What's New

Okay so I have finally gotten around to writing this post.
It's probably good to fill everyone in on what's been happening with me lately.
Since the last time I really updated (obviously) a lot has happened. We celebrated an Italian-style thanksgiving which was surprisingly successful. With the help of our neighbors, my exchange student friends, and my host family we had a great feast. We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, frutti di boscho (because we couldn't find any cranberries. So this is basically just a mix of different berries), along with of course bread!
I was feeling pretty down earlier in the day thinking about how I wasn't with my family and I was really missing the U.S., but everyone worked so hard to make this happen for me, it made my homesickness go right away! Now to tackle Christmas... Which I am starting to get sad about. :/ For once I just want the holidays to be over!
I also went to Nuoro (a city in the center of Sardinia) with my friend Karoline! Our Italian teacher also has a travel agency type thing with his family and he invited the exchange students to come to one of the trips he does every sunday (now they're finished for the season). So me and Karoline decided to go to the one in Nuoro and we had a ton of fun! We had to get up really early and go to the bus stop and then we left with all the people doing the excursion (we were the only young ones on the bus lol). It took 2-3 hours to get there and then right when we got off the bus it started raining! :( So all day I was trying to share an umbrella with Karoline or Marco (italian teacher). We walked around Nuoro eating Sardinian specialties and seeing other cool traditional stuff. I ate horse too! Sorry if you're reading this and you like horses.. They eat horse here (among other things) and I thought I have to try it at least once! Overall it was really fun and we felt really independent for a day without our host families or anyone. :)
We also had our AFS camp in October! We have three camps throughout the year with all of the kids on Sardinia. One at the beginning (October), one in the middle (February I think), and one at the end (June). It was so fun hanging out with all of the other exchange students! They also took us to the beach and we went swimming in the ocean in the middle of October!
I've also been hanging out a bit with some of my new italian friends from school, visited different cities (Porto Torres, Castelsardo, Nuoro, Stintino, the suburbs of Sassari, etc), went to my first discoteca, eaten some more food, gotten to know my city, taken public transportation alone, met some new people, and more.
Now I understand sooo much italian, it's crazy! Sometimes I feel very discouraged because when I am with a big group of people I don't understand everything, but for the most part (when i am having a conversation with someone) I understand everything without problems. my assistent/afs tutor person told me a few weeks ago when I met with her how amazed and proud of me she was because of how much my italian has improved in this short time. At the beginning we only talked in english, and now we only talk in italian.
Okay well I can't really talk about EVERYTHING I've done because otherwise this will go on forever.
I will try to start blogging once a week or once every few weeks at least, from now on.

Oops...

Hi everyone who is still reading this,
So as you can see I kind of forgot to blog... For like 2 and a half months... Sorry about that. But now I feel that is is time to start this blog back up because I want to not only keep sharing my experiences with everyone back home and other curious readers, but I also realized that I don't want to forget this year! My Norweigan friend Karoline who I might've mentioned earlier has a blog and she updates it all the time and has pictures and videos.. So I think I can do it too. :)
That's all I have to say now because I have to go help Karoline (my Norweigan friend also here with Intercultura) make some Norweigan sweets! I WILL update either today or tomorrow though!!

Nicole

Some pictures

                                         My class and me (3M)

I don't even remember what this was but it was good :)

Me eating gelato

The beach in Stintino

Stintino

I'll add more later!

Happiness, School, Stintino, Alghero, etc

Ciao,
So I am getting used to my life here now and I really like it! I was having a hard time the first week, but now I feel a lot better! I think I was having trouble adjusting.. I don't really know what it was. Maybe too much was going on for me, too much was new. Now I am in more of a routine which I think is what I needed. I also understand more at this point (if people speak slowly of course.)
I was too preoccupied with my thoughts and sadness but now I have time to "stop and smell the roses" if you will. I can appreciate and take in everything now. Another reason I think I was sad is because everything did not meet my expectations. As much as I tried to not expect anything... I just couldn't help my day dreaming... but now I've realized that I can't change how things are right now. So some things may not have met my expectations? Oh well. I can't change these things, I can only change my attitude and try and enjoy what I have here, because before I know it, this exchange will be over and I will be wishing I had certain things once I am back in Minnesota.
So down to what I have been up to.
School started on the 13th! I thought it was supposed to start on the 17th (like everyone else's school in Sardinia), but I guess not. It's probably a good thing it started earlier though. I was feeling a little lonely.  The social aspect of school is pretty good for me so far! I really like the people in my class and the girl who I sit next to speaks pretty much fluent english... So if I don't understand something she can help me. Actually, all of my classmates are very nice and always willing to help me if I need something. I have walked to school with some of my classmates as well. As far as the learning part of school goes... It's bad. I pretty much don't understand anything. In some classes (math, german, and of course english) I understand more, but still not everything. I know soon it will get better though. Many of my teachers are also really nice and willing to help me.
On Saturday I went to Stintino. My host dad is from Stintino and grew up there so my host family has a house there and my host dad also grows a lot of fruits and vegetables in the countryside of Stintino. We went to a very famous beach while we were there called "La Pelosa". It was so beautiful!
Yesterday I also went to Alghero with my host brother. We took a bus there after I finished school. I really liked it! Even though we didn't get to see all of it. We did some shopping (I've done way too much since I've been here) and he had some kind of meeting.
I've also found that since I've been here my other exchange student friends have been my main form of support. Me and my friend Rachael have skyped many times since we've gotten to our host families and I hang out with a girl named Karoline from Norway a lot. She lives right by me and she is also here with Intercultura. Other exchange students can relate to you and understand what you're going through.
Overall I am enjoying my time here a lot and I am getting used to everything. :)


Nicole

Sassari

    This is the name of my city in Italy. It is on the island of Sardegna and has (from what i've read on the internet) about 130,000 inhabitants. I'm coming to like this city. last night my brother took me out to a place called "los cornetteros". A lot of young people go there, so once I make friends I might end up going there a lot. I really liked it. I've also walked around a lot. Whenever I have went out, that's all I've done. There are a lot of little stores, clothes stores, book stores, stores that sell meat, cheese, bread, there is a supermarket, there is a piazza I really like, pizzerias, and a lot of bars and cafes. Almost all of the streets are small and many of the sidewalks and streets have cobblestone.
    It's windy a lot here. My host mom even told me "We have names for each kind of wind. The wind is life." Or something along those lines. :) Our apartment usually has a lot or all of the windows open. I always try and keep my window open but I can't right now because it's REALLY windy.
    The weather has been very nice since I've gotten here. I don't know the exact temperatures but it's been nice. Kind of hot, but that's better than cold I suppose. A lot of parts of Sassari have many trees (the sidewalks I mean). So when I am walking in those parts it's a lot cooler.
    I went out by myself the other day for the first time. My family made me my own set of keys so I just took a little maybe 15 minute walk. I have to admit I was a little scared (A 16-year-old blond american girl who doesn't speak english, doesn't know the city, and is an easy target doesn't sound good), but it went fine. I did get stared at. And honked at. But everything was fine. Now maybe I will go out again but for a longer period of time. I just have to know where I shouldn't go and my family said not to go to the centro storico (old part of the city) because there are a lot of drugs, etc.
    I start school tomorrow so wish me luck!!

Baci,

Nicole

Sono arrivato

I have arrived.
I don't even know where to start.
There is so much to say.
I'm here in Sassari, Sardinia now. I met my family at the airport on Sunday evening. Just my host mom was there. My host brother was in the car. At the airport I also met like 3 other people. I don't remember who they were exactly though... This seems to be happening a lot. One of them gave me a piece of paper with her name, address, and email on it. I think it was my italian tutor or my volunteer person. It's probably bad that I don't know... Oh well haha.
So then we went to the car and I met my host brother and we drove home. There were a lot of pretty sights on our way home. I saw many mountains in the distance. I wish I had a picture but I didn't take any!
After I got to my host family I think I was just very overwhelmed with everything, scared, and homesick. So I cried...A lot. But it's okay now. I feel a lot better today.
I can't even remember everything that happened on Sunday night (when I got here) but we did have dinner. I didn't eat a lot and I felt bad but ever since I've been in Italy I just don't feel like eating for some reason. I'm not hungry when I'm nervous or anxious or I guess homesick. Lol. A side note: I think my host mom has been telling everyone we run into that I don't eat. I've met a lot of people since I've been here and when my host mom is introducing me the words "intercultura" "lei non capisce molto italiano" and something about me being like bea (their other exchange student from two years ago) because I don't eat much.
Yesterday was spent running errands all day. I am so glad I got to get out of the house (even though I had to get up early). We had to go to many places to get my residency permit (I think that's what it's called) and other things I needed (conditioner, face wash, contact lens solution, etc).
Okay if I keep writing like this, the post will never end.
Since I've been here

• I've eaten gelato (molto buono!!)
• Eaten pizza 
• Cried a lot
• Skyped with different people
• Walked around Sassari and drove around Sassari
• Been really confused at times
• Met at least 10 people
• Taught my host family some english (so cute and funny)
• Seen crazy italian driving
• Watched tv in italian
• Drank caffè italiano

So yeah some cool stuff. Also, everything is smaller here and I find it really amusing. My host mom and me were talking about this. The cars are smaller, the streets are narrower, the stores are smaller, the money is smaller, our house is smaller, the shower is smaller. I feel like a giant a little bit.

Okay that's all for now. There are a lot of random things I could say that are amusing/I've noticed but then this post would be even more unorganized than it already is. If anyone has questions or something you should comment with them on this post because then I can be more organized with my writing!

Ciao,

Nicole

This is it.

I leave tomorrow.
My emotions are constantly changes from nervous to sad to excited to terrified to so-happy-I-could-cry. Right now I feel happy. I almost have everything in order. I'm almost packed. I have my flight booked for 6:30am tomorrow to JFK. I finished a level of rosetta stone (finally). I have gifts for my host family. My host mom told me a few days ago that she was preparing my room. Almost everything's in order. Now maybe I have actually have time to think. 
I can't believe how far I've come. I've been wanting this (Italy) for maybe a year and a half. I have been wanting to travel and see the world for much longer. I'm really proud of myself for making this happen. I can't wait to meet all the other exchange students at the orientations in Rome and New York. I can't wait to meet my host family and develop a bond with them. I can't wait to discover and live in Italy.
Well that's all I have for now. The next time you hear from me will probably be when I am in Sardinia! :D

Ciao,

Nicole

Enjoy this song. It's called "On Top of the World" by a band I like called Imagine Dragons. It pretty much symbolizes how I feel right now.. :)