two weeks!

DAY 14 : 28 November 2014

Well,

It's exactly two weeks today that I left little old Nowra to come to this beautiful country, and it's still so surreal - I can't believe I'm actually here! 

School is average really, it's good to have the experience in attending their school, but as it's all in italian, as well as learning Latin and Greek it is definitely not the most exciting 6 days of my week! 

I'm starting to be able to catch the bus alone more often, which means I have more opportunities to go out and explore the city, and as we go from autumn into winter all the trees are becoming bare, and it is certainly cooling down... we even have snow forecast for the second week of December!! 

This week, I spent a few days at school, and a few days helping Francesca in her bridal shop, as well as learning some more italian from her! Definitely beats school! 

This is a photo of me helping her change the window display...

So, as I don't have any exciting stories to share, I thought I might give you a glimpse of the little home I've been living in for the last two weeks - a second floor apartment about a 5 minute bus ride or 10 minute walk from the centre of town!

The inside...

Hallway

(my room is first left, study is second left, Francesca and Dario's room is 3rd left and Allegra's is on the far right)

Kitchen

Lounge

My room and bathroom

The balcony/terrace...

So this is their little home in Udine, and they also own another home in the mountains in Pontebba about an hour's drive that is apparently very big (and snowy)!

and, I can't forget to mention their absolutely adorable little cat Miki! 

That's all I have for now! With one more day of school left (school on a Saturday certainly takes some getting used to), I've got a free day on Sunday, where I may meet up with my Australian friends again.

Love,

Jen

Markets, Australians, and Vegemite

DAY 11 : 25 November 2014

This week, the yearly markets came to town, and there were about 250 stalls of strictly Italian-only products (and food; lots and lots of food)!

I went on Sunday with Francesca, where she made me try a traditional Italian market food called Fritelle, which is basically a round, pizza sized churro covered in cinnamon sugar...

Then, on Monday afternoon, after a very long, boring, horrible day at school, I was glad to have made plans to meet up with two other exchange students - Callie (with whom I flew here) and Natalie, another 16 year old girl from the Central Coast staying here in Udine. As Callie is placed with 12 and 14 year old brothers, I am in a class with only 14 year olds, and Natalie is only placed with a single mum, we were all in need for some fluent English speaking, 16 year old Australian girl time. It was amazing to spend about 3 hours by ourselves in the city - shopping, eating and sharing all our stories! We attempted to navigate the city alone and got lost not once but several times, but eventually figured out where to go by talking in horrible Italian to some locals!

Callie, Natalie and I in the very centre of Udine.

Eating gelato..

The markets...

Eating more Fritelle...

I also caught the bus home BY MYSELF in the dark for the first time. At first I got on the right bus (Number 1), but going the wrong way, so I hopped off, crossed the road and eventually made it home..

Later in the evening, I went to my dance classes with Allegra, and as Dario and Francesca had gone out to dinner with friends, Allegra and I were home alone. We stayed up until about 12:30am, eating ham and cheese sandwiches, chatting and just having a really good time. She's definitely starting to feel like a sister now, we spend so much time together and it's making my exchange all the more enjoyable!

Allegra also tried some vegemite, and thought it tasted like fish....

My time in Udine is so exciting, and we've already begun to make plans for the coming months : Christmas in Pontebba, skiing, trips to Austria, Rome, Florence and Venice; so I should definitely have some very nice photos to post!

Love,

Jen

1 Week in Italy!

DAY 9 : 23 November 2014

The fact that it has now been over a week since I flew away from Australia absolutely shocks and amazes me. And the fact that I only have 13 more weeks of this fantastic experience makes it all seem too short! 

In the past two days, I have tried coffee for the first time (it was espresso, and frankly very very disgusting); eaten mozzarella in all it's various forms (fried mozzarella, mozzarella covered in breadcrumbs, mozzarella wrapped in bacon); and have started forming REAL ITALIAN SENTENCES (for example; Lei legge il libro (she reads the book)). Nothing too intelligent but it means that I can grasp even the most basic of ideas of what people are saying at school or at home. 

I've also begun figuring out my own way around the streets of Udine, and trust me when I say that it is very, very complicated! 

Allegra and I walked to the park, and as she recently got a Nikon camera just like mine for her birthday, we were taking lots of snaps as the sun was going down...

It's been getting absolutely freezing these past few days (reaching a very uncomfortable 4 degrees last night when we went out)  and there is already snow forming on the mountains! 

My days are now very much a routine; school, home, food, but I should hopefully have some good photos to share in the next few days!! 

Love,

Jen

la vita italiano (the Italian life)!

DAY 5 : 19 November 2014

Buongiorno or buonanotte or buonasera, depending on what the time zone is!

Yesterday and today have bought me some amazing adventures!

After school yesterday, both Francesca and Dario (my host parents) were out at their jobs (both entrepeneurs; Dario owns a building company, and Francesca owns a wedding dress shop), so Allegra and I took to the town for some nighttime sightseeing and SHOPPING! 

Udine looks possibly more amazing in the night than it does in the day!

We took the same route as the other day, up the hill and to the castle to take some photos of the view at night. Its a little blurry, but you get the idea...

Then for one of my personally favourite activities....shoooopppppiiiinnngggg!

The shops here are modern, new shops, but are squished in between all this beautifully old architecture! It really is fantastic...

During our shopping adventures, we just happened to walk past the same place in which we got macarons the other day, and couldn't resist another one (or two)!

And, as my whole days now seem to consist of food, we joined Francesca and Dario, and finished the day off with possibly the best pizza anyone could have in their entire life. And it wasn't like we shared one pizza between the four of us - no, the Italians have one whole pizza EACH! Just take a look at the size of that!

Today consisted of even more food adventures, this time with my first Italian gelato! The sun had come out and even though it was still a mldly brisk day of 11 degrees, it was too good to resist a walk into town with Francesca.

As my Italian is clearly not up to scratch, I just pick the food (in this case, the gelato) that looks the best - sort of like a guessing game. This time, I was definitely on par picking a vanilla/nuts/NUTELLA gelato... yum yum

Well that's all from me... enjoy your sausages and kangaroo Australia, while I'm here enjoying the pizzas and the gelato and the spaghetti and the gnocchi and the lasagna....

Love,

Jen

First day at school!

Ciao!

So today was my first real day as living as an italian teenager and it was just amazing!

School begins at 8am, and we get on the bus at 7:30 - and I must say that the buses here are so clean and nice, it's a lovely change from the quality of the ones we have back home.

The bus stops about a kilometre from the school, and we walked through amazingly beautiful alleyways and streets and parks covered in autumn leaves ; it truly is breathtaking and I can't believe they get to see this scenery every day! 

In school, they have 4 or 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, and because I'm attending a "Liceo Classico", they take subjects such as Latin, Greek, Mathematics, History, Geography and English (so many languages!). Basically I spent the entire day not understanding a single thing from any of the teachers, until English in the last period of the day. The teacher had me talk about Australia, and then read a passage so the class could see what 'perfect English' sounded like, and then was asking me to point out proverbs and adverbs all of which I could not remember what they were... It was embarrassing to say the least. 

I met lots of lovely people, as well as some that I'd already met from Allegra's party the other day, and I am already starting to develop some good friendships! 

As school finishes at 1pm, the afternoon is free, and Allegra and I spent it watching Italian X Factor and Project Runway (or her watching and me reading because 'non capisco' (I don't understand)), and eating gnocchi. I really am loving living the italian life! 

In the evening, Allegra took me to her dance class of which we did modern and hip hop styles. It's good exercise, and I'll definitely need it with all this amazing food around! 

This experience is already so amazing... I don't think I'll ever be able to leave! 

Till next time,

Love Jen

Exploring the City!

DAY 2 : 16 November 2014

My second day in Udine began with a well deserved sleep in, followed by my first Italian breakfast. Here in Italy, breakfast is geneally a small meal - tea, coffee or milk and a few biscuits, so that is what I had. I must admit it was strange having lemon iced tea and biscuits for breakfast, but it got me started for the long day ahead! 

Francesca (my host mum) took me for a walking tour of Udine, and it is definitely one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen. Everything is old and rustic and absolutely beautiful! I was surprised to see that everyone walks or rides a bicycle where they need to go, as opposed to driving everywhere. As it is a smaller town, everyone knows everyone, so every 5 minutes as we were walking, I'd hear "Ciao!" and Francesca would've stopped to talk to someone she knew - they're all so friendly.

We wandered around for a few hours, so here are a few photos of some of the places we visited.

Some of the buildings are just absolutely amazing...

Ate an Italian macaron...

Some of the prettiest places we passed..

At midday the bells of this church ring (and note the Mini Cooper...doesn't get more Italian than that!)

We had pre-lunch drinks, followed by lunch of which I let Allegra order for me (as I couldn't read the menu) and ended up with fish and polenta which was surprisingly delicious!

Climbing to the top of a hill and seeing all of Udine was definitely a highlight of the day. The building in the bottom right is my school, which I begin tomorrow!

Finally seeing all of Udine was an amazing experience ... I can definitely get used to living in this beautiful town!

Love,

Jen

Benvenuto a Udine! (Welcome to Udine)

DAY 1 : 15 November 2014

Ciao a tutti! (Hello everyone)
Finally, after a long 30 hours travelling and stops in Bangkok, Dubai and Rome, I've arrived in Udine, Italy, and it's safe to say I'm pretty tired!
Luckily, I had another exchange student, Callie, that was travelling to Udine at the same time as me, so I had someone to talk to on the plane!

Callie and I in Dubai

After landing in Trieste in the early evening, Callie's host family picked us up and drove us (at speeds of up to 150km/h, I now understand what people mean when they comment about the Italians' crazy driving), into the heart of Udine. As it was already dark, I wasn't able to see much of the town, but from what I saw, it certainly is beautiful! Very old, rustic buildings with ivy and cobblestone roads...I can't wait to explore more.

My host sister Allegra's birthday party was that night at a local Indian restaurant, so ironically my first real meal in Italy was Indian food!
I got to meet all her friends and listen to about 30 different people speak in a language I completely do not understand, but it was absoluely amazing. Over their thick Italian accents, a lot of them really tried to talk to me in English, asking me questions, showing me photos of Kangaroos and koalas and shark attacks, and using google translate to try and ask questions in English. Just the fact that they were trying to make such an effort was really great and made me feel very welcome. However, the party didn't wrap up until midnight, and I was definitely in desperate need of a sleep... Thankfully I have my own bedroom and ensuite bathroom!

I am so excited and happy to be here, and I can't wait to see where these next three months take me (hopefully to learning some more Italian - I'm absolutely hopeless)!

Love,
Jen