Consulate Appointment

Well... I had my visa appointment in Chicago yesterday. It was really nerve racking but I think I'll get my visa on time. I was really nervous because we didn't have 2 of the forms we needed from AFS that were supposed to be sent in the mail. So now they are being sent directly to the Chicago consulate. After they receive everything, it takes at the most a week to process. Hopefully I'll get my visa on time!

Ciao ciao,

Nicole

3 More Weeks.

       I only have 3 more weeks left in Minnesota. Just 21 days. This makes me so happy I cannot even begin to explain it. I went through having mixed emotions about this trip to now just being EXCITED. Since the last time I updated, I have talked to my host mom and brother many times. Every time my host mom talks to me I can't help but smile. I am so happy to have gotten the family I did. Even though I won't have any siblings close in age to me, I am happy that I have a family who is just as excited as I am for me to come into their home and has already been so sweet and welcoming.
       I have also found out which school I will be attending! My host mom gave me the option of a scientifico, classico, or linguistico. After I researched which types of schools there are (this was a while ago) I had thought that scientifico would be the best for me. But after hearing 2 opinions saying liceo linguistico woud be easiest for a foreigner, I decided to go with that. (If you're totally lost a liceo is basically just a public high school and in Italy the schools have different focuses. Liceo linguistico has a language focus.) My school will be called "Margherita di Castelvì". Since it is a language school I have to study italian and 3 other languages. It looks like a really good school and they are all about promoting openness to other cultures so kind of like AFS! They actually got a honorable mention from Intercultura (AFS Italy) in 2009!

My scuola

It's hard to believe I will be leaving so soon. I'm so happy. <3

-Nicole

Famiglia Ospitante!

Ciao!
So today as I was moping in my room, having a somewhat bad day, I saw that someone was calling me . It was a weird number...But I thought maybe it could be important and I don't want to miss it (you never know). So I answered and this woman told me that she was my Italian host mom! We attempted to communicate in English/German/Italian for 15 mins and finally decided it would be easier to chat on skype! She also sent me 3 emails (4 days ago) that I had to dig for in my junk mail! (Stupid yahoo.) So they live in Sassari, Sardinia!

Sardinia is (as you can see) an island right off of the mainland. I have read about it, watched shows about it, etc and it seems so wonderful and amazing and beautiful I cannot wait!
There are 4 people in my family. My host mom Piera, my host dad Giovannino, my host brother Riccardo (30), and my host sister Ginevra (26). Ginevra is studying in Parma now, so she is not in Sardinia (but hopefully I will still meet her!) My host dad likes cooking (yay!) and my host mom likes listening to music and going to the theatre. Everyone likes reading in the family.
She said Sassari is very beautiful and they live 14km from the ocean!(: There are 150,000 people in Sassari.
I am beyond happy and excited with my placement(: I will also get to live (somewhat) near my good friend Rachael whom I have been talking to for a long time! (She was the first one I talked to who also wanted to go to Italy.)

Nicole

Travel and Logistics

Hey everyone,
I wasn't going to make a post on this, but "why not" I guess. So I received all of my travel information, dates I am leaving, when my orientation in New York is, etc, etc. I leave this lovely state of Minnesota on September 5th, probably sometime in the early morning to fly to New York (I haven't booked my domestic flight yet so I'm not sure). I'm supposed to arrive in New York sometime between 12:00pm and 4:00pm. Then I will meet AFS people and we'll all go to a hotel right by JFK to stay there for the night and have our orientation. All of the kids from the U.S. going to Italy will be there along with other students going to France and Spain I believe. They have different orientations though I guess. Im not really sure.
Then on Sept 6th at 10:00pm we fly to Zurich Switzerland! It's a 13 1/2 hour flight! (My friend corrected me in the comments. It's actually a 7 1/2 hour flight due to the time change!) Then we have an hour or so layover in Zurich and we fly to Rome. I am guessing after we get to Rome we meet up with all of the other students from all over the world going to Italy (at a hotel or something probably). There are I think about 470 of us so... It will be crazy and fun! After that we all part ways and go to our host families! Oh yeah that reminds me...I have yet to receive mine. -_-
I'm a little frustrated about that, but I guess I just have to be patient seeing as I might not get mine until a week before I leave (which I am really hoping does not happen).
Did I ever say anything about my visa? I also have to start working on that. There is a bit of paperwork that still needs to be filled out, along with birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. And on August 21st I have to go in person to the Italian Consulate in Chicago to obtain it. Hopefully all will go well.

That's all for now,

Nicole

Pre-Departure Orientation

So today I had my pre-departure orientation which is a mandatory meeting for everyone leaving to go on programs this summer. We talked about a lot of things like expectations, concerns, health and safety, rules rules rules lol. I think you kind of talk about the same things a lot. Rules being one of them. I have heard at the orientions in New York and Rome you talk a lot about rules and stuff too. So needless to say it wasn't the most exciting thing, but it was cool to meet other people going abroad. Many of them were only going on summer programs however. I was a little sad because EVERYONE I talked to had there host family already. But nope, not me. -_-
Which brings me to my next point: I am sick of waiting! My excitement level is going down now because nothing new is happening...I need to get excited again! But it;s hard when I can't really have any expectations because I have no idea where I am staying, who with, etc. I could be in Sicily, Sardinia, southern Italy, Northern Italy, etc. And all of the regions are so different so I just have no idea what to expect!
Well anyways the orientation wasn't all super boring, I did meet some cool people and what not. I met a girl going to India for a year (wow!) a girl going to France for a year, 2 girls going to Norway for year programs, another girl going to Italy (but only for the summer.) And a lot of other people. There was only one guy there aww haha. I wonder why more girls do exchange..? My step dad seems to think it is so that they can meet cute boys lol.
Well anyways that's basically all.

Ciao,

Nicole

Things I'll miss and other thoughts.

So over the past few weeks I have had time to think about all of the things I will miss while I am in Italy for 10 months. For over a year I have been super excited to go, but now that's it's coming closer (I'm still super pumped!) I am realizing how many things I'll miss. My family, my friends, speaking english, understanding  the language that's being spoken to me, driving. I just got my driver's license a couple months ago and it's almost summer so this is the time when I am driving around with my friends and having the best time. Even though I will do amazing things in Italy and have an awesome experience, I will still miss these things.

Something else I was thinking about yesterday: My older sister just got back from traveling in England and Scotland to look at a college she is most likely going to in September. When she came home to tell me about her experiences the other day, I was amazed. I think she now knows what it's like to want something as bad as I want to travel and see the world. She told me about how she was coming out of the underground and right as she got up the stairs, there was Big Ben. It had just hit 6 o'clock (I think) and started  chiming. She said it felt unreal. She said it seemed like something like that would only happen in a movie and it felt amazing. I can't even explain it. But that's when I stopped feeling sad about leaving momentarily. Because I know that when I get to Italy, I will have those same feelings. I will be so glad I decided to do this.

Well those are my thoughts for now.  Also, I am still waiting for a host family and an Italian volunteer said most students get theirs by June. Fingers crossed!

Ciao,

Nicole

Grazie sponsers!

Thank you to everyone who has donated (so far)! A few weeks ago I sent out letters asking for donations and got a lot of generosity! So thank you thank you thank you to everyone who donated! I need to go out and buy some thank you cards! ;)