Birthday!

Sorry it's been a while, the last couple f weeks at work have been crazy, trying to fit everything in before we all leave. Not to mention the fact that one of our troop has done a midnight flit like the lying , coward he apparently is. I thought better of him than that but i guess we were all wrong.
Today is my 30th birthday- as i guess most of already know, i've been dreading this day. Silly, I know but it's really not about logic. Last night I stayed at Sils and we watched Stardust (apresent from my lovely friend sarah, last year actually!) and it snowed! We have about 4 or 5 inches this morning! I only have canvas trainers and other shoes which are equally unsuitable for this stuff- so we went shopping to buy some wellies. The saturday before Christmas- when i worked in the bookshop this was the stuff of nightmares! The centre was empty! Everyone stayed at home! Thusly I now have lovely new birthday boots which will keep my tootsies dry over the coming days. Sil made me a fabulous card which says 21 and then I pull the tab and it says +9 genius!
My lovely student Giuliana gave me flowers! and torrone for xmas! Tonight we were supposed to gathering at sils and then onto La Trampa in the centre of town but i think getting into town is going to be a bit of a stretch! Damnit! But we will have fun and then tomorrow Sil and i are going to cook christmas dinner for our mates.
I'm feeling ok so far, I'm here and enjoying life, healthy, happy, learning Italian. It could be alot worse! i miss all you guys at home though- but i'll be flying back next week and hopefully catching up with you! XXX

Scirocco

Early Monday morning, as the door to my building clunked shut behind me, a warm wind gusted around me. Somewhat unusual, for the last day of November whatever country you're in. I took off my gloves and scarf and began my journey to work. There hasn't been a breath of wind in Reggio for nyon two weeks by now and the change of air was very welcome. As I crossed the piazza in front of the Valli Theatre I looked up and saw the sky, the remnants of sunrise casting a purple hue as a background to clouds like tumbleweeds. The orange and yellow leaves danced down the path in the public gardens before me as I wandered ever closer to school. My students told me this was the 'Scirocco', the warm winds coming up from North Africa. By 10 o'clock it was gone.

Sils birthday!

This week was Sils birthday on the day itself we all went round to hers and Michaels for aperativi and last night (Saturday) Michael (perhaps Rashly) said he would cook a Birthday/Thanks giving (Meri, his girlfriend is American) dinner and then we would go out dancing. The dinner was a roast chicken with roast potatoes and gravy and veg it was great, didnt realise how much i'd missed that food!!!!! We took the discobus to the Sherlock holmes pub outside town, a really nice place and ike a proper pub except- the toilets were, shall we say, French? All that effort to create an English pub and then install squatty potties!
We returned to Sils and all fell alseep. after watching bridget jones and a breakfast of toast and jam Emily, john and i set off into town. We had coffee and generally spent the wandering around and drinking coffee-real Sunday stuff!
It has been bit of a down week this week, everyone is tired and not really feeling the uphill struggle for xmas. Hopefully next week will be better and it's another 4day weekend some national holiday, which is nice.!

road trip .2

On sunday we had breakfast at the hostel (not bad actually) and then wandered around Florence to see the sights in daylight. Beautiful city. I will add some photos but i left my camera at school, like a numpty. We packed up or stuff ans headed off to siena, the hotel was amazing, just outside Siena in the hills but needed a car to get too and from. Utterly beautiful and very cheap out of season. Siena was nice but i think we were all at bit over tired after dancing the night away the night before. We took in the city and of course we sampled the ice cream. Beautiful place, very hilly- but nothing compared to San Gimigniano. Sammie had to work on Monday eve so early monday morning we dropped off at the train station and she caught the train back to reggio. Sil and I really wanted to see San Gimingnano so we set off just following the road signs. I drove from just outside Siena to a place we thought of S>G but turned out was a another little town nestled in the hills- with a complicated name, that i can never remember! we wandered around there for a bit and then decided to continue on toward our goal. S>G is amazing the views are spectacular, the town itself has many towers and produces some excellent wine (unfortuately wasted on the heathen likes of Sil and I) Again we sampled the ice cream (of course) and sat in the square in the warm sunshine as the weather was glorious- i even went a bit pink!
After two or three hours we thought we should make a move homeward. We hopped on the autostada (Sil at the helm) and got home about 6ish.
On Tuseday it was San Propero day the whole town was filled with Stalls sellling all kinds of amazing food and clothing, allsorts. I wandered around and then met up with Sil and Sammie Nick and giula joining us later. We ended up in La Trampa drinking pesquitos and dancing in our seats. Brilliant end to a great weekend!

Road Trip!

This coming Tuesday (24th Nov) is San Prospero day, the patron saint of Reggio so, the whole city has a day and off and because I'm in Italy we get Monday off as a 'bridge'. well really what us the point of going in to work for one day? Emeninently sensible idea.
Anyway, Sil, Sammie and I decided to go off to Florence for a couple of days. Kathryn , very generously, loaned us the school car for the weekend. Saturday afternoon we drove down to Florence found the hostel. Nice enough place, it has graffitti all over the walls, downstairs are real murals and upstairs the guests just write on the walls! There is however no parking so sil and I spent an hour driving around looking for a parking place. She wasn't happy. We found one, eventually and went off for a wander. We were going to go and meet up with Michael and Meri after we had dinner in a small restaurant just by the Duomo.. We met michael and Meri and Giovanni in 'The William' a PUB! A proper pub!!!!!!!!!! didn't realize how much i'd missed them. had a couple od drinks and then we went to 'twice and danced!!!!! It was so good to have a proper dance. It was awesome. We danced for a long time and then us girls meandered home about half past one. Fabulous, it's been too damn long since i last did that.

Correggio chameleons

This week i have a new kids group to teach. Three kids, 11 years old. Ok, except that they can't get to the school so i have to go to them. The first time a new teacher meets a new student Kathryn likes someone from the school to go too and introduce them. A nice touch and also means it's not so scary for the teacher. So I am to follow Carlotta for my first visit. Except that the lesson is from 6.45 til 8 so it's pitch black by the time we set out and correggio ( neither of us have been here before i might add) is a good 30 minutes away. Carlotta has the Tom Tom and i follow her, all good right up until the tail lights i'm following turn out to belong to a silver car not Carlotta's blue toyota. Oh God. For the next 20 minutes I simply follow the signs to Correggio, in order to find a suitable place to stop and panic. By now the school is closed and everyone else has gone home. I get to what i think is the beginning of correggio and turn into a pizzeria, I've just applied the handbrake and am looking for a paper bag to breathe into, when a car pulls up next to me and It's carlotta! Thank God, more or less her first words, Lets go! She was just as worried as me but now we are 20 minutes late and only just on the outskirts of the town. we Finally arrived 30 mins late but the parents were very understanding-( apparently happens to everyone...!) The lesson went ok, I them just had to find my way home. I managed it with no small amount of help from Jane (the lovely Tom Tom lady, managed to switch it into english because trying to drive, in the dark, on the tangienzale and translate was just a smidge too much for a Tuesday) and carlotta who had been fab, I got home! Hurrah! Driving to Jodi tomorrow morning is going to feel practically mundane after that! Good thing too as Sil, Sammie and I are driving down to Florence at the weekend. (fingers and toes crossed, safe journey etc)

Fri 13th November

It's Friday night and i'm totally shattered! It's been a good week, I'm feeling more confident at driving, which is a good thing as i now have another childrens group- in Correggio, which is another town and i have to drive there on Tuesday! I might ask if i can take the car out for a spin over the weekend, the more practice i get the better.
I went out for pizza with Alessandro on Wednesday, we went to 'Condor' which is a good pizzeria in the centre and I teach the owners daughter so i always get a table! He is very patient with my Italian and tries to answer all my questions!
I have bought and Italian phone this week, all by myself and all in italian! I was very pleased with myself, and fairly sure i've got the right package! my italian is improving all the time and there is such a sense of achievement from talking to someone in a foreign language-badly or otherwise!
Next week we have a long weekend (there's a public holiday) so Sil and I might go down to a little place near Florence she's heard of. It's supposed to be beautiful and it's near Florence, which helps. She's going to look into hiring a car, which scares the Bejesus out of me but so did the thought of coming here, so far so good!

Jodi

Thursday mornings are a bit of a nightmare. First I have to get up at the crack of dawn to walk to school to get the car to drive to Jodi. Driving in itself is still a challenge for me, i do it at least once a week but it still scares me! Everyweek I drive to Jodi- through 8 roundabouts (Ikid you not!) The lesson begins at 8 and lasts for an hour and forty minutes! It is English for specific purposes, this class are all on course training to be early years educators (I am reliably informed there is a difference and they are most certainly not going to be teachers...) This is a class of 30 Yes thats Three zero) sixteen to nineteen year olds and they are all girls. They dont speak very good English (well, to be fair, do you remember much French from school? No, me either) and I don't speak very much Italian. Joy. The biggest problem is the noise, engagaing a class of 30 in a language they mostly don't understand is to say the least, a challenge but add that to the fact that teenage girls, regardless of their nationality, believe that whatever it is they have to say at that precise moment is infinitely more important that anything else ever and that the notion of taking turns when speaking is culturally alien (to both the age group and I suspect the nationality) It can be a touch raucous. The gesticulating involved alone, will take someones eye out one day.

Lake Garda

1) Me on the edge of the lake. The water is a clear with just a slight blue hue.
2) Hazy autumn sun setting over the lake.
3) The waters edge, the lake is so big the other side is just a blue shadow on the horizon.
4) Sil! and ice cream, she couldn't finish hers, I helped. (I don't know how to turn the photos around sorry!)

Weekend with Steve part due

1) The aforementioned car in Milan- Dad I saw this and thought of you! (and only a little bit of Jeremy)
2) The Theatre and the fountain in Reggio where Steve and I sat watching the water.
3) Steve and I.

Halloween.

The school planned to throw a grand Halloween party at the local country club- very big deal. This involved a lot of planning and preparation for the teachers. We have been cutting up masks and making lanterns from plastic bottles for days. Everything had to be thought about and transported to the club. There was a professional storyteller, face painting, mask and lantern making. All this in costume. It was quite a lot of stress for all involved but it was fun. After we finished we packed everything up we went back to Sil and Michael's place for Vodka- we deserved it! M had some friends over from Sassuolo- a small town about 30 mins down the road, Meri- M's girlfriends lives there. It was nice to meet some new people- english speakers! M and Merri etal went to a local club called Tunnel which i will try a some point but my cash ain't flowing at the mo and today (Sunday is the only day off this week and i didn't want to spend it feeling rough- am i getting old? (That's rhetorical)
However, today Sil and I decided to go on a little day trip- we went to lake garda which is beautiful. We just wandered around and took photos. Out of season it's a cute little town where Italians go to Passagiata on sundays. Today was no ordinary Sunday, today was the Day of the dead. This means most people go to the cemetary and visit their relatives. In the supermarket there are special candles in little cylinders with saints on them to put at the graveside. Slightly morbid next to tinned peas.
Sil then cooked me delicious dinner of pasta and bolognese. Had a really good day today and generally a great weekend even if most of it was working!

Weekend with Steve

It was fabulous!. On Sunday we all (Me, Steve, Nick, Guilia and Sammie) went to Milan for the day. Its a nice city and good for shopping, Gucci, Prada and H&M, of course. The Duomo is massive and built in a Gothic style- (it's all gargoyles, arches and pointy bits to you and I) It's a very modern city mostly with certain landmarks like the duomo and the shopping arcade is very ornate but I swear there is one just like in Naples. On the same street, just parked up all nonchalant, we saw a McLaren SLR and a Lotus. Expensive stuff.
Once we returned to Reggio we went to a restaurant I've been to before with the other teachers called L'Angelo. After a fabulous pizza and some delicious Dolce we were treated to a free macchiato and beer, curtesy of the waiter ( he said he'd pay because we are sympatico, well, it would be rude to argue...)
I worked part of Monday and all of Tuesday so I had to abandon Steve to the mercy of Reggio. He came back having found a fab little cafe for pastries and cappucine in the morning- we subsquently returned everyday to admire the waiter ( a different one, sterotypes are there for a reason) they also happen to do one of the best cappucinos I've had so far.
Saying goodbye was sad, especially as I had to work in the morning so i couldn't see him off properly. I'm glad he came both to spend time with him and also because it showed me how much I like this city- having to show it to someone else.

steve!

Steve arrived this morning!!!! I have been very excited about this all week and he finally arrived. We have had a great afternoon, not doing much, went to the supermarket and bought some food for the next week, came back mooched around the town centre. We had a coffee in Piazza Prampolini and people watched as the sun went down. I cooked dinner, a small tomato and mozzarella salad followed by mushroom orriechette and then out for gelati and a stroll. Piazza Vittorio has outdoor sofas clustered around the fountain, that reflects the lights from the theatre. We sat and watched the water dance for a long time. I'm really glad he's here and I hope he has a fantastic time.

L'autunno

The light here has shifted, the warm, resonant summer has ebbed away leaving room for the clear Autumn light to pick out the blue tinges on the fading paintwork of the Vescovile. People are reluctantly putting Summer into the past and the perceptible move from warmth to cold is underway. Jackets are on, scarves are around and the Gelateria stands empty on a Sunday afternoon, when only a fortnight ago it was filled with people, spilling out in to the street. La Passagiata is fading quickly and the fog is beginning to creep through the city, like an unwelcome stranger, in the middle of the night.

New Teachers

So first there was Luke who has now gone back to blighty ill, poor lamb and now we have Syl and Michael. Syl and i went to the giant suermarket on Saturday and had a look around followed by Gelati and we also went to view an appartment for her it's lovely and i'm kind of wishing we hd a living room now but i cant do much about that! Michael is from birkenhead and yes he has the accent he also has the kind of CV that makes you want to give up and go home!
Yesterday Syl, sammie, nick, giulia and i all went off to verona for the day- our first official outing! It's a beautiful city only about and hour and a half from Reggio., We saw juilet's balcony, of 'where fore art thou?' fame. Between Nick and Guilia, who actually are loves young dream, and the balcony I was left feeling, perhaps unsurprisingly, a little disppondent. Still, a girl can't have everything can she?

Marriage and cutlery.

My hours at work have taken a great upsurge this week i'm doing 5 or 6 a day now which is great (especially on payday) so yesterday in between lessons i nipped out with Sil (short for Silvana but too Italian sounding apparently) for a bite to eat in a nearby cafe. I had a trancio di pizza, a big fat slice to you and me. When i came out of the oven the waitress asked me a question, I didnt understand, sounded distinctly like it contained the 'sposi' which is basically marriage. A) a very personal question, does a girl really need total strangers passing judgement on her single status these days? B) I was sitting with Sil, does this make me a lesbian? I asked her to repeat the question- (it was the only safe option) turns out she actually said 'posati'= cutlery! Now there are two italian words I won't forget in a hurry.

KiDS

The kids classes began this week and it has been exhausting! I have enjoyed the challenge and will hopefully continue to improve/inform my practice over the coming months.
I also met up with a guy tonight! It was a very enjoyable evening and i'd like to met up with him again but i think i may have blown it at the end i'm not sure. We had aglass of wine and chatted for a couple of hours and it was very nice, then we met up with a some friends of his, by accident and people wanted to go for food, all good except that it's midnight and i'm half asleep after said mental week at work. I explained this and said my goodbyes however..... not sure if it didnt come across badly, i guess i'll find out in due course.
My confidence has been giving me jip this week, all that self imposed pressure about children and teaching and past experience, but i think it may be ok with time and if i'm mindful of it- don't let it get the better of me- perspective and all that jazzzzz

Friday week 2

Since my last post things have been looking up! I feel more at ease with whats going on both job wise and people, circumstance etc. I have started driving which is interesting - have't hurt anyone else yet which is always a blessing! It's been massively scary and still is but it gets a little easier every time I do it. I will get the hang of it eventually!
I have also caught the bus and other small things that are a bloody pain if you don't speak the language! When i do speak the language it'll be awesome! Went out for apertivi with Nick, Giulia and Sammie last night which was nice I'm slowly putting this city together in my mind. We're going out on Saturday I'm looking forward to it.

Inauguration Party

Last night was the school annual opening party because most people go away for 2 months in the summer, so the school begins a fresh in September. It went really well, Lots of people came and looked around. There was a story teller called Lorenza who read/acted out a story called 'The name jar' and then a workshop where the kids made their names using all kinds of stuff. It was good fun. I think quite alot of people signed up for lessons too. Julia- a friend of Kathryns and sometime teacher at the school was telling me about free Italian lesson at the local commune (town council) which is a good way to meet people- other ex-pats (apparently thats what i am now, hadn't occured to me!).
Today is Sunday and the town is pretty much shut untill the evening when the bars and cafes open up. Luke another new teacher, from england, arrives today and Kathryn is busy so i think i and maybe Nick are going to show him around the place- he will get the grand some of 1 weeks experience! It'll be a very short tour!

P.s

Maddelana and I went to the phone shop today to get an italian phone for me. We walk through the door and I kid you not the girl behind the counter shouts 'English!' , I know i dont really look Italian but seriously!

Thurday/Friday

Thursday went ok, spent most of the afternoon making my name from beads and materialss and stuff to use a model for the party on Saturday. Which is always fun. Had a couple of lessons yesterday too which were ok. Am feeling slightly apprehensive about the driving thing- think maybe i was overly ambitious with that thought I mean technically i can drive but the other side of the road too? hmmmm...

Wednesday

I felt quite pants yesterday morning- got all timid and didn't want to go out into the world just hide away for a bit. Not very useful. To make matters worse i then went on facebook and looked through photos of parties we had in the flat and other randomness- which only emphasized my meloncholy.
I went into school about lunchtime and found Nick at the computers, Kathryn arrived shortly and we went off to a place called Rimida- Wow, It's full off off cuts from manufacturing- vinyl, leather, thread, beads- even the insides of crash helmets (! really wished i could think of something to do with them) Kid=sweetshop. These are the materials for lessons and making stuff with kids over the coming months. So today we're going to look at all of it and see what we have in order to plan future projects. The opening party (they have one in sept every year like an open day at school) is on Saturday and thee is loads of stuff to do for that too- good to be busy!

Tuesday.

Well, no lessons this morning soi thought i'd better ring the bank and go to the supermarket. Bank-done tick, but being put on hold is no laughing matter when you're in Italy and being charged through the nose for the priviledge!
Supermarket done although some of the items bought now seem a little questionable in the cold hard light of day, however the lovely Maddelena has suggested we go to the supermarket (big slightly out of town job) on Friday hurrah! haven't plucked up the nerve to go to the bakers yet and buy good fresh bread- it's on my list.
Spent last night in the kitchen with Maddelena and showed her some of my friends from home we talked about language and family etc it was good. She has also begun to paint lately too! Hopefully when my stuff arrives I'll have my sketchbook and pencils to be able to record some of this place.
Found out last night that the window that looks into mine from across the street is in the vescovile, the bishop's palace. Not to self, close shutters, then get dressed. Ooops.

return of the first day!

So this would be my first day at work then, it went ok I think. I had three lessons with three different women, all very strong women.
I also met one of the other teachers, Nick who is from Manchester - not only English but another northerner to boot! (don't mention roses and all will be well) There is at least one other teacher to arrive -Luke, i think he's English too. There are some others already here but i have yet to meet them.
Tomorrow I'm going with Kathryn (boss) to a place that collect all the odds and ends from manufacturing and all kinds of odds and sods to do make and do with the kids which i'm looking forward to. I only have 1 lesson tomorrow evening because september is generally fairly slow but it's a nice gentle introduction.
Have about settled into the flat I think I'm getting on well with Maddelena and have been using italian today- hurrah! Confidence is starting to build hopefully.
Still no kettle.

Walk anyone?

My boss very kindly asked me if i wanted to go to the local park, there is a long walk lots of people jog and the like (not me obviously) and it opens out from woodlands into this. Ahhhh...

first day!

I arrived yesterday about lunch time - more than a slightly fluid concept where the Italians are concerned. My boss collected me at the train station and then spent most of the afternoon with me- luch with her family first and then she took me around the town, saw useful things like where the supermarket is etc.
Reggio Emilia is quite large but still has some interesting cutoms- anyone old enough to remember half-day closing on wednesday's? (Ok so, I guess the Stansted friends may not, being in the progressive south and all but when I was growing up oop norf- oh yes we did!) Sundays are also a total shutdown apparently, none of your Sunday opening times, niente! In fact the thing that open is the church. Quite.
I have just woken up to my first full day in Italy, the night before I left I was wreck, saying goodbye to people who are very important to me and have been the back bones in my life. Needless to say- didn't get a lot of sleep, so i thought a nice lie-in on Sunday morning, catch-up on my sleep. Hmmm, apart from the bells calling mass at 8.45. Yes, that's 8.45. ... in the morning. So now I'm awake. We don't have a kettle in the flat so I have to make tea with a saucepan......

Claras leaving..on a jet plane..

So ive set this blog up for you Clare to keep us all up to date on how youre getting on, a place to show your pictures, artwork and ramble on about your day without the hassle of facebook. Think of it as your own personal scrapbook- no pokes, no throwing sheep at one another!

Have a great time in Italy, soak it all in and remember we all think your ace and youll do really well, love ya mate!

Its a classy site so ill start it all with this, take it away Ms Clare Harrison....