One Month Down & Three To Go.

Time for another update.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to get to see the Giostra del Saracino, the Saracen Joust, here in Arezzo. It happens twice a year, once in June and again in September. The Quartieri, the four neighborhoods in Arezzo, compete by having two jousters per quartieri try to hit the center of a target while riding their horse towards the wooden Saracen. The neighborhood with the most points at the end wins and is awarded a Golden Lance made by a local carpenter in Arezzo. The four neighborhoods are, Porta del Foro, Porta Crucifera, Porta Sant'Andrea, and Porta Santo Spirito. I live in Porta Crucifera. I had no idea how serious they are about the competition. It reminded me of an OU v. OSU game or even OU v. Texas but with a much smaller audience. The members of each neighborhood cheer on their riders and do everything in their power to distract the opposing neighborhoods horses. Although my neighborhood Porta Crucifera has had the most wins, Porta Sant'Andrea was favored to win and in the end Santo Spirito won the tournament.

I have been in Italy for almost a month now. It will be one month this Friday. The time has just been flying by. It doesn't seem like I have been gone that long yet it also feels like ages since I was in the U.S. I have found myself occasionally forgetting that I am in Italy because I'm finally comfortable with my surroundings. It feels like home; a new home at least. Nothing like my actual home. I miss my cats Kiwi and (soon to be mine) Voodoo. My friends at home keep sending me pictures of Voodoo and it's the worst kind of torture. I love getting pictures of her but I also miss her and my cat Kiwi. Also it doesn't help that everywhere you go in Arezzo, someone has their dog with them. Literally anywhere. Restaurants, the grocery store, a bar. You name it. There will be a dog there.

There have been ups and downs, homesickness and great adventures and I still have three months left here. I talk to friends back in the states regularly and it's hard to describe but when people ask, "Oh my gosh how is Italy?! It must be so amazing," I normally just tell them it's awesome and that I love it. Don't get me wrong I do love being here and it has been incredible so far, but people don't realize that it's just another place where people live. Sure it is more historic than most of America and it's easier to travel to various European countries, but in reality, I am living my life as I normally would, just a few thousand miles away from home. I wake up, go to class, go to my internship, nearly get hit by the stupid cars that drive down the narrow streets, hang out with some friends, then go back to my apartment and prepare myself for the next day. I have gotten over the crazy realization that I am living in Italy. It's normal to me now. There is still a language barrier and I definitely miss some things about being in America, but I have adapted to the lifestyle here.

I am looking forward to the winery visit this Friday and the hike on Saturday that I will be going on with other OU in Arezzo students. It should be a lot of fun and a nice relaxing weekend.

More updates to come later!

Ciao!

Wow. This Place.

Alright friends and family time for another blog post.

I have spent the past two weeks in Arezzo, Italy and I am getting to know the town much better now. I can walk around without constantly having my map out which is a big step forward. There is a big tournament happening next weekend and my neighborhood is decorated in green and red flags and streamers. It's so much fun to see the citizens of Arezzo coming together and getting ready for the joust this weekend. I'm really looking forward to attending the celebration and getting to experience some true Arezzo history.

This weekend I went to Cinque Terre and Turin with my friends Ayanna, Pablo, and Evan. The trip was so much fun. We went and saw all 5 cities of Cinque Terre in three days and spent one day walking around seeing Turin. For those who don't know, Cinque Terre is a collection of five cities along the Northern coast of Italy. They are beautiful and you can actually walk to all five cities. We didn't have enough time to walk between them all so we took the train but is was still an incredible experience.

We also went to the church that the Shroud of Turin is in and we saw the Egyptian Museum. The Museum blew my mind. There were so many artifacts and they had a few mummies on display that they are working on conserving. When I went into the room with all the Egyptian statues I just wanted to stay there forever. It felt like I had traveled back in time to the Egyptian period. I LOVED that museum. There is so much to do in Turin and I wish we had more time to see the sights but we had a lot of fun.

Now I am back in Arezzo and I'm entering my third week of being here in Italy. I am finally settling into a regular schedule. I have class in the morning and I just started my internship today. It is the neatest little place. Arezzo Factory houses some rooms for people to take classes and they also have music rooms.  They offer Japanese and Nursing classes and you can rent rooms to practice music like guitar, piano, drums, and so on. It's a new experience having to work with people who do not speak much English but it is going to be so rewarding in the end. The people who work there are so nice too. When I was waiting for my supervisor one of the guys who works in the caffe asked me who my favorite music artist was having trouble finding the music I said so he pulled up some Dave Matthews Band and played it over the speakers. I couldn't help but smile. This internship is going to be challenging and so much fun. They want me to plan an event so I will most likely be hosting an event in October. The pressure is on!

That's all for now. I hope to write again soon but who knows, life is about to start getting crazy!

Ciao!

Arezzo. What a Wonderful World.

Ciao America!

I'm finally all settled into my apartment. I have a great view and the walk to our class center is only 10 minutes. Life is good. My roommate Lucy is awesome and I think we are a great match to be roomies. We both have very similar interests and we survived our first shopping adventure so things are going well.

I cannot believe how beautiful this place is. I thought I loved Rome, but man, Arezzo is even better. It's a small community and the people here are so friendly. I can't wait to get to know the people even better and learn about my internship.

Tonight we had an OUA group dinner at Tortello Divino. It was the best meal ever. We had a four-course dinner and some street performers came by and did a show at the end. This week has been fantastic and I look forward to many more adventures over the next four months. 

I also found out today that I am the only student enrolled in the Beginning Italian 2 class which means on Monday I have a one-on-one class with my Italian teacher. I'm super nervous to be the only student because I don't remember much of my Italian from last semester but hopefully this semester will really advance my knowledge of the language. Tuesday and Thursday I combine with the Italian 3 and the Italian 4 students. The three of us are going to be doing lots of studying together.

There is a fair this weekend where they sell fresh food and many other things so I fully intend to buy some fruit and freshly baked bread. I think I am going to get used to this place pretty easily.

That's all for now.

Arrivederci!

When in Rome

Well I managed to make it to Rome safe and sound with my four other travel buddies. After many hours of sitting on planes and listening to a crying child next to me on my flight from Canada to Rome, I still have most of my sanity.

We just spent our first day in Rome! It's already been an incredible experience. I'm finally getting through the jetlag and can't wait to go see the sights tomorrow. We got to the airport and our baggage had not been put on our flight so we will have to get it tomorrow. Not a huge setback though. We were still able to see some amazing places today and eat wonderful Italian food. Staying in the hostel has been just as exciting. There are three other girls in the hostel room with me and my friends. They are from Barcelona and we spent a good hour teaching each other card games. It was so unexpected but an awesome time. I found a sign that said Fermata on it which was REALLY cool, took a picture of some cats and listened to a man play the accordion while I ate dinner. Basically, I feel like I'm in a movie. Europe has already amazed me and I haven't even been here 24-hours! We have to get up early to go back to the airport to get our luggage so that's all for tonight!

Ciao!

The Packing Begins

I started attempting to pack for Italy today. I didn't realize how much stuff I have been planning on taking. Getting this all to fit in my suitcase and making it under 50lbs is going to be like a super intense game of Tetris. Good thing I have gotten lots of practice with playing Tetris with the camp freezers over the past three summers. Packing four months of my life into a suitcase and a carry-on bag seems impossible. I guess the next week will determine what possessions are really important for me to take with me!

Adventure Is Out There!

Let me start out by saying I have no idea how to blog. I'm not a great writer which is why I am no longer studying Journalism but rather Broadcast & Electronic Media. I work well with video production and photography but writing is not my strong point. Anyway, I will be studying abroad this semester in Arezzo Italy for four months. It is my intention to write this blog and post pictures of my travels so friends and family at home can keep up with what I am doing. A wise friend told me that I should start blogging before I leave in order to create the habit before I fly across the world and forget. So here I am attempting to tell you all my plans for the future. I hope this blog isn't super boring and the weeks pass by. I'll keep you all posted!

David Askey

David Askey has been teaching physics to the students of Norman High School for 28 years. His unique teaching techniques and personal interest in his students' education prove that he goes above and beyond to help his students succeed.

Askey spends much of his time working on course materials, his website askeyphysics.org, and finding new ways to expand his students' understanding of the universe.

He believes that character is much more important than intelligence and that building character plays an important role in a person's life. He helps students build their character by giving them a space to explore new ideas and by trusting them to be honest in their work.

Students often work together on homework problems and are encouraged to have study sessions with other classmates.

Askey puts his personal time and energy into helping his students learn new material and encourages his students to think outside the box. He wants his students to think critically about the problems rather than worry about getting the correct answers. He urges his students to find alternate ways to solve equations because he wants them to think for themselves.

The physics classes Askey teaches are unlike any other high school course. Askey teaches the students to take risks, try hard, and learn from their mistakes. His students learn how to work together to solve problems and gain valuable study habits while doing their work.

Askey has taught many students in his career at Norman High, and they have become and will continue to be outstanding thinkers.

This video is about David Askey and his unique teaching. Michelle Nehrenz: Run time: 2:47