self growth

we'll this month has been a downer I've been really worried about what I'm going to do when I get home bacause I honestly wouldn't have a clue. It's gone so fast I don't know where the time has gone :(  but i know everything will be okay). i dont want to leave yet though i am having loads of fun and have bagan getting closer and closer with my host family and friends which is only going ot make it harder. but i guess its part of the experience. these last weeks havent been very exciting because well i havent done alot its been all school and italian lessons. this weekend we go to cremona for the nugat festival and im excited for that  we get to meet the other ditrict too which will be great as well. christmas is coming up fast and i dont kow what i will do with myself on christmas its going to be weird becuase wel fro one its winter and its getting colder and colder and im freezing all the time an dits only november but ill go fom one of the coldst winters to the middle of summer in australia and honestly cant remember how hot it gets i just know its hot and people all ways remind me that i live in a desert because to italians thats all australia is and thats why everyone lives near the beach. they were so shoicked when i show them where im friom and they always say but its not near ythe beach. so they think one day i will die because its too hot and i dont have water .
i love expaining out country it makes me feel good i guess thats why they call us ambassitors and the more people ask the more they get interested and the more i tell them the more they want to go and honestly its the best feeling. so many people are coming to australia becauise of me (thats what they say anyway) but also in a way promoting exchange becaus eits the best experience  i coudl have ever asked for and yes its hard as hell and no one knows how hard ot is untill youve experienced it but as hard as it is i am happy with my progress and self  development from being here im quite content with my exchange and i would have changed anything from being here, ive done so many things experienced for myself and im my own person now some people say that i have changed too much that i am a completely different person and they dont like how ive changed but i am happy and this is a beautiful life i live and i didnt realise how beautiful it was until i came here for years all i was worried about was exams and making people happy and worrying what people thought of me and when i look back now i was a boring person  and if i was still a boring person then thats who i was supposed to be but i am my own person i have a personality and my body it what i want it to be not what people think it should be. ive done things i know people wont like but i do them anyways because i can make my own decisions things that make me happy i am an independant person i am me and this is who i need to be. i am stronger now then ever befor because of this experience and i  wouldn't change anything ive done or went through because as a person ive been through challenges ive been out of my comfort zone for a long time i have achieved alot in a matter of months things that if i didnt go on exchnage i would still be waiting to do and even though i still have no ide what i am going to do or be when i get home or in my future years there is so much out there and there are opportunities and possibilities everywhere. being 19 (almost)  there is so much time for me and other people to figure it out not making quick and fast decisions and doing what we want to do not what our parents want for us or our friends  but something we want as individuals because thats what we are. less then 2 months before im home so ill see you all then.

three months left im not ready to come home

Time is running out and theres still so much i need and want to do before i go. the new exchange students are great i really enjoy their company we see everyone at least twice a week and its so amazing especially since our oldies left it really start to feel comfortable. so comfortable in fact that i doesnt want to come home. I am very happy here in Italy its started to feel more and more like home. people think that when i say home they think it replaces australia, nothing will every replace Katanning or my family or where we live because thats where i grew up but the more my exchange continues the more it becomes obvious that the world is my home it is always open it is always there and no matter where i may be in the world there will always be people there will always be new experiences and opportunities and i love that. this world is our world its there for us. i love the world we live in.
italian lessons are going well my classe is with the new excahnge students so i  translate more what the teacher is saying then do the works we are give, i also hadly seak english anymore unless its with the exchange students and that im proud of. because coming herew i startd being shy and non confident and now i dont care when i try italians help and im improving alit.
school is great im in my class and its absolutely amazing the boys are taller then me and i actually do alot more of the works but i mean i will never understand french or spanish so i sleep those lessons or do italian lessons but im happy wiht my class and everyone is so nice they are very friendly. i have many friends and we have lots of fun together.
i finaly went to my first rotary meeting last night(18/10/16)  where i did my presentazione in itaian and it was so much fun. i got many things(cant think of the word when people tell you your molto brava in italian and have improved ) and im happy with my perf=ormance because it was my first meeting and i was extremely nervos.
went to a trip in the mountains with rotary we stayed in a little cabin and there was snow we had snow fights and i built a snowman and it was so nice. we relaxed and we went and isited the castle where the avengers was filmed and we did so many fings. it was good to have a break from everything and get away where you could watch the sun set and be surrounded in clouds and snow and it just be peaceful it was absolutely incredible.
i cant remember if i told you i was moving host families in my last blog because it was so long ago and ive been so busy but i am no longer changing. the host mum i was going to became a grandmother and is more occupied then she thought so i s=decided to stay with this family and they absolutely estatic becuase they love me lots, but im happy woth this family they are very funny and nice and we get along really well. will be hard to leave them.
ill try to update again soon and hope you are all well and spring is come, its supposed to be the coldest winter here in 100 years this year so will see if i survive or not. only three months and ill be back home. talk to you all soon. miss and loves you all. (enjoy the pics ) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

school

Second week back at school and I'm still going to be the new girl again, I have not yet been put into my proper classe because they are not here. my class is on work place and so I don't get to meet them until next week so right now I'm in a classe with 13 and 14 year olds and as you can imagine I'm having so much fun :/  But the weekend gone we just went to the sea side, a place called Celle Ligure it was absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed myself. we took the new exchange student from Taiwan he doesnmt swim and we disdnt know that . he also doesn't speak Italian and so it was a difficult weekend for him but it all worked out he said he really enjoyed himself and it was great. theres not much to sa, I have less then 4 months left here I started school again tomorrow I have a test in Italian for rotary and so I been studying since I cant speak Spanish and german at school I just study Italian.  but Italian lesssons start soon and all the newbies are here. orientation is on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd and so we get to meet everyone there and show off my jacket which I'm really proud of. but also in a couple weeks I change host family and now I practically live at my school because I live across the road meaning now I only have to wake up at 10 to 8 instead of 7 to start at 8.10.

Inizia scuola

I start school again on Monday, new school new people and new class, but rotary don't know what class I'm in which is shit and I hate that since it starts in 2 days :( I wish they could be organized :/
I am not looking forward to it at all because school here is so different and they don't make you do anything I mean I know more of the language now but it's still all completely new and it's a language school where I have to do French and Spanish too :/ I don't wanna go back :/
But my holidays have been great and I'm happy to have the family I have :) scared about my next family :/ but I'm sure I'll love it just like the others :) school is starting which means back to the Italian lessons .. Maybe ;) nah I think my Italian is improving I mean I still find it difficult to speak and all of that but I'm learning and it isn't easy for anyone there are some Italians that can't speak Italian properly I've been told so it's not just me :) haven't got much to report but i have 4 months to go .. Which means 4 months to lose tall the weight I put on ( I think it's a lot ) but I mean hopefully I'll lose it someway or another .. I have been trying to lose some weight because I believe I have put a lot on and don't want to look like a big girl when I come home ahah but I guess we will see :) love and miss everyone.

Summer holidays (August)

These last week has been amazing I feel like I achieved a lot :) I participated in the 9km walk or run for Montecampione ( the mountain we are at ) I just about died but it was good to participate and I ended up coming 15th from over 50 participants it was good and a great personal achievement as I don't think I would have ever thought about doing that in Australia :) my host mum and I also went and seen a band play, they were called the vipers and they did a tribute for queen and well I knew just about every song :) my host mum was so surprised because she thought the music was too old for me and I just explained about how when you have a dad and cousins and uncles and peoples that listen to it sometimes we catch on. :) but it was amazing they were Italian and they played so well :) i woke up with a sore throat from yelling but that's half the fun :) my host mum bought me the new Harry Potter book and I love it I finished in 2 days and now she is readying it she buys me so much and says hapoy birthday or merry Christmas and it reminds me of what my parents do for me :) still loving my host family and the mountains only there's hardly any internet and so it makes it hard to communicate with people that I need to and for my host siblings no internet is like the end of the world !!! But it's been a great time. We also celebrated my host nonna's birthday in which I helped my little host brother make her a bread basket :)  but it was good they are so formal when it comes to birthdays. My host uncle and 2 of his kids came to stay with us he taught me lots and we all had lots of fun :) i joined in a night hike which was fun but tiring and extremely dark :) we started at 9 and decides to go until 11 and well it was worth it but very slippery and I fell but shit happens and I not hurt but it was beautiful. My host mum asked if she can keep me for longer and I hope I can because I quite enjoy living with this family :) But will see what happenes :) I will go and stay with Adrian Edwards soon so that will be good speak English again :) then stay with a few friends in Milan hopefully I am excited.. Walked a 27 km hike with my host mum and brother up a mountain and when I say up I mean like / <-- this up like think of steep and times it by 100 .. I felt like my legs were going to fall off. But I'm alive and so That's what I been doing I hope all is well and will keep updated soon ❤️

Almost at count down

Ciao tutti :)
Sorry haven't been updating a lot it's not because I forgot about you all I promise just I am currently living in the mountains where the reception is shocking and my phone refuses to work properly up here it's never been so high above sea level :) the house I'm staying at until the 25th of August is 1400km above sea it's so crazy it dropped 4 degrees just coming up so it's nicer :) I been on 2 hikes that just about killed me but hey I'm still living !!!!! Me and my host siblings become so many close living here like my sister was the one I had to win over but the other day she asked me to do her eyebrows the other day :) I was so happy because her mum said she doesn't even let her do them, I swear I was so happy but also we have pillow fights just about everyday and I play soccer with little brother at a place called Val grande my other brother is studying for an exam he has on the 25th  so I help him sometimes I just ask him questions about storia ( history)  and pretend like I know what he is saying because he talks so fast but I know he knows what he's talking about :) let's hope, my host mum and I have always been close since I moved in she and I just sit on the porch and read books( yes believe it or not I started reading )  and she helps with my Italian and I help with her English :) I am really going to miss this family because they are so much like mine in a way, we bicker and sometimes we disagree but they are always there, wish I didn't have to change family :(
I finished my first book for a long time the other day I was so happy and now I'm going to ready the Harry Potter books :) because there's a new one but the book I read was called grey mountain it was a really good one ( in English of course ) but I am also reading Mary poppins sometimes in Italian I don't understand it all but it helps me get used of pronounces  and things like that so just trying to help hit idk why I think I am finding it harder then others to learn Italian but it's okay I'm trying and I know I am so I can only do what I can :) I'm happy with my progress !! Missing my family and all so many people are like "you only have 5 months left " !!!! Yes I do and shhhh please because its going to go so quickly I mean as much as I want to stay because I love this place and it's so beautiful there's so much history and so much to see and do :) but I can't wait to give my mum and my dad and my sisters and everyone a great big hug as well as all me friends and family and see everyone again it seems like only yesterday I was saying goodbye :/ to everyone and in 5 months I am going to be back home supposed to be getting a job and working or university which I haven't completely made up my mind about but if I do go I am going to after a year or so.
Well I'm enjoying the mountains and having fun it's good to be able to experience this as well on my exchange I have had so many experiences for example the other day the sewer was full and literally shit was going everywhere !! It was so gross after 30 or so years they decided to clean it out !!! Was gross but well shit happens ;) bad pun huh 👌🏼😂🇦🇺 to finish il tell you a story :)
So I have never laughed so much in my life the other day my host mum started screaming and of course I ran to see what happened and she said she seen a snake and it was huge !! I asked her how big she thought it was and where she seen it !! She ( holding an axe ) pointed to the garden and said its about as big as your foot !!  I just laughed and said its about 30 cm long she looked at me she was so terrified !!! I couldn't stop laughing she handed me the axe and said your Australian your used to handling big animals you kill it and we'll I killed it and then sat down and explained to her how big snakes get in Australia :/ he face was priceless !!! She is such an amazing person but I guess people just aren't used to the wildlife like we are in Australia :) well howl you enjoy and I'll update when I can next :) miss everyone and all love you

6 months yesterday

HALF WAY!!! how cool is that!! 6 months on the 24th it was. and what a day spent I went to como on the 23rd to spend it with tom and his parents because they came from Australia to see him and so I went there but ended up staying the night with them and it really was worth it we took a boat out on the lake and went to Bellagio which is a small town in the crest of the lake but we spent the day there and relaxed I whooped toms ass in some Italian card games although he will tell you otherwise. but this weeks have been interesting I been spending a lot of time with tom and his family as his sister was here the week before and so I went to milano and como to spend the days with them which was extremely cool and fun I guess I just trying to keep busy on school holidays but it was good because all my siblings were on camps so I was home alone with my parents who weren't actually there because they were working but it was still relaxing and well worth it. but I go tot he mountains with my host family on Wednesday for the whole of Agosto so there will be plenty to do and a lot to see and another experience that I cant wait to try. otherthen that not a lot has been happening beside I started reading again!! like who am I? but I guess  Ive just had time to do it so I did, I made an icecream slice with my host sister today and she absolutely loved it because the 26th is my host dads birthday so I am cooking an all Australian meal but I am not allowed to use the oven  because makes the house too hot in summer so that narrowed down my choices of what to make ( hence the icecream slice instead of the cake). then I have to se what I can buy here in Italy because a lot of the ingredience you cant get here. so I decided on BBQ prawn skewers, with Mango salad and coleslaw as well as sausages in onion gravy. it is going to be a good meal I think well I hope :) my host dad loves Australia so I also gathered some Australian souvenirs to give to him. I hope he likes it.

I notice a lot more things now because I understand a lot of Italian but the people carry around Chihuahuas like they are all legally fucking blonde.. its so pathetic the little things are all running around r=dressed up in their costumes like a little toy dog. god its so annoying like what are you doing hunny its a dog and I hope it shits in that pathetic little costume you think looks cute on your dog but actually makes it look likt the poxiest living creature on this earth. ahh drives me mad that's my rage for the day. believe it or not this is the only things I have to get mad at anymore. until next time mwah xxx