanted to be able to roam when and where we wanted. So we spent the first night in Napoli, eating the best pizza in the world, and then renting a car and driving down to the coast. 

Napoli is notorious for its terrible driving and we were a bit nervous at first trying to navigate our way out of the Hertz garage onto the highway. While waiting to take a left turn onto a two-way road, another car pulls up behind us and immediately starts honking. It was impossible for Luca to turn and so the guy behind decides to cut in on the inside of our car and bolt for it. In doing so, he clipped a man who was on a scooter.  Welcome to Napoli. 

The tight narrow roads along the coast offer the best break taking views you can   imagine and are also right on the very edge of the cliffs.

We stopped at Positano first, made our way down to the beach and then stopped to have lunch on a terrace overlooking the sea.

Positano

Afterwards we continued on to Ravello, where we visited Villa Cimbrone. This villa is one one of the most spectacular places I have been. There are beautiful flowers growing in every corner, it's peaceful, and the views are incredible. We read that the owner of this Villa was a British man who had been suffering from depression so he bought the villa to cure his moods. We thought it'd definitely help someone who is feeling down.

Villa Cimbrone - Ravello

Villa Cimbrone - Ravello

 We slept in Minori, which is one of the less famous towns that is part of the amalfi coast. And it was really nice because it was even more quite than the other towns, it wasn't as touristy, and we were able to talk to the locals and eat well.

View from hotel window in Minori

The next day we drove even further south, almost into Calabria, where visited Angel's Caves in Pertosa. This was definitely worth the drive, I had never seen anything like it. On the way back to Minori we stopped a Paestum, which has some ancient greek ruins, and three temples still standing.

And on the last day we stopped at Amalfi before heading on up to Napoli.

Festival della Lasagna

Today Luca and I unexpectedly went to a Lasagna festival. It is the first year this festival was held in Bologna and it may just be the first of many.  Lasagna is one of the typical dishes from the Emilia Romagna region made with the classic and famous ragù.

The festival was held in Piazza del Mello on the North side of Bologna. We had to decide between 1 plate for 3 euros or 6 plates for 15 euros. We went with my friend Giulia and her boyfriend Brais and we decided to split the 6 plate option between the 4 of us. However we very quickly realized that it wouldn't be sufficient and so had to go back for seconds. 

There were some of the better known Osterias from Bologna with pans and pans upon pans full of lasagna being swapped in and out of the portable ovens behind them. There were great options like Pesto Lasagna, Traditional Lasagna, Octopus Lasagna, Mussel/Anchovy Lasagna, Red Lasagna, Green Lasagna, and even Dessert Lasagna! 

     This week is the first week that it truly feels like Spring in Bologna. So it was perfect being outside,   

                                   enjoying the sun, 65º weather, and eating great food.

Home Is Where the Heart Is.

It's almost exactly a year since I came to Italy having followed my heart. And it was then that Luca had met with Paolo and discussed subletting his apartment for one year has he headed off to England. So as a year approached, Paolo returned and was ready to move back into his home, and so we were on the apartment hunt. 

It wasn't as easy as we had hoped, and I would say that there is an apartment crisis in Bologna. Since there are so many students and living in the city is in demand, there are too many apartments that are in terrible condition at a ridiculously high price. These apartments are purposely kept in poor condition since they know students will rent them anyway and will probably cause damage. 

Where we were for the past year was actually owned by the Vatican and so we were technically paying our rent to the Arch Diocese of so and so of somewhere. This meant that we paying very low rent and was a great way to save some money for year, but also meant that we used to not paying very much for a relatively large space in a great location in the city center. 

After a month of looking we found our new home  just a few streets down. It's a little smaller than our place before, however it has two spectacular views of the hills of Bologna and has recently been renovated and we were spared that horrible 1960's decor that still common today in Italy. 

The apartment wasn't furnished and so we too many trips to Ikea trying to buy nice enough, but cheap enough furniture that hopefully we can sell in the future. It's so nice to be in a place that's actually ours, not subletting, with our own things.