Monthly Archives: June 2016

Week 1 – Sorrento

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Ciao from Sorrento!

I arrived safely in Naples last Friday, and slowly made my way to Sorrento, or rather Sant’Angello, where my host family lives. The arrival in Naples was daunting to say the least. Each person in the airport seemed to speak a different language, hold a different passport, and be in a massive hurry. After looking for a few minutes, I found the driver that the Sant’Anna Institute sent for me so that I could travel safely to Sorrento without anything being stolen from me, which is a danger I haven’t had to worry about much in the US. We drove through the slums of Naples onto the highway, and finally to my apartment where my host mother and sister were waiting for me.

My host mother, Teresa, doesn’t speak a word of English and I couldn’t be happier. It is fun to communicate with her in my broken Italian, and she helps me along the way. Teresa used to be a teacher before she retired, so she is very patient with me and corrects me along the way. She loves to talk for hours at the dinner table, so I am lucky enough to be exposed to her excellent cooking and her passion for walking me through Italian language, culture, and customs. She really loves Italy, and I love to learn, so having her as a host mother is mutually rewarding. I have a host sister, Viviana, who is 26 and interested in American culture, and a host brother, Michelangelo, who is on the older side and likes to joke with me in Italian. He says the best way to learn a language is through humor and I couldn’t agree more. I also have a roommate who also studies at the Sant’Anna institute who is two semesters ahead of me in Italian. She is able to help me with the words I don’t know at the dinner table, and helps me with the words I don’t understand while trying to define them in a simpler Italian. I really hit the jackpot with my host family, and I couldn’t be happier.

Italy, and the Naples area specifically, suffers a tremendous amount of stress and instability after the Eurozone crisis in 2009. The rising debt in Italy has led to a lack of jobs for young people, a lack of national industry, and a lack of hope. This is a constant topic at the dinner table and on the news, and one that I am looking forward to learning more about. As an international economics major with a specific interest in Italy, I have begun seeing firsthand the effects of the Eurozone crisis and the EU in a smaller Italian city and observed the many different reactions of Sorrento’s inhabitants. At some point this week I would like to talk to the different members of my host family to gather their thoughts on the topic, and see where they think the future of Italy is headed.

I only had two days of school this week in addition to a long orientation session on Monday. There are currently only 19 other students in the Summer 1 group, so we’ve become a very close knit group going on excursions and to restaurants as much as possible. Unfortunately, we don’t all speak Italian or take Italian classes, so I am not speaking Italian as much as I wished with the other students. On the bright side, I’ve found a way to incorporate Italian into that aspect of my time here by teaching them Italian words and phrases that they can use in Sorrento to feel more at home in Italian culture, and I think that my lessons are paying off. They have a stronger hunger to learn the Italian language that I am able to satiate.

My classes are spectacular. I am taking Intermediate Italian which would translate to Notre Dame’s Intermediate Italian I class, and a Contemporary Literature class, both taught completely in Italian. The class sizes are small, five and two students respectively, so I feel that I am getting a rather individual lesson each day that is tailored to my level of Italian and my ability and desire to learn. My Italian class is a full immersion class which means that we are only able to speak and listen in Italian. At first this was challenging because I have “stage fright” and really struggle participating in class, but after a short while and with such a small class, I was able to come out of my shell a bit and participate. I feel comfortable asking for clarification in Italian, and my listening comprehension has noticeably improved. This is also a result of my Contemporary Literature class which is taught exclusively in Italian with only one other student. In all honesty, I was really dreading this class and tried to switch it before the first day of classes, but I am incredibly glad I didn’t. The literature course is already one of the most formative and influential classes I’ve taken thus far in my short lifetime. It’s very informal which means that we dictate the direction of the class. The poems and literary works are chosen for us, but what we do with them is entirely up to us as students. We studied two poems by Alda Merini, a female poet from Milan, that completely took my breath away. I had never been interested in poetry, let alone poetry in another language, but I immediately went online after class and started scouring through her works. The next day we studied the Futurismo which is a little experimental for my taste, but my professor explained it in such a way that I was able to let my guard down and appreciate the poems for what they stood for rather than the strange structure and vague meaning. I’ve already learned so much in such a short period of time.

We visited the ruins of Pompeii on Saturday and the Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods) on Thursday. The hike was difficult and long, but offered by far the most intense and inimitable beauty I’ve experienced. We hiked a trail from a small town near Amalfi to Positano which took about 4 hours, and rested afterwords with some well-earned gelato. The ruins of Pompeii were magnificent. Italy is so rich with ancient history and culture around every corner and Pompeii is a true example of this. The city is much larger than I expected and marvelously well-preserved. I could’ve stayed in the ruins for days if the school would’ve let me. Just a few weeks ago, the Italian President unveiled an exhibit of Polish sculptures by the late Igor Mitoraj that are beautifully scattered around the ancient city. They seem to fit perfectly among the ruins and give a sense of the achievement of the city before the catastrophic eruption. The Polish President was touring the ruins on that same day, and I was lucky enough to briefly meet him as I walked through the thermal baths.

Being in Italy has already afforded me a lifetime of knowledge, growth, and culture. I have learned so much about the nuances of Italian conversation and speech while attempting to improve my comprehension and speaking abilities. I hope that in this coming week I am able meet some native speakers outside of the school and my host family with whom I can form friendships valuable in both their learning opportunities and their companionship.

Tours Week 3

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Week 3 at the Institut de Touraine has finally brought everyone back into a more normal schedule; I was actually surprised this past Monday when I got there and there was a giant crowd of new students waiting to be assigned classes. After one particularly weird day when classes started at two in the afternoon, I’m back to their normal four-week progression of the course until I leave. I liked my professor last week better than my professors this week, I think, but time will tell. We started class on Monday with an unusual icebreaker—we each had to pick an object that meant a lot to us and then introduce ourselves as the object. Definitely a good exercise in French and helped me get to know my classmates better than the classic “Notre Dame Introduction” (name, major, hometown) would.

Surprisingly, I think the hardest thing about speaking French here is trying to get my fellow American students to practice it with me. They’ll often switch to English when there aren’t any non-English-speakers around. Fortunately I have a friend from Notre Dame here now who’s just as eager to practice her French as I am, and one of my new friends from my classes is getting comfortable enough with the language that he’s starting to use it in everyday conversations with me. I also occasionally have to act as an interpreter for another student who’s just arrived to stay with my host mom, if he doesn’t understand a French word she’s trying to use or she doesn’t understand an English word he’s trying to use. Considering that’s the type of career I’m looking at, I admit I get a little thrill whenever that happens.

It’s been a pretty quiet week. I couldn’t keep reading Les Misérables because someone checked it out, but I’m hoping I can read at least a little more in the upcoming weeks. I’ve been wanting to read that for so long. This upcoming weekend I’m going to see the actual Notre Dame in Paris! I’m really excited. Stay posted, I’ll probably talk about it a lot next week.

Radolfzell: Week Three

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Time here seems to fly by; I cannot believe it has already been three weeks since I came to Germany. I get more accustomed to life in Radolfzell as each day passes. Although I occasionally slip into English, I do my best to go most of my day without it. I have been working on vocabulary, because I feel like I never have the words to say what I would like. I write down most words I do not recognize or know in a little notebook and define them on the next line. I never run out of new words and they are extremely useful to have with me.

Class is as it usually is, with lectures and discussions. My listening comprehension continues to improve, but it is far from perfect. Writing and reading seem much easier than they did three weeks ago. One interesting thing I realized is the number of languages the other people at the CDC already know. We do not have compulsory language lessons in American high schools, but most of the people here already speak at least one other language than German and their native language. For example, there was one day in class where half the students were conversing in French while only a few of us were at a complete loss. So I asked a Swiss student about how many languages she spoke, and she explained that she is from the French part of Switzerland but has learned English and is learning German because that is required of students at her school. I admire the ease with which the other students can communicate with a variety of people. It motivates me to work harder on learning to speak German, because I want to be able to communicate with people, even if they do not speak English.

On another note, ordering food and asking simple questions when purchasing things has become much easier compared to my first days in Germany. Less people switch to speaking in English with me, which makes me feel reassured that I am continuing to make progress. One of my favorite things to do here is go to flea markets. Many of the sellers do not speak English so they will engage in conversation in German with me, despite realizing that my German is not fluent. I have met many interesting people and learned interesting facts about Germany through the people and the items at flea markets. They are great opportunities to buy unique objects and converse with a variety of German locals. There is a giant flea market in Constance today, so large that it crosses over the Swiss border. I am very excited to be heading there today and will hopefully be conversing with many new people!

Berlin week 2

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This week has been extremely busy with classes picking up. I spent the weekend in Prague which was only a 4 hour trip via train from Berlin. Prague is amazing!!! Walking through the old city, I felt like I was transported back in time. Many of the buildings, castles, and churches that I explored were over 500 years old. I was amazed by the St. Vitus Cathedral, built in 1344 (atleast started) this building towers over the old city, as it is on top of the largest hill. Walking through it, I was struck by the Gothic style and the intricacies of the masonry and art work. Generation upon generation committed their lives to building this cathedral, they built it both as an expression of their faith, and a display of craftsmanship and art. In doing so, they created a monument that astounds people to this day. City planners in Prague make a point in that part of the city to maintain the traditional look of the buildings. They do this so well that, while I was there, I felt as if the defenestration of Prague could have happened last week. The only thing that broke the illusion was a large Starbucks store conveniently placed next to the castle.
as far as classes go, they have definitely gotten more difficult. We are asked to talk with a partner with specific prompts in mind such as, “an interesting time in your childhood”, or “what are your future goals”, then we must explain to the whole class what we found interesting while talking to your partner. For exercises such as these you must past, present, and future tense sentences so naturally these type of exercises, although difficult, really help my grammar and confidence in speaking German. There are also grammar writing exercises and vocabulary quizzes.
Berlin city living is definitely something I can get used to. It amazes me everyday how diverse the city is. Walking to class every morning I hear atleast three or four different languages. Also different neighborhoods or parts of the city have completely different vibes, for example stadtmitte district is definitely the classier, more expensive part of town which caters to the well-off, but take the S-Bahn for 6 stops (10 minutes) and you’ ll be in Kreuzberg, the hipster capital of Berlin. Pro tip, try to go to all the coffee bars in Kreuzberg if you are a coffee fan, noone makes a better cup of coffee than a hipster barista, and Berliners take pride in their coffee, to them it is a science. Also, there are so many coffee shops that you’ll never run out of options.
I have also met many people exploring the nightlife of Berlin and have picked up some slang that is commonly used by natives. My favorite phrase is “Auf dicke Hose machen”, literally translated this means “To act as if you have fat pants”, needless to say when I heard someone say this, I was completely confused. I found out that it really means to act like a braggart. “fat pants” refers to someone who has alot of cash in their wallet so their pants are “fat”. to make as if you have “fat pants” is to act as if you have alot of money and are showing it off. I will be writing again soon to talk alittle bit more about the Berlin nightlife, and also the amazing museums that are here.