asolo.

With one camp under my belt, I headed for the small town of Asolo, only half an hour from Caldogno, for my first two-week camp. Again it was a small camp with only three tutors - Liza from the USA and Eva from Ireland.

We unexpectedly met on the train, which was nice, and were greeted at the Castelfranco train station by our lovely host families. My host family was made up of four sons!! Aged three, six, 10 and 13, and their wonderful parents, Francesco and Francesca.

Being hosted by Francesco and Francesca was a real treat, as Francesca studied English at university and speaks English impeccably. Also, Francesco's relatives from Australia, Elsa and Glenn, were staying with the family too, so it was nice to hear a familiar accent and speak with people for whom English is their first language.

On my second day, the family along with Francesco's parents and Elsa and Glen took a trip to an Agroturismo, a beautiful vineyard which produces all its food on site, growing vegetables, farming their own meat and the food was AMAZING. Mostly antipasto: meats, veges, bruschetta and pasta and it was divine. The region is known for Prosecco, a type of sparkling white wine, so there was plenty of Prosecco to go around, both at lunch and for the following month at two host families!

The beautiful view of the Agroturismo

The home, although super chaotic, was very welcoming and friendly, and although the younger boys could not speak any English at all, it was still fun to hang out and play football and video games. The six-year-old, Federico, loved to chat away to me, unaware that I haven't got a clue about what he's saying, and no matter how many times I would tell him (in Italian) that I don't speak Italian, he would still sit there and chat away, trying to help by speaking reeealllyyyy slowly, teach me little games and get me to pick him up.

Federico's favourite game - holding himself up by his fists in my hands

The 10-year-old, Fabio, was in my camp group and although he is quieter than his younger brothers, he's a super sweet boy and really made progress throughout the two weeks.

Our camp director, Barbara, was really enthusiastic and organised all kinds of trips for us tutors after camp, so that we could see the local area and experience all of the little towns nearby. She also took us to Venice on the weekend and the beach, Jesolo, which was a fantastic, relaxing day.

Eva, Liza and Me on the Rialto Bridge in Venice

Venetian traffic jam

The walled town of Castelfranco

All three host families were friends, so on the nights there was nothing planned, we often ended up either bumping into each other planning evenings together. On my first night in Asolo we walked up to the historic town, where the locals were partaking in an annual tradition where groups of young men dress up like Romans and tow a carriage with a lady in it up this massive hill to the fortress, was so fun and you would think the team that won had won the football World Cup the way the singing and chanting and cheering went on for hours!

Dinner one evening with all the host families

With three of my four host brothers - Fabrizio, Federico and Fabio

My camp group before the final show

My very talented host mother Francesca made a beautiful cake for our final show

Tutors and camp director after the final show

Ice creams on my last day at the Pellizzers'

With my host father, Francesco

I had such a great time in Asolo, with a beautiful, welcoming family and was kind of reluctant to leave... but I didn't have a choice and the next destination was only 20 minutes away!

caldogno.

It's a strange experience, being given a train ticket to a small town you've never heard of, travelling with people you barely know, being greeted at the train station by two ladies you've never met and before you know it, being welcomed into a strange home by a very friendly family with limited English.

It's something I have to get used to though, and I found myself in the small town of Caldogno, in the province of Vicenza, in a huge home complete with my own guest wing, huge kitchen, gym, wine cellar with 1200 bottles of wine, three outdoor entertaining areas, a security system to rival most banks and, most importantly, a very friendly and welcoming host family.

My host father, Giuseppe, is taking English lessons with a private tutor so he was very excited about being able to practice his English every day with me. Better than that, he's an exceptional cook but on our first night he treated us to a superb dinner in a nearby town, complete with Champagne (which would become a regular dinner beverage for the next week), three courses and a beautiful rural view.

The two girls, Valentina and Gaia (11 and eight years old), were very shy to begin with but it wasn't long before they opened up... as much as girls who speak another language can. With the school my first camp was based at just a three minute walk away, it was a fantastic start to being hosted, which is quite a nervous experience. You know absolutely nothing about where and who you will be staying with for the next week, it is a strange situation!

Our camp directors, Antonella and Monica, were fantastic. They essentially organised the camp and oversaw all the work that me, Victoria (from Canada) and Sally (from Ireland) did. They also arranged a couple of outings for us, taking us to the famous (and beautiful) Verona on one evening. Verona was fabulous, and a city I probably never would have checked out if I had been simply visiting Italy as a tourist. We were in town the night that Paul McCartney was playing at the Verona Arena, a venue similar in structure and to Rome's Colosseum, but which is still used today for concerts!

Me, Victoria and Sally in front of the Verona Arena

We had a lovely dinner in Verona and then sat outside the Arena eating gelato and listening to a few of Paul's songs, before going for a stroll around the town, specifically to check out Juliet's balcony but sadly it was closed off! We could see kind of an obscured view of the balcony but what was really cool was all names written on the wall of the tunnel on the entrance to the balcony. People write their names and the names of those they love on the walls, believing that it will make their love everlasting.

There's also a bronze statue of Juliet which has the metal of the right breast worn bare due to a legend that if a person strokes the right breast of the statue, that person will have good luck in love. Although Monica disputed this legend, saying she had rubbed the statue many times and has not been lucky so far!

Later in the week we also took a trip to Vicenza, the main town in the province also called Vicenza. While not as well-known and steeped in history as Verona, it was nonetheless an absolutely beautiful town to stroll around, with its old medieval buildings, huge statues, churches, pillars and Palladian architecture.

All in all, my first week of teaching was a really positive one. I had a great (noisy, boisterous but fun) group of kids aged 8-10 and they were really enthusiastic about learning which was really cool!

My first camp group

 

long time, no blog

So, I've been busy and haven't had a chance to update the blog since I've been tutoring.... Will try to update it over the weekend but in the meantime here are some photos from my first three weeks...

Verona Arena with the two other tutors of my first camp...

The beautiful walled village of Castelfranco

A mountain of spaghetti shaped gelato

Cheese shop in the centre of Caldogno

In Venice with the two other tutors from my second camp

Gelato in Asolo with my second host family (four boys!!)

My second camp group before the final show

With three of my host brothers after the final show

Dinner with all the host families - second camp

Last day with the Pellizzers in Asolo

a crazy, exhausting week in taggia

After a four and a half hour train ride, we arrived in Taggia Arma, in Northern Italy. I had arranged through a Facebook group to meet up with three other tutors in Milan for the trip, which was nice. I sat with Rebecca from Australia, who luckily knew how to speak Italian, which came in really handy asking for directions and ensuring we were getting off at the correct stop.

We (well Rebecca, mainly, as she was doing all the speaking) befriended a couple of older ladies on the train and they were really entertaining. I soon learned that Italians are super hospitable and friendly if you make a little bit of effort - after a few minutes they were sharing their food with us and asking all about our lives. On the next train we met a crazy old lady who was sharing her conspiracy theories with Rebecca, was a right laugh!

So we were met at the train station by a couple of tutors who would become our mentors for the following week, teaching us all we needed to know about teaching Italian kids English. We stayed at Castarello Golf Resort which was a beautiful, sprawling complex high in the mountains but it was not exactly a holiday - early mornings, late nights and hot weather making for a really tiring week.

Our course covered everything from energiser games and songs to play with the kids to start the day, how to deal with the language barrier, how to deal with young children who aren't used to such a long day (in Italy, the youngest children only go to school until lunchtime), arts and crafts, games and activities, lesson planning, how to use gestures to convey information and instructions, and so much more! We were given a comprehensive manual which provides all the basic information we will need, including lesson plans for every level, but we are also encouraged to bring our own ideas and experience.

There were around 60 of us doing the course, and the majority of them were either teachers on their summer break, or studying to be teachers.

Not having any teaching experience, I went into the week pretty unsure about my abilities but over the course of the week, I felt like I was gaining more and more knowledge and practical experience. By the last day, I was feeling pretty good but still nervous about meeting my first host family and camp group!