Half way there

21 days have passed and every day I still get butterflies in my stomach as we make the drive along the mountain road into town with the mountains and lake spread out in front of us. It’s just so glorious and it’s so comical when I have this goofy smile on my face and everyone else in the car has seen this view every day of their lives. Some days have passed in seconds and others have crawled. I can’t say that it hasn’t been difficult so far; no one could. Being immersed in a different culture surrounded by a different language and no familiar faces isn’t easy. Mix in beginning at a new school and what feels like 5000 words per second and we’ve got a bit of a list of potential fears and anxieties that could creep in. But taking each day as it comes with the right mindset as I have tried to do transforms what is very scary into a very rewarding and beautiful experience. The exchange is about learning the language and all the culture that comes with it, but it also forces you out of your comfort zone every day. All I could do was tell myself I had to be confident, and I had to lose the self-consciousness and all that negative self-talk and allow myself to make mistakes. I’m already here, I’m in this, and I have to rise to the occasion and put myself on my toes every minute of every day.

My town is called Nonio and is a very small mountain suburb in the North of Italy, where it’s really cold (meanwhile in Melbourne…) Nonio has no bad angles, fresh air and the best view of the Lago D’Orta and the other surrounding mountains. My camera roll is pretty much just me taking a photo from every possible angle of the lake, and on the other side of the camera I would have been breathing in the fresh air and smiling dorkily at the view. Here, I can look up and see the whole sky with no buildings or annoying Melbourne trees in the way. I’ve been so busy every day and the concentration to understand is exhausting but so rewarding. At this halfway point, I present to you some lists.

5 places visited so far:

• Sacre Monte, a collection of little chapels containing frescoes and statues telling the story of Jesus Christ

• Orta, the lakeside town which looks like a movie set, it’s that perfect

• Madonna nel Sasso, a church on a cliff which has a 360 view of the lake

• Vallestrona, where the Christmas fair boasted a real donkey in the nativity scene, an angel throwing confetti and white hot chocolate

• Italian school!!! I attend a Scientific School, as they have to choose a stream, where I do about 10 compulsory subjects and stay in the same class every day

5 things that have made me happy so far:

• Sitting by the fire with my sister, a book and Tim Tims (of which I have plenty)

• Setting up the Christmas tree

• Tasting the ‘Noniese’ pizza with leek and pancetta

• The moody cat (called Gatto, Italian for cat) coming to snuggle

• THE SNOW! It began to snow as my class was walking to gym and I completely lost it

• Sorry but I have to add this sixth; the hot chocolate is just melted chocolate

5 words learnt so far:

• Boh

• Come mai

• Cosa vuol dire

• Meno male

• Mi piace da morire

5 goals for the second half:

• Learn more about the culture

• Stop stressing and overthinking

• Stay engaged always

• Go to the discoteca

• Learn to cook something Italian

5 things the Italians have been shocked to learn about Australia

• We have Italian food

• Canberra is the capital city

• We speak English, not Australian

• Christmas is not in July

• We can choose our subjects

5 life lessons learnt so far:

• It’s up to you to support yourself

• Mistakes are great

• Learning is exhausting sometimes

• Things fall into place

• You can never bring enough books

Love, Ingrid