brief update

Where does time go, I feel like it was just a short time since I was last writing my blog but I realise now that it has been almost two weeks! That is the problem with not having the internet at home...

So, what has been happening in my life these last two weeks? Not too much really, I have been working, enjoying my classes loads actually, all of my students are so nice, even the crazy children! My kids classes over the last two weeks have been a bit mad as I have been giving them tests, but then I feel bad so the next lesson we play games and then they get too noisey so I think next time I will give them a test, and so on! They seem to be understanding me more which is a bonus! And, I am starting to understand them more too, my Italian is still terrible but now when people speak I can often understand what they mean or at least some of what was said, but I still can't answer them or join in!

I have a new flatmate, she is also Italian and we can't communicate with each other but she is very loud, together with my other housemates she is helping me understand Italian while I try to sleep! Her sister came to visit today and I had just had a shower, my door started rattling and I went to see if I was needed but there were about five Italians staring at me and then they all laughed and were embarassed as they were just trying all of the doors, I quickly got ready (had been in my towel) and then went to see who they were and the sister spoke to me in English which was good, wish she was living with me!!! My Romanian flatmate is still very odd, she opens her door and peers out when I walk past and she talks to me all the time about her illnesses and has kissed me twice since last time I wrote, once on my shoulder randomly after we had a long but barely understood conversation when I was trying to go to bed, the second when she shouted at me for walking around in bare feet when it was 'cold' so I put some shoes on and she was really happy!

Well, going now, we are off for a chinese meal tonight, should be nice. A change from pizza and pasta, though I have been eating some different things recently, including horse meat, which got a big reaction on Facebook. It was actually nice, sweet and sort of juicy, nothing like any other meat, it is a local speciality so I had to try it! I also ate a delicious meal last weekend of swordfish and prawns, the seafood season is here and everywhere is serving fish dishes, which I love! mmmmm hungry....

a midpoint update

So, I have now been in Catania for 10 weeks and in 10 weeks time it will be my last Sunday here, I have reched the halfway point of my stay here!

I a feeling kind of pleased about it, because that means in only 10 weeks I can go on my exciting trip with Stephanie, to Rome, Florence and Venice, and in 11 weeks I will be back home in Winlaton and will get to see everyone who I am missing.

I am also happy because the next 10 weeks are going to be great, I have had such fun here and am looking forward to having even more good times with my friends here, and the weather is improving all the time so now I can spend my free time sunbathing!

Last weekend was Easter so we had some time off work which was great, I needed a break as had been sick and still wasn't feeling my best. I went to a gorgeous beach on Thursday, a place called Gardini Naxos and relaxed all day in the sun, it was really hot, the only problem was that I have not got a bikini, my mam has sent me a parcel now with some more suitable beach clothing. When I got there and it was really hot I just took off my jeans and sunbathed in my vest and knickers! Well, nobody knew me there! I tried to shop for a bikini here but the weather isn't quite hot enough for the shops to be full of summer clothes and there were none in the shops I went to that fit...
I also went to Siracusa, a town not far from Catania and went to some Roman and Greek ruins, the wather was fantastic again and I was really sad that I didn't have my camera to take lots of pictures of me doing things that did not involve gin! I also took a little detour off the marked path and stole and orange and a lemon from the massive garden near the ruins! I didn't realise, however, that orange trees have thorns!!! I got a huge thorn stuck in my arm and still have a big mark on my arm from it!
I spend the next 2 days eating! On Easter Sunday (Pasqua) I went to my boss' house and had lots of lovely food and on Easter Monday (Pasquetta) I went to an agroturismo, a diversified farm, we ate for hours and dranks some delicious limoncello and then I watched the others ride horses (I don't really like horses) and we went shooting - however, we were the last group of the day and there were only 15 pellets left for us to use, so we had 3 shots each. I managed to hit 2 out of 3 so was pretty pleased with that! Then we played football but I had to sit out in the end as had totally innappropriate shoes on (pretty, silver shoes)and every time I kicked the ball my shoe flew off! I did score a few goals, with the ball and the shoe! All in all a very enjoyable day, and a really relaxing and lovely holiday.

oh I love sunshine!!!!

I love sunshine and I love everything that goes with it! I love being warm, I love lying on a beach, I love eating ice cream, I love being able to wear pretty summer clothes (not that I have any),I love the sea; watching the sea, listening to the sea, smelling the sea and going in the sea (haven't done that yet but I will) and I love the way people are when it is sunny, they seem more cheerful, more hopeful and more likable and I feel more cheerful too! Oh and I love getting a tan, but the freckles are a bit annoying, I look really young with freckles, which I suppose at 28 is a good thing and I should be pleased... also tanning gives you wrinkles which is not good but I have loads already and I am learning to live with them! OK, maybe I am stil a little bit freaked out by wrinkles, especially ones that used to only appear when I laughed and now never dissapear... oh, life!

So, yes, it has been sunny here for a while now, with a few days of haze and cloud but generally really nice and I am really happy about it! Can you tell?! I like the way that I am really talking about weather as a typical English girl, but also that the Italians are not yet as excited as me, though when I went to the beach the last two weekends there were some in bikinis and shorts, but the vast majority were in coats and scarves but at the beach and eating icecream and sitting in cafes outside in the sun. My students keep telling me that soon it will be even hotter and though they tell me off for wearing t-shirts when it is 22 degrees they are all really pleased that I like their weather and enjoy their lifestlye. They enjoy it too and are proud of their culture, and their weather, so it makes me happy to make them happy...

Next week is Easter and as a good catholic girl I will not be working for 5 days and instead will be off trying to see some more of Sicily! Yes, I am a Catholic really, but, no, NOT a good one! I am not sure what will happen yet, but I am sure I will have fun!

I'll keep you posted...

The Future

This week I have been thinking a lot about the future, although I kind of don't want to! I am really enjoying living for now and doing what I want to do now without a care for what will happen next week or month or year, it is refreshing and not nearly as scary as I thought it would be!

I have always been a worrier and a planner, I liked to have an idea of where I was heading, but then that led to worry when things didn't go as planned! I thought I had my life sorted on more than one occasion, only to find out that things change, I changed, my circumstances changed and I know now that nothing is certain and moreover that lfe is short; I need to make the most of now and worry less about the future. I decided to come here to Catania on a total whim, I saw the advert, applied and decided that if they offered me the job I would take it and they did. Now I am here having a whale of a time!

I am planning ahead for a big trip with Steph, she is flying to Catania and we are spending the weekend here before heading to Rome and then leaving from Venice to get home, and in between maybe Florence and Milan or somewhere else, it will be awesome!!! I am looking forward to it SO much and so thinking of the future in terms of this trip has been really exciting.

But what about the future after June...? I know that I can't wait to get home and see everyone, my famly especially! I can't wait to see Tara walking, see all of my friends and their families... I know it will be great to be home, in my house with all the home comforts I don't have here; like an oven and carpets - I miss carpets!!!!

After that, well who knows, I have so many options and lots of time of time to think about it. I will not waste more time planning and stressing and worrying about what I can't control, I will make my decisions when I need to and try to enjoy the moment. I said TRY!

So, I am off now to eat lots of delicious Italian food as I am hungry!

never have I ever....

Well, another week has gone by, so quickly it seems! They say time flies when you are having fun, or maybe when you work loads! Last week was a very busy week, the first since I got here that I taught every lesson I was supposed to, oh, apart from on Monday when me and Mark got to go to the beach in the sun instead of one of our lessons... hahaha! It was also the week when I gave out my reports to my students and met the parents of my young learners - scary experience! Only one of the adults cried and no children, I am loosing my touch, once I held a record for making the most children cry in one lesson, but I suppose I was a Victorian then!!!
The weekend, was wet and rainy but full of fun as usual!

We have been playing a game, never have I ever, you know the one, you probably played it in school! Well, I have been thinking that Italian life has changed me a lot and now I have done a lot of things I never ever did at home.... not in a bad or naughty way (I was always bad and naughty!!!) but here I have been doing lots of things I have not done before, including a lot of drinking of new drinks. It is not my fault that they don't have Blue WKD here, so I have had to turn to alternative sources, including, amongst other things red wine! I hated red wine all my life, the smell gives me a headache, usually! But here I have been drinking it with my pizza quite happily! Gin, oh my new frend gin, introduced to me by Luisa! I love it now, it goes down like pop (dangerous!)but when I used to work in a bar I hated it, especially with tonic which I still do not like! Weird how things change!

I have changed my bodyclock too though, I used to be in bed by 10.30 every night and although I still love my sleep I have managed to change here to work until 9.30 and stay out til midnight before getting up to work at 9 in the morning, I could never do it before except for quiz night Wednesdays, at the Shep (miss you Tommy)and even then I was always really tired on Thursdays... It is a change for the better obviously, means I can do more, enjoy a life outside of school, otherwise I would only sleep and work.

I Had better go do more work now....

Hapiness is ... blues skies and good friends

I am feeling very happy at the moment; the things I am doing here, the people I am spending my time with and the fact that it is 22 degrees on a February morning with lovely blue skies are helping me to achieve my aim of being happier! A lovely Sunday roast yesterday was the icing on the cake of another great weekend in Catania, with shopping for more shoes, drinking a bit too much and lots of fun playing ‘have you ever?’....

I have had a lot of stress here over my washing machine and power cuts – caused by me using the stupid washing machine which seems to love my clothes so much it never wants to let me remove them! (deep breathe) But the biggest problem I have had recently is whether to wear a cardigan to work so that all of my students, who will be wearing several layers and coats and a scarf, won’t be upset with me and warn me I will get ill!

I have been spending a lot of my time laughing, my students make me laugh, especially the kids. I tell them every lesson I don’t speak Italian but still they tell me all sorts of things in Italian! I have been trying to learn some more Italian (not just the swear words which I was fluently using in the first week!) and have been asking my students to help me. I did the same in Greece and it is a good way to learn, each class tell me something useful or something I ask for and they write it for me, I write it phonetically and the next lesson I say it for them... so far I can just about say what is your name, my name is Claire; do you want a cup of tea, how old are you and how are you? I forget the endings a lot but apparently the Northern accent makes my pronunciation quite good! I am not so sure about that! I feel like I sound ridiculous as the Italian language is so beautiful and when Italians say anything they make it sound beautiful, the way they say Claire with a roll of the r is much nicer than when English people say it! The older students at the schools make me laugh, at Lombardo just for their absolute lack of interest and the way many of the girls spend the lesson applying more mascara! My adult learners are so nice and we have a good time even when talking about grammar!

My friends here make me laugh so much too, I am so lucky in that wherever I have worked I have met wonderful people and here it is no different. Everyone is so nice and we have had so many good nights out and break times at school are made even better by the fact we can have a chat and a laugh and more often than not a bit of a moan about the students or our timetables, but we all know we love it! So, to those of you from the English Study Centre who read this, thank you! Thank you for making me feel so welcome and for making me smile, oh yeah and for making me an alcoholic!!!

I am also lucky that my friends from home and my family are so good, making me smile with texts, emails and Facebook chat sessions! I have not forgotten you and I am glad you haven’t forgotten me! Wow, I really feel happy now thinking about all of the wonderful people in my life. I can only wish that this will last, and that everyone who has had a positive influence on my life is also blessed with happiness.

So, another week in Catania, full of fun and games, gin and playing pool but today I am not going to talk any more about my drunken weekends, instead I will fill you in on my school days! Yes, I do actually do some work here and I am enjoying it almost as much as the time off!

My week is pretty hectic, I work in the mornings except Mon and Wed at state schools, and the afternoons, at the English Study Centre. Most days I work from about 9 or 10 in the morning til 8 or 9.30 at night but I have a break in the middle for lunch and checking Facebook!

I work at two state schools, the first Lombardo only on a Monday, and I am glad about that! The classes I teach have no teacher present just me, and as I speak no Italian and the kids speak little English we have some fun! The Italian schools are nothing like in England, I thought I used to talk a lot in class but they put me to shame, at least I tried to be a bit quiet... they shout! My first lesson in Lombardo was hilarious and the second, terrible but they did manage to speak some English so at least I made an improvement!!!
The second class I have there are better, they don't speak at all so I get over my headache in the hour and a half of painfully drawing teeth - or making them speak English!

The other state school, Galileo is much better, there are teachers in the class who control the noise levels (a bit) and the kids want to learn a bit more so listen to me and speak. I have met all of my classes just once but they are all really nice and have funny kids and some really interested kids too so much more interesting for me.. I can talk about just about anything I want so we will hopefully have some good lessons in the future.

In the afternoons, I teach at the English Study Centre and really like it here, I have a very small classroom so have to swap about a bit for bigger classes, by big I mean more than 6 (I have a few classes of 8 students). I have 4 kids classes and I love them, there are some naughty/cheeky kids but they make it entertaining, my fave kids are always the cheeky ones, I can't help it! Most of them don't speak much/any Enlish and so it is a lot of games and drawing and sign language, but they are all nice kids.

I also have teenagers and adult classes which is when have to be slighly more serious as they want to pass exams, lots of questions aout grammar and pronunciation and I enjoy it as they ask really varied questions and make me use my brain a little bit (so better try not to destroy all of my brain cells at the weekends...)

So, that is my working week, I like it, I like the variety of ages and abilities, the differences between the different places I work, from a class of 28, 14 year olds who can't listen, to a class of 14 girls who won't speak; to teenage boys who ask if I will try on horse masks in class... yes he had a horse mask in his bag!
It has been good so far and now I have met them all I can get down to real work and help them all which is what I love doing.