Hello readers,

So it's been about two months since I have written anything. I really just wanted to write and say that I have been adjusting back to America. I am still missing Italy incredibly, but, I am keeping myself very busy. I am going to school, band, work, and the gym. Repeat. 

Right now, it's quite difficult to talk to my friends because a lot of them are at the beach and are not near computers, but hopefully, once their school year starts, we will be able to Skype regularly!!!

Also, about two weeks ago, my ITALIAN exchange student, Irene, arrived!! yay!!! it's so much fun having her around because I get to keep practicing my Italian!!

It has been almost exactly a year since I left for Italy: September 4th, 2012. 

Italy will always have a very special place in my heart and I will never forget the the things I did there or the beautiful people I met. 

Thanks!!! <3

~Shelby K.

Re-adjusting

Hello everyone!

I know it's been a long time since I have written.
I have been incredibly busy!

From working to college visits, I have had no down time.

Being away from Italy is incredibly hard. I am skyping and writing to my friends but it is not the same. I hope that I will be able to see them sometime soon! I miss them all so much.

But adjusting is going fine as long as I stay busy. When I am sitting doing nothing, it is a lot harder.
There are a lot of triggers that make me think of Italy at random moments, but all I have are good thoughts. I don't even think of the hard times anymore. All I think of are the wonderful times I had with my friends and family. I am forever grateful for this experience and I am so glad that it will always be a part of who I am.

Thanks! <3

~Shelby Janae

Returning

Hello everyone, 

I am officially back in America. It is so crazy. I honestly don't even know how it happened. I just remember going to the airport 9 months ago and then having the time of my life. The year flew by so quickly. It feels like I just got there a week ago and then had to turn around and come back. 

My 9 months abroad were some of the best months I have had. I will never forget my time with my friends and family. I feel like I am a changed person. 

Unfortunately, coming back was one of the hardest things I have even hard to do though. I made so many amazing friends and saying goodbye was extremely difficult. I shed so many tears.
I hope with all my heart that we will be able to keep up our relationships and continue to talk. 

When I got home, my family and beat friend were waiting for me at the airport and we went to eat some hamburgers and milkshakes. When I got home, I was reunited with my dogs and my parents surprised me with my very own car. I could not believe it!

Anyway, this year was so great and I'm already thinking about when I get to return to Italy. 
Hopefully I will get back into the American lifestyle soon though!



~Shelby Janae <3

The countdown is beginning...

to be serious. Before, I was counting down, "Oh, one month. That's still a lot of time." 

Now, the countdown is 6 days. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. It honestly just doesn't even make sense. I feel like I have spent my whole life here with my friends, but I still don't feel like it was enough. I will miss my friends so much, I don't even know how I am going to handle leaving them. Yes, I had bad days where I didn't even talk to my friends, but overall, they were always there and they always enjoyed my company. 
I truly hope that we will be able to stay in touch forever and that next summer they will be able to visit me in America like we are planning. 

So, my bag is slowly starting to be packed and I'm thinking about the things I could leave here in order to save as much space as possible. My money supply is down to only 55 Euros and I know exactly what I'm spending all of it on. I will be going home with basically no money :P

Overall, despite small problems that I ran into, I have had an amazing exchange year. I wouldn't change anything and I'm so glad I was able to go. 

I thank everyone who I have met on this experience and anyone who helped me to get here. I appreciate it so much. I feel like a changed person.

Thanks for reading throughout this year and I hope to keep posting even when I return to America. 

Next post will probably be about having to say goodbye to my whole new life in Italy. 

~Shelby Janae <3

Television

Hello everyone, 

In Italy, I feel like they like to watch a lot of TV. Most people gasp when I say I never watch TV. I honestly prefer movies over television. Anyway, the Italian TV is different than America but there are a lot of the same shows!

Most shows and movies are American or English, so most of the things you see on TV are dubbed. It is rather irritating to watch. They have MTV and disney channel just like we do in America. My host brother likes to watch Disney Channel in the mornings while we are eating breakfast. :)

Also, there are a lot a lot of commercials here. Commercials take up just as much time as they do in America, if not more. Commercials are pretty much the same as in America. The variety is taken up by candy/food and women products. Go figure. haha :)

Anyway, I just wanted to add a little note that I only have 12 days remaining in Italy. It's getting closer and more real every second. I can't imagine how much I'm going to be crying when I leave my much-loved Italian friends. 

Thanks for reading <3

~Shelby Janae

Austria

Hello everyone!

So, I just got back tonight from a school trip to Austria to visit a couple concentration camps. It was an amazing trip. We took a 5 buses (a great 12 hours including 2 hours of breaks) from different schools around my area and traveled through Germany to get to Austria. 

The scenery was absolutely amazing. Everything was so green! 
It was so crazy to see everything in GERMAN! I mean, no offense to any germans, but it looks like the alphabet threw up! I honestly do not understand how some of the German words can actually mean something. It is such an amazing and interesting language! I would love to learn it someday. 
I was pretty proud that at dinner, I was able to understand a little bit of the menu because some of the words are similar to English words. 

At dinner, stores, and any museums we visited, I was the official "talker" because my English is the best. :P
I ended up not eating very much because every night the others ate at about 9 or later and I don't like eating after 9 pm, so I skipped out on the hot dogs and french fries. :P However, I can say that I have tasted REAL german/austrian hot dogs! :D

Now to the serious stuff. I visited the concentration camps of Gusen and Mauthausen. I learned so many facts and saw so many things. 

I met real men and women who were prisoners in the concentration camps. 
I saw a ton of memorials for all the countries with victims of concentration camps.
I stood in the showers were hundreds of prisoners were forced to shower in sometimes groups of 50 strangers ranging from 15-50 years old. 

I stood in gas chambers and crematoriums were thousands of people were tortured and burned in order to get rid of the "evidence." 
I've stood in graveyards with 10,000 people buried. 

I never really imagined that I would visit a concentration camp. I figured I would always just see pictures and see stories. 
I can really see now what happened during this terrible time; even though I wish it never happened. 

Seeing what I saw just concreted everything into my mind and even though it happened so long ago, I hope we never forget.

~Shelby Janae

My New (kind of) Family

Hey everybody, 

So, I changed host families about three weeks ago. I really really like my new host family. 
The new family consists of a mother, father, and 14-year old brother. 
Currently, they have a daughter my age in Brazil. 
This family is so considerate of me. (Not that my old family wasn't... I loved them to <3) 

For example, yesterday, I saw an advertisement for a new flavor of TicTacs and I told my host mom I wanted to try them. The next day, I came home from Athletics to see a pack of them on my desk. How sweet is that?! They ALWAYS ask me what I want for dinner or if I need help. You can really tell that they care about me being happy. It is a shame that I will have to leave so quickly... I only have another 26 days with this family. Hopefully, they will be able to come to America to visit. That might be a little difficult though because they speak ZERO English!

The house is a bit smaller than the old one, but it is comfortable. I really don't mind living in smaller spaces. As long as I have a bathroom, kitchen, and a bed, I am happy  :D

On another note, Friday morning, I am headed off to Austria to visit the concentration camps "Mauthausen" and "Gusen." It should be a very sad but great experience. 

Thanks for reading!!! 

~Shelby

8 months today....

Hello everyone, 

I have officially been in Italy for eight months. I arrived the 5th of September 2012... Exactly 242  days or 34 weeks and 4 days have passed. That time has been spent learning a new language, making friends, eating pasta, running, speaking Italian, and having a blast with my new friends. 

I honestly can't imagine what life would be like if I hadn't participated in this exchange. Unfortunately, it is quickly coming to an end. My plane flight back to the states is scheduled for June 3rd, 2013. That means I have only 29  days or 4 weeks and 1 day remaining here in Italy. That is an incredibly small number.

I am having completely mixed feelings about going back to America. I am SO excited to get back to my normal life. I need to go on college visits, see my family, start school (probably start a diet;) and I am starting a new gym when I get home. I am stoked to really start my life. On the other hand, I am so upset about leaving my life here. I have some REALLY REALLY great friends, I have a great sports team, and I LOVE speaking Italian. AND, to top it all off, America is sooo far away from Italy, I have no idea when I will be able to make the time (or money) to come back and visit...
You see, I have such a dilemma on my hands... 
To stay or not to stay ;) 
I know that I will be returning because I am ready to go home... I'm just not sure whether I'm ready to leave.



~Shelby Janae <3

Rotary Trip 2013

Hello everyone!!

Sorry for the lack of activity. I went on a week-long trip to Ercolano, Sorrento, Capri, Naples, Rome, and the Vatican City. 

I went with the Rotary organization which included three adult volunteers and 25 kids. 

All the cities we visited were in southern Italy. The weather was absolutely amazing, all but one day. 
I loved wearing shorts and t-shirts for the first time in literally months. 

The coolest thing that happened was that we climbed Mount Vesuvius. It was absolutely incredible to see a real volcano! It is actually considered still active even though it has not erupted for a long time. You can still see the vapor/smoke from the volcano. It was an amazing sight. Unfortunately, this was the day that was pouring rain and freezing :( So it was hard to enjoy it at the time. But now,  I can look back and I am really glad we climbed it! (even though I was freezing and wet)

I also got the see the island of Capri and swim in the ocean. It was freezing and we saw jellyfish, so it was only a 5 minute swim, but it was worth it!

We also ate really really well (most days.) However, I cancelled out how much I ate with how much we walked! We literally walked so much my feet are in pain! But it was so worth it.

I really enjoyed spending this time with my other exchange student friends. We are from all over North and South America, Europe, and Asia. There are kids from Taiwan, Sweden, Canada, Paraguay, and many states within the U.S. Hopefully, I will be able to stay in touch with all these kids for the rest of my life. 

 Capri Island!

 Naples!

 Beautiful Sunset in Sorrento!

 St. Peter's Basilica.

 Love this....

 Just SOME of the students!

 The Spanish Steps

 The t-shirt says "We have exchange students"

 Trevi Fountain <3

Making a wish in the Trevi Fountain!

Thanks for reading!
~Shelby Janae <3

Sports in Italy

Ciao a tutti, 

I hope everyone's spring is going good!

This post will be about sports and exercising. 

For the most part, people here are pretty good about sports and exercising. Most kids participate in at least one sport, and if they don't do one sport, they will go to the gym and workout. 
Of course, there are some lazy people that don't do anything, but that is just like America. :P 

I personally know a lot of people that go running. I guess that is because I am getting pretty involved in running. I really enjoy going to Athletics and I currently go Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I also go running in the park by myself most Sundays. 


Sports wise, a lot of girls are involved in volleyball, boys and girls are involved in karate, and boys are involved in soccer and sometimes, basketball. 
Here, basketball is called simply, "basket."

Soccer is the major professional sport of Italy and a lot of other countries. Everybody has their favorite team and they are pretty good at following them. My current family has a routine of watching the game every Sunday night. They get so loud and crazy when a goal is scored. It is definitely interesting to see them cheering something other than American football since that is really the only popular sport in America other than baseball. 

Thanks for reading!

~Shelby Janae

Birthdays

Hey everyone!

So, today is my 17th birthday. I figured for this blog, I would write about how Italians celebrate birthdays.

Parties: Last night, I had a party with about 20 friends. We went to what can be considered a "bar." How it works, is you pay 7 euros for a drink and unlimited food. There are a ton of little appetizers, but you can eat as many plates as you want. The food is absolutely delicious! We spent most of the time talking and taking pictures. I even opened a couple presents that they got me <3
Italians usually celebrate birthday parties at these things called an "aperitivo" or they go to the disco. I chose having this party because I wanted to bond and talk with all my friends. That is quite hard to do at the disco.

Friends/School: In Italy, they believe it is major bad luck to say "happy birthday" before the actual birthday. My friends were a little iffy about me having the party the day before, but I really had no other choice because I'm going to be in Rome next week. So anyway, at school, the whole class chips in 1 or 2 euros and someone buys a gift and they all sign a card. I was given a really cute shirt from my class and then my other friends (from athletics) gave me a necklace, shirt, and bracelet. From my old host family, I was given a really pretty heart-shaped necklace. 
Also, the day-of or day after your birthday, you are supposed to bring in goodies for the class. Today, I am going to the grocery store to buy some chips, soda, and other snacks for my class to enjoy tomorrow. 

Family: Unfortunately, today my family and I aren't going to do anything. It is POURING rain. However, they got me some really nice little gifts. My host mom got me some stuff for my nails and my host dad surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. It was super sweet :) I think that for dinner tonight, my old host family is coming over to my new house to have dinner, but I'm still not entirely sure. 

Anyway, I had a really great 17th birthday and I'm so glad I got to celebrate it with my friends and family in Italy <3

 My flowers <3

 My flowers are sooo pretty :D

 My birthday party <3

 Me and the boys :P

:)

Thanks for reading!
~Shelby Janae

Buildings

Hello Everyone!! 

I hope everyone is doing fantastic. I am doing quite well myself. I am counting down the days until I have to return to America (In both good and bad ways). It is about 51 days... I can't believe how fast time has gone by. It really doesn't make sense. 

Anyway, I wanted to write about buildings in Italy. In America, hotels and office buildings (and any other buildings for that matter) start with floor one and continue up, always skipping floor 13 and replacing it with 14 (even though we all know it is still floor 13). 
In Italy, the floor numbers start at ZERO or "piano terra" which literally translates to earth floor. So, their second floor is our third floor. Confusing, right?

The buildings are also a lot smaller. For the most part, the buildings go up to about Italian floor # 7 or 8 and American floor # 8 or 9. You really don't have to crane your neck to get a good look at any buildings because they are much smaller than the skyscrapers people may see in New York, LA, or Chicago. 

Hope you enjoyed reading! Have a good week! :)

~Shelby Janae <3

One Bike, Two Bikes...

One bike, two bikes, red bikes, blue bikes. Old bikes, new bikes, yellow bikes, purple bikes.

Hey everyone! This post is going to be about bicycles. 

Pretty much every family in Italy has at least one bike. They are a very popular mode of transportation. Unfortunately, they haven't been used the past couple months because of the crappy weather. Just now, they are starting to come back out. 

All the bikes are different. I have yet to see a bike that looked the same as another. Everyone has a different color, style, or age. I have seen everything ranging from white and covered in rust to new and a shiny, metallic blue. 

One thing that all "bikers" have in common: the horn. Everyone has a cute little bell/horn on their bike handle bars. This is used to basically tell people to get out of the way. When a bike wants to get by, they ring their little bell and the people in front of them automatically move to the side; almost like trained robots. Whenever someone hears that bell, they know exactly what it means.

Anyway, I wish I could line up all the bike styles, ages, and colors throughout Italy. It would be like a rainbow! :)

Thanks for reading! 

~Shelby Janae <3

Italian Candy and Snacks

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

Here in Italy, they eat tons of chocolate. They have so many different brands and types of chocolate it’s crazy. It really sucks for a girl that doesn't like chocolate. Every day, someone asks me if I want a piece of chocolate and every day I get gasped at because I don't like chocolate. Pretty much everyone thinks I'm crazy.

They do not have Reeses Peanut Butter Cups but they have Nestles candy and many other brands.

Some major brands are TUC, Milka, and many others.

The kids here (and the adults) eat chocolate pretty much every day! They definitely love their sweets!

They do have lots of really good “sour” candy, but it’s not very sour. It’s more like sweet. But the gummy candies with the “sour” flavoring are very yummy!

I still prefer my American candy though... <3

Thanks for reading :)

~Shelby Kenville

Venezia

Hello readers,

This post is going to be all about Venice.

Venice is quite an interesting city. It is built entirely on water. There are no cars or anything on the street. The streets are literally water. They have boats as cars and even stop lights directly water traffic. It is basically a maze. It is incredibly difficult to find one’s way around when navigating the streets. I got lost multiple times. Haha.

In any case, many people, including myself, don’t really understand the foundation of Venice.

It is literally built ON the ocean. The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wooden piles. Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. The foundations rest on the piles, and buildings of brick or stone sit above these footings. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud until they reach a much harder layer of compressed clay. Submerged by water, in oxygen-poor conditions, wood does not decay as rapidly as on the surface.

Unfortunately, after so many years of being on the water, Venice is slowly sinking and is flooding more and more often. However, there are restoration projects going on. 

Hopefully, all of you will at some point in your life be able to visit this amazing city on water. 

Thanks for reading!

~Shelby Kenville

American Family Vacation (In Italy)

Hello everyone!

As I have previously mentioned, my American family (my mother, step father, family friend, and my grandparents) flew to Italy to meet up with me after 6 and a half months. We had a HUGE Italian trip planned including Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Milan.

First Stop: Milan.

This day, I took my family into the center of Milan and we ate at famous Luini’s for calzones. It was super yummy. Then we went to see the Duomo di Milano. Everyone loved it. My family got to meet my Italian friends. My friends were so excited to see my family. They were awestruck by my whole family. We even went to dinner with my friend Jenni and her mom. I, of course, acted as the translator. My mom would ask my friend’s mom a question and she would tell me in Italian and I would have to translate it into English. Overall, my family really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Milano.

Second stop: Venice.

Venice was great! It was so beautiful and we had so much fun! We got to ride in a Gondola and see a real outdoor fresh food market. It was so cool. There were raw fish, vegetables, fruits, and everything else you can imagine. Venice was absolutely gorgeous and we stayed in a really nice Bed and Breakfast.

Third Stop: Florence.

Florence was very beautiful. It is such a charismatic city with so many lively colors and people. We saw the Statue of David, Fransician Monk Churches, and lots of gorgeous jewelry stores.

Fourth Stop: Pisa.

Unbelievable. That’s all I can say about Pisa. It was a small city with not a lot to do, but seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was soooo incredible! I got to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa! It was so much fun. It seemed like it would fall over, but it was really cool. Then, we had the BEST dinner ever at a restaurant called “Bruno’s.” It had the best food ever. There was T-bone steak with truffles, Porcini mushrooms, Spaghetti with clams, Octopus, Lamb, and tons of other incredible foods. I will have to return to Pisa if just for the purpose of eating at Bruno’s

Fifth Stop: Rome.

Rome was absolutely incredible. We had some bumps in Rome – getting ripped off by a taxi driver and a restaurant trying to sell ice cream for 12 Euros! But, Rome was a dream. I mean, I never ever though I would see the Colosseum or the ancient Roman Ruins or the Vatican City. It was one of those places I figured I would only see in movies. I absolutely loved Rome :)

Home Stop: Milan.

Coming back to Milan, I got to meet a very special person on a day trip to Verona :)

My family and I also spent Easter together at an AMAZING restaurant Barbagianni. It was an incredible 4 course meal that took about 3 and a half hours to eat (with about 25 minutes between each meal) It was such an amazing Easter day as my family and I were welcomed into this homely restaurant.

Anyway, this was an amazing adventure that I am so glad I got to spend with my family. Thanks so much Bryan and Jennifer Jackway, Jenna Peitz, and Beverly and Kent Bergstrom for coming to visit me in Italy :) <3

~Shelby Kenville

Seasons in Italy

Happy Easter Everyone! :)

This Easter, I am with my fqamily in Milan. We plan on going to a Restaurant and eating Easter lunch together and then just relaxing at the Hotel. We have been very busy the last couple of weeks. 

Anyway, I wanted to write about seasons in Italy. Here, they have all four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

Winter: It's pretty cold during Winter. Especially this year. There has been a TON of snow and cold rain. I had to buy a new coat when I got here because mine was not sufficient.

Spring: It is still pretty chilly this year for spring. It has been rather rainy, but somtimes there are still beautiful blue skies. The flowers and the leaves on the trees are just starting to come back. I am looking forward to getting closer to summer. 

Summer: Summer (at least the end of summer that I experienced in September) was hot and humid. There were also a lot of mosquitoes. 

Fall: This season was really nice here. It was a little chilly at times but it was very gorgeous with all the different color leaves.

Overall, Milan is very similar to Ohio weather. Some days, the sky will be blue and it will be warm, the nect day it could be freezing and snowing. Some may say, "Bipolar weather" :)

 A summer sunset

 A summer day :)

 Autumn <3

A cold winter day! 

I haven't yet hit another summer day yet. Hopefully I will before I return to America in two months! :)

~Shelby Janae <3

Italian Bathrooms

Hey everybody!!!

I want to write about Italian bathrooms. Unlike what you may think, they are quite different from American bathrooms. No, the water still flushes in the same direction.

Toilets: Usually, the handle for the toilet is different than America. There is not a handle that you push down. There is either: a big button paired with a little button, a handle that you spin counter clockwise until it is done flushing (similar to a shower handle), or even a button on the floor that you have to push down with your foot. 

   The big button is for poop while the little button is for pee....

Unfortunately at school, toilets look like this....

Bidet: Some people might not even know what a Bidet is. Is is like a shower and a toilet. You use it for after the toilet to wash yourself. It is very highly used in Europe. It is used to keep somebody clean after using the toilet because toilet paper still leaves a lot of germs behind. It can also be used to wash feet, clothing

   The Bidet and toilet in my bathroom!

Showers: Showers in Italy aren't too much different than America. A lot of times, however, there aren't shower heads stuck to the wall. For the most part, there is a hand-held portion. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this!! I'll write again soon.

~Shelby Janae