Scoula - Day 1!

Wow... Where to start?! Today was my first day at school I think it went pretty well. I'll start at the beginning..

My day started off really great. I had gotten up a little earlier than necessary so I decided to check facebook and email before I made it known to my family that I was awake. Since it was so early here, it was only about 10:00pm in Washington, so Kayley was online! I got to chat with her for about 15 minutes which was really nice :) Then I went to go take a shower. For the past week my showers have been miserable. The water would refuse to be the right temperature for me; it was either scalding hot or freezing cold. For some reason, though, today it decided to be the perfect temperature that I almost didn't want to get out. But Kayley was waiting and my host family is very conservative about water so I got out. I made great time getting ready. It was nice to not be rushing to get ready and just be able to relax and cool my nerves.


I didn't really get too nervous until we were in the car. As soon as we were on the street I started getting nervous and scared of what school would be like. I wasn't really nervous about my classes.. Just about the other students and what they might think of me. Was I wearing the right clothes? Did my hair look nice? Would they care that I had the dorkiest backpack ever? The part that made me the most nervous, though, was the fact that I couldn't remember where my classroom was! I knew the area it was in and how to get there, but I couldn't really remember which door it was. I was so nervous about walking into the wrong room and getting laughed at.

When I got to my room I was pretty sure it was the right one, but decided to ask for help just in case. Luckily my principal (who's room was right down the hall) recognized me immediately. My first hour teacher happened to be standing right next to her too, so she just had me follow him to the room. Another teacher, who would eventually be my Italian (literature, etc. Equivalent to English class in America) teacher for the last hour of school was there too. It was really funny when she said "let's me go!" instead of "let's go!" Someone else corrected her so I didn't have to.

Finally I got to my class. About half of the students were there already and the teacher pointed to a seat in the front of the class for me to sit in. The seat next to mine would eventually be occupied by my interpreter; another student who had spent 5 years in an American school and speaks english fluently without even an accent (although he does have a lisp..). Poor guy, I'm sure he resents the fact that he has to translate everything for me.

The teachers were all very nice to me, except for maybe one. All of us exchange students had heard that teachers pretty much ignore exchange students and pretend they don't exist, so I went to school expecting this. Well of course this didn't happen. In fact, I had to sit there awkwardly while each teacher, except one, took their turn trying to communicate with me at the start of each class while the rest of the students just sat there listening. It was very uncomfortable.. But I got over it and it was nice to have my translater sitting right there next to me.

My first class was Industrialized Economy.. Don't ask me what that means because I honestly have no clue. At first I thought I was in math class! But my interpreter soon cleared that up, explained a few things, and told me what my classes are. I'll list them in a minute :) Anyways, my Industrialized Economy teacher seemed like a very funny guy. He was kind of old but he joked a lot with the students. I couldn't understand the jokes really but they seemed funny anyways and I could kind of get what they were about based on the hand motions and body language.

I also liked my geography teacher. She was very nice and funny, and really friendly to me! We took a test, but it wasn't a serious test. I guess it was one of those ones to see where you are? Although I'm not so sure how accurate they because everyone was talking the whole time. I was so proud of myself though! I was able to decipher a lot of the questions without using my dictionary! Or atleast most of each question. I had to look up atleast a few words in each one, but I still was surprised at how much easier it is to understand the language when it's written down because you can pick out specific words that are similar to english ones. It was kind of fun, like diciphering a clue or something.

So there are a LOT of differences between Italian school and American school... For example, at Jackson, you're technically not allowed to be in the hallways without a hall pass, or atleast without permission from a teacher. In Italy, you can just get up and walk out of class and to the snack bar across the street for some food, and then walk right back in. It's ridiculous! Or if you aren't hungry, but want to go outside and smoke a cigarrette, that's cool too.. ON CAMPUS. It's a totally different world here.. Oh and the teachers move classes, not the students! Which is easier on me so I don't have to worry about getting lost I guess... Ha.

Anyways, here are my classes!!

Monday:
Industrialized Economy
Geography
Economy
Law (AHHH!)
French
Italian

Tuesday:
Italian
Geography
Math
Industrialized Ec.
English
French

Wednesday:
Law
English
Economy
Italian
Italian

Thursday:
Math
Geography
French
Law
Industrialized Ec.
Italian

Friday:
Law
Italian
PE
Religion
Industrialized Ec.
Industrialized Ec.

Saturday: (Yes we have school on Saturday..)
Math
Math
Industrialized Ec.
Industrialized Ec.
PE

So there's my current schedule.. However I am told it isn't official and there might be changes. It's so different! I can't even believe some of the classes I'm in.. Apparently, according to one of my classmates, I'm in one of the harder schools. Some kids go to law school after this I guess.. Wow! FML. Haha kidding, but this definitely isn't going to be easy. It's okay if I don't get amazing grades anyways. They said the only way I can fail is if I don't go to class, which won't happen because they'll send me home anyways. So I'm good to go :)

After school I hung out around the house until it was time to go to my meeting. All of the AFS kids staying in Caserta met at our hosting coordinator Paola's house. Her apartment/condo is so cute! I love it! Anyways, it was nice to see my friends again and we got to meet our liasons. There were quite a few of them there, and they were all so nice. We discussed everything we were going through and the main topic became my family problems. They were all so supportive and nice, and told me that they were there to help me. They all gave me phone numbers and email addresses so I could talk to them or call them to hangout when I didn't want to be stuck at home. It was really nice!

After the meeting my liason, Sarah, drove me home. She came upstairs with me to ask if I could go with her and some friends for coffee, and Mariano said I could! It was about 9:30 by then and he said to be home by 11. So I left with her and we met up with some of her friends and hung out at a "bar" which I've learned is basically a cafe. It was a lot of fun, especially because they spoke english! I had a great time, and it was nice to get out and do something. Tomorrow, another one of the liasons is going to invite me to go out during the afternoon. These people are so nice and really do make me feel like they care about the trouble I'm having adjusting. I am so thankful for their kindness. After I hang out with her tomorrow I will go to my first Italian language lesson, which I will be having twice a week for two hours! I'm glad because I can't wait to be fluent and be able to understand what everyone is saying, and I'll get to see my friends :)

Well it's really late here so that's all for this post! Buona Notte!

-Zoë