school's out for summer

I went to dinner last night with a small group of teachers from Battisti. We ate at the pizzeria of Amalia's cousin, outside along the lungolago of Manerba. It was a great time and gave me a chance to reflect on my experiences here in Salò. And for all the times I've been annoyed with high school students or frustrated with general Italian disorganization, I've really had a wonderful time here and wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

We talked about politics, Italian and American, traveling, the ridiculous cost of concert tickets, Oregon, school, books, Italian culture and history, my future, and of course the bureaucracy of la vita italiana, and what this means for the state-mandated final exams next week, something that neither I nor Nicoletta understood nor did we care to. Amalia gave me a shirt and an interesting book to read. Here I am with Ilario and Nicoletta.

My time here has been vastly different than my experiences studying abroad. I have learned so much more about the language and culture this time around. There were no guided tours. No Italian lessons. And no one was watching over me and holding my hand. I prefer it this way. Of course, it helps living with two Italians and spending all of your time with locals, all of whom have been very friendly and helpful whenever I've needed anything. I've had to figure out a lot on my own but nothing has been too difficult or overwhelming.

Tomorrow is my last day and I am absolutely ready to finish my teaching stint, but I will also miss it as well.

I've learned:

• Teaching is not my future profession, especially not high schoolers. But the thing I most enjoyed about teaching was being able to work one-on-one or in small groups with students who were really motivated and cared about learning and speaking English. Helping several students prepare for a specialized English exam earlier this year was very rewarding.

• Italian high school is extremely different from American. Part of it is cultural, and part is the educational system. Culturally, life is more relaxed, and things just seem to move at a slower pace. Thus, school life is more casual. Students go to the bathroom more frequently than imaginable or are late to class with no real reprimanding. Teachers are late. Students are more disrespectful. Teachers seem to yell more, but that's because classes are often rowdy. In fact, the discipline system is virtually non-existent as far as I can tell. Warnings and threats of punishment often fly but are never enforced. There's always a sense of general disorganization present.

• Italia has problems. Societal, governmental, financial... but that's not so different than any other modern nation. Still, it is a country that tends to live upon it's past reputation without planning or making changes for the future. And a lot of the world views Italia as a tourist attraction, vacation destination, or culinary heaven. But it is also changing culturally with an influx of immigrants from the Eastern Europe and Africa.

• Italians are generally very friendly, helpful people. They will welcome you into their social culture. Family is important, so are friends. There's often a strong sense of community and traditional Italian culture shines through these relationships, which often involve food and drink as well. They love to talk, hopefully while drinking a caffè or an aperitivo at the bar.

I came back to Italia so I could speak and learn more of the language I studied for several years and minored in at university. So I could experience another culture in a way that I wasn't able to when I studied abroad. Although, I must admit that having some advance knowledge and experience in Italia did facilitate my adjustment, making it quite smooth.

It is interesting to learn a language like Italian, which is literally only spoken and used within the borders of this country. Thus, any Italian musicians, artists, writers, athletes, journalists, etc. are well-known by virtually the entire nation.

It's amazing when an entire nation knows a traditional song from 50 or a 100 years ago and can sing along with it word-for-word. The sense of culture is very strong, whether it's Italian, (although my roommates say the only time Italia is truly united as a nation is when the national team is playing) or a strong sense of pride in where you come from, whether that be region, province, city, or even neighborhood.

I know I will never be able to speak like a native, with the myriad of dialects, accents, and cultural idiosyncrasies that I may never understand. But I am proud of my current ability. I accomplished what I set out to do: be able to communicate in my everyday life without worry or hesitation. I'm able to have conversations and understand everything that's going on around me.

Just don't make me ask some old nonno who speaks in a raspy dialect for directions.

le belle giornate

The last few days have been one amazing thing after another.

Over the weekend I went to Parma to visit an amico I met 3 years ago while studying in Macerata. We met at a Kaiser Chiefs concert in Rimini and this time we attempted to repeat that same casino. Met his bravi roomies, ate great food, drank good vino, and drank a lot of beer... also good, but as you may or may not know, good beer does not come from Italia so of course this beer was from Germany, Ireland and Belgium. Spent the weekend in giro per Parma and made some amazing new Sardo friends (from Sardegna).


After elongating my stay in Parma for an extra night, I returned to Salò where I promptly booked a ticket to Sardegna to see two of my favorite ragazzini, Nick and Kris, in the beginning of June.

Then I met a very nice German girl from München who is also living and working here as an au pair for an Italian family. We had an aperitivo together and she definitely got rid of the bad impression that last German girl left on my psyche.

Today, many of the students I've been working with individually took their specialized English exam. It's offered by a London-based company so a woman flew in from England to test them. They had to talk, completely in a casual, conversational manner, for anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes. All of them did well and some very, very well... abbastanza bene.

And after some time of weather has been proprio merda (kinda like Oregon often is at this time of year), we had a beautiful, sunny day with bright blue skies. But because the weather has been bad, there is a lot of snow in the mountains and even the hills on the gulf behind Salò.

So I went for a jog and a couple kilometers out I decided to stop by the lakeside to stretch. I tried to skip some rocks but the water was too turbulent and choppy today so that was a no go. Then I saw something about the size of a milk jug floating about 50 meters out — about the distance from the end touchline to midfield on a football pitch.

It took me about 35 or so throws but I nailed it. Che belle giornate.

Now, to top it off, I am on the way to the grocery store to buy my favorite crunchy, spicy grissini con peperoncini AND my birthday is this Saturday. Festeggiamo.

in demand

I am now into my second week of chaotic, hectic teaching in an Italian high school. I don't know if we can really call it teaching yet since all the Italian ragazzi really want to know is:

What kind of music do I like? Do I know: Guns N'Roses, Metallica, System of a Down, Avril Lavigne, or AC/DC. Of course all of these names are extremely hard to understand when an Italian is pronouncing them. I told them I liked The Strokes and Bloc Party. They had no clue although one kid knew The Strokes.

Have you ever been to the O.C.? Are there really girls that look like Barbie in American high schools? What is your favorite sport? Do you like Italia and Italian food? Do you like Italian girls? How old are you? Do you have a girlfriend? Is she Italian or American? Have you ever met any famous people?

There are so many questions about high school life in the states... and really specific stuff that I'd never remember. Per esempio, how long are the breaks in between classes? And when I can't remember whether it was 5 or 10 or even 7 minutes, it's almost devastating to them.

But the most important question is about ballo fine d'anno. I tell them it's called prom. And they have no idea what that word means. Then I tell them that it is way over-exaggerated in the movies but that girls do buy a dress, guys do wear tuxes, and you can rent a limo. Dipende da voi.

To compound things, my tutor and the teacher I should be working closely with fell on the ice and hurt her leg/knee the day before I arrived. And she is housebound and cannot drive. To say the least... it has been interesting without her here.

Day one... no one had a clue who I was or what I was doing here. Oh, you're Amalia's assistant. Okay, come with me. Here is her class. Get to know the students and teach them right now.

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm from Portland, Oregon. Do you know where Oregon is? How old are you? What class is this? Explain to me how Italian high school functions? What do you study in this class? Do you speak English? Etc...

I have since met many extremely nice and helpful teachers and have a quasi schedule and some sort of organization, although everyday is almost like starting over again in a class full of new students who are amazed by the American who has come to Italia to teach in THEIR high school. And today, no one could comprehend that I was only 22 and had graduated from university and was already in Italia teaching them.

Also, since Amalia is not here, every other teacher is trying to lay their claim on me. I want him in my class to speak English and to talk with the students. Have a conversation. Ask them questions. As long as I speak in English. I want him to private tutor my kids. On and on and on.

It's been quite an experience thus far. And I'm also having an amazing time at my house too. I rent a room from an Italian woman, Lorella, who is a vigilessa (local police officer) and a 24-year-old designer, Cristian, who has worked in advertising before. Here we are (Chris, Cristian, Maria e Lorella) with Maria, a German girl who was visiting for the weekend and did my job (but teaching German obviously) and lived with Loretta and Cristian two years ago.

I've gone out to dinner with their friends, taken long walks along the Lungolago that runs all around Lago di Garda, and saw Paranoid Park... which was pretty cool to see Portland on the big screen and to let them see where I'm from... and the movie is great.

I've been pretty much flying without any direction or guidance but it seems like this is what you do it Italia. So I guess my life so far has been pretty normal. And although this might sound stressful, it has actually been quite relaxing as people live life at a much, much slower, leisurely pace in Italia.