Georgia Matthew - ACT to Italy

Wed 20 Jan 2010

Georgia Matthew, from Cook ACT, is currently in Italy on a 3 month Summer Explorer program. She writes:

Hi SEA,

I am having a fantastic time here! Every time I remember I'm in Italy I have to pinch myself, I still can't believe it. My host family are absolutely wonderful, I couldn't have hoped for anything better, my two host sisters are like best friends now, and we have the same kind of interests so that's really good. And my host mum and dad are fantastic, they call me their second daughter, and are just like my parents, so I fitted in perfectly.

My first week was hard, as I didn't understand anything, and it really hit me how little Italian I actually knew, but after that week it’s been really good. I love that school here only goes till 1 in the afternoon, it gives me so much more time to do things. I am on holidays now, which is great, and I don't really want to go back to school, mainly because it's school but also because school makes the weeks go quicker and soon I only have a month left, and I don't really want to go home.

Christmas and New Years was fun. On Christmas Eve we opened presents and had a massive Christmas dinner. Giulia and Elisa gave me a Disney photo frame, which i'm going to put a photo of us three in, and Gabriella and Stefano gave me a pair of Superga shoes, which I love!! I gave them some Australian things which I think they liked...

I'm finding the language much better now, I can understand almost everything that is said, and i'm slowly trying to speak in as much Italian as I can, but my Italian teacher at school says that I am learning quite fast and have good intuition so here's hoping I will learn a whole lot more in my next month.

I have started belly dance lessons with my host mum, its really fun, except it's very hard, but it gives me something to do when Giulia is at her dance classes. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to Italian lessons, which I really look forward to. The teacher is really nice and I feel I love learning the language. It’s such a good feeling when you come away from the lessons knowing something that you didn’t know before!

Every Sunday we go to Francesco’s home (Giulias real father) and he always take us somewhere really cool. Like for my first Sunday we went to Cividale, and just the other day we went to Palmanova and Aquiela. It’s so beautiful. So I really look forward to Sundays.

I can't think of much else to say, I've attached some photos me and Giulia at school when it snowed. Oh I forgot about the snow, it was my first time I ever saw snow like that so I was very excitied, it’s so magical and beautiful! I have also attached a photo of me and Elisa and me on the steps of the castle of Udine.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Luv,
Georgia

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