Time to say goodbye..

It's been a week since my return to Turin after the Easter holidays which I've spent home with my family. My last days here went by very fast. Incredibly fast, really.
Besides having to finish off with what I've started three months ago at school, there was loads of saying goodbye. One emotionally intense week, indeed!
I did have to go through the whole »saying goodbye process« once in the past, but it seems to me that no matter how much you prepare for it- you can never be prepared enough.

What I'm feeling at the moment can be described as a kind of »dolce-amaro« taste; feeling extremely happy to return home but on the other hand being sad about leaving behind the life that I've been living in Turin for the past three months. It's been a different life, full of new and exciting things, full of new people (each touched me in his own way). But deep inside me I know this is the right thing. This is how it should be. The period spent here will definitely not be forgotten. But now it's time to move on.. I sure am curious about what life has prepared for me in the future..:)

In the previous week my school work did not differ much from that in any other week- helping teachers of English, that of TOK (Theory of knowledge), having to substitite for a missing professor and holding some supplementary lessons for students with problems.. and soon my working week was finished!

Yesterday it was particularly intense- I had my last lessons with the first and the second class. For this purpose (and to make it a bit more exciting) I've prepared a quiz about Slovenia. Since the start I've tried to make the students understand where Slovenia is located (which is, obviously, a knowledge not to be taken for granted ;) and what its characteristics are. To check whether they've actually remembered anything I gave them a test. They did relatively well. Why relatively? Well, there were still some commentaries about Bratislava and Zagreb being our capital, about Slovenia being a part of either ex Soviet Union or Checkoslovak Republic and this sorts of things.. but we managed to get by ;)

At the end I've asked them to give me a kind of a feedback on my work- writing what they liked and disliked about my lessons. This is something I find to be extremely useful as it can help you improve certain things. In addition, it's an opportunity for the students to get back at me for all the horrible things I've done in the past ;) To be honest I was really very much surpised by the commentaries given. It almost made me cry..
Here are some, in original form (still including grammatical mistakes ;):

»I enjoyed all the exercise, the explains, it was a very nice experience because now we speak the english better then before and we know a little bit better Slovenia.«

»I like very mutch your lessons becaus I have learn something about a new country. But I didn't like becaus you rest with us a few time. For this I am a little bit sorry. Hvala for everything.«

And my favourite one:

»I think she's very nice and friendly, and she can explain english very well. She could be a parfect teacher. I hope to see her again soon.

Ps: when she speak Italian she's very hot ;)«

Tomorrow the school is throwing a kind of farewell party for me. I've never had a party organised just for myself and so you can imagine how excited I am.. ;)

Let you know how it goes!

Family visit

As it has already been mentioned I had two very special guests.. my brother and my aunt paid me a visit last week and I can conclude it really was great! Seeing them after such a long time made it even more special than it already was.

We first took a trip around Turin which was, despite the fact I know it rather well by now, interesting for me, as well. Visual material which serves as a proof I'm not just messing with you, is found below ;)
Gran Madre and the Verbic "brothers" ;)

Mia crazy zia ;)

We also took some other trips to near-by places which I haven't seen so far. Among other places we also saw Venaria Reale, also known as "The Versailles of Turin". Let me say I've been to Versailles several times so far and I find it NOTHING like Venaria (and I don't mean that in a good way ;) Sorry.. ;)

La Veneria Reale

One place which I particularly fancied was defenately Sacra di San Michele. It is also known as "The Symbolic monument of the region Piedmont" which still today served as the religious object.

Sacra di San Michele/Saint Michael’s Abbey

Sacra di San Michele/Saint Michael’s Abbey

At the moment I'm spending my Easter holidays in Slovenia with my family and friends. I love it here! Even more now than I did before going to Italy. Slovenia is undoubtedly MY HOME. And even though I'm loving my days spent in Italy, nothing can be compared to the feeling that you get upon returning home..

This Sunday I'm going back to Turin to finish off what I've started 2 and a half months ago. I'm sure saying goodbye won't be easy. Leaving new friends, collegues, experiences behind.. But then, I'm an optimist myself when it comes to the future. And so.. new experiences, here I come! ;)

Three weeks to go..

The week that is about to finish passed extremely quickly; one of the reasons being that I only started working on Tuesday and not on Monday, as usual. Which made the whole week a day shorter ;)
As mentioned in the previous post I've been to Lyon last weekend.


As I really wanted to take full advantage of my stay there I asked my mentor if it would be possible to take a day off. Fortunately for me, she agreed ;)
This is actually something I really appreciate with this programme of Comenius Assistantship. An assistant is supposed to be working from 12-16 hours per week but the days when the work is supposed to be done are not really defined. So in a way assistants are relatively free when deciding when to work. However (and like in most cases) this also depends on the relationship that you establish with the mentor and with other school staff. I can say we have a good rapport. But then, isn't that always the case- when you're honest to someone, this someone is very likely to give his kindness back?

School was quite busy, though. I can even conclude the passing week has been one of the busiest so far. On average I worked for 4 hours per day, but when returning home there was plenty of other stuff to do... Believe it or not, it took me additional 4 hours to prepare for the lessons held in the following days. That's what I call hectic ;)
But I am now through with it and extremely happy about it ;)... did I tell you holidays start next week? Yeah, that's kind of the thing that keeps me going ;)

A classroom at Il Liceo Europeo Vittoria

At our school holidays start next Thursday and last up until the 19th of April. And so as you can see, I have a looong holidays ahead of me (and I'm sure not complaining about it ;)

Ok, so I've told you about my good, working side. However, teaching and preparing for lessons is not the only thing that I do around here (even though one might get precisely this idea ;). I do like to take time to enjoy myself, of course. To be honest, I already got the feeling that it's only a matter of time before I'll have to leave Turin and return to my sweet Slovenia. That's why I want to take full advantage of my stay here. And how do we do that? First, we go for some ice-cream tasting ;)
And so yesterday I met up with my friend Kate, again. The main purpose of this meeting of ours was to check out the new flavor of the month in one of the best gelaterias in town (GROM- I strongly advise you to remember the name! ;). But... believe it or not, this time I said no to it and only watched Kate as she enjoyed her scoop of Gianduja. I'm not saying it wasn't hard or that I did not suffer while watching her, but the thought I was able to resist it for once, makes me even happier ;)
By the way- the reason why I said no wasn't a religious one (or any other noble kind, for that matter). I was just too stuffed with other sweets that I had before ;)

Yesterday evening we went out for dinner. A friend of mine, Alex from Romania, celebrated his birthday which is why he invited us for an aperitivo. It was a very lovely evening!

And today? Well, apart for writing this post, I’m preparing myself for a very special visit. My brother and my aunt are already on the way to Turin... how cool is that? ;) We’re planning to visit some things in the city and hopefully we’ll manage to see some other cities which I have not had a chance to visit so far. And so I am expecting a very nice week! As a welcome present for them my flatmate Chiara (who is, by the way, a true expert in baking) and myself (well, I mostly did the watching part ;) baked these handome looking cookies.. Wanna a bite? ;)

Weekend in Lyon

Last weekend I've been to Lyon (France) where I met up with an old friend Johann. We were hosted by his brother Benjamin and his family who did their best in trying to make me feel like home. They did an excellent job!

Adell de Ortells family, you trully are great! ;)

Let the photos tell the rest..

The Roman Era Theatre

Place Bellecour

Panda town ;)
Basilica de Fourvière I.

Basilica de Fourvière II.
Charnay

Here and there and everywhere

If you happen to be wondering what has Tina been doing in the past week, here's a brief description ;)

On Friday evening I usually go to the Italian language course. Last Friday was particulary sweet. Wanna know the reason? Well, two of my friends from the course and myself went to try out some ice-creams just before the course. I actually took them to a gelatteria where another friend of mine took me a week ago. I was thinking it would be a shame not to spread the word of "the best ice-cream in town" to others ;) And judging from their faces I would say they loved it as much as I did ;)

After the course we went to a kind of a party (which proved to be nothing more than a dinner, but ok ;) Here's a photo..


Later we went for some chocolate tasting which proved to be an excellent way of ending the day ;)

On Saturday I was invited to join two of my students together with their family as they visit the Museum of Oriental Art. An interesting museum, indeed. I recommend it!

We continued the day at a Chinese restaurant where we had a looong talk in 3 different languages (the mother is Serbian, which enabled us to speak our own languages). It was a bit confusing, but to be honest I liked having the chance to speak Slovene again!


The week passed very quickly again and I now see it's just a matter of time before my departure will come, as well.
Anyway, on Wednesday we went partying (together with Erasmus students which was niceee ;) and on Thursday my flatmate Chiara and her boyfriend have invited me to join them for dinner at their friend's house. Giorgio (the friend) certainly is one interesting person with loads of talents. Let me explain before you start worrying ;)
Apparently, he's an expert in palm reading. Well, at least that's what he says ;)
I learned some interesting facts about my life which I wasn't aware before. Anyway, always good to find out something new about yourself ;)

Friday night we went out again- a friend of mine from England (working just outside Turin) came with another friend and we went to grab dinner together.

And Saturday.. well, on Saturday I went to Como (most famous for its lake, of course). There, I met up with Ivan. He's a Spanish guy who I first met at that meeting of Comenius Assistants in Florence. As you see, I got to know quite many people there. So those of you who will actually go abroad as assistants- do go to this meeting, you will regret not going. That's an ORDER! ;)


Como was really nice. Honestly, I didn't expect to see so many nice things there. On the way back I stopped to Milan where I had 3 hours before my train back to Turin. I went to see some other places which I could not visit a week before. Among other things, I saw one of the most prestigious shopping streets in Milan (Via Monte Napoleone). So if you happen to find yourself having 1 000 euros to spend, I suggest you stay at home. Do not come here with less than 5 000 ;)

Till next time..

International week

One great week!
I know I say this for every week that has passed, but this was REALLY something speacial ;) For a week our school hosted 17 Dutch students and 2 professors, coming from the Merewade College in Gorinchem, Holland. They came here with a programme of the European Union (Comenius school assistansthips) which enables schools to take part in such one-week lasting cultural exchanges. I found the programme an excellent way of getting to know a foreign culture, giving the the students a unique opportunity to live out a real Italian experience. Such an exchange is based on the principle of reciprocity; last November our students have gone to the Netherlands and spent one week with the Dutch families. This time it was them who did the hosting part. Each Dutch student lived with an Italian family. Great, is it not? A true and genuine experience!

I was really glad (and fortunate) to be able to participate in the whole thing. My task was to help with the organisation and to join our guests when sightseeing. As you can imagine, I had no problems with that.. no problems what-so-ever ;)

And so on Monday we took them to Lingotto, a former Fiat factory which is interesting for two things. First, it has a track all around the building and so when the directors wanted to observe the whole production process they did not even have to step out of their cars (they could drive all the way through). Second, it also had a rooftop test track for testing the cars. Smart, isn't it?

On Tuesday we went to the Egyptian museum (the 2nd biggest in the world, immediately after the one in Egypt).
























Wednesday was an interesting day, as well. In the morning we visited Mole Antonelliana, the symbol of Turin which hosts the Cinema Museum. What I particularly fancied was the view from the top. If you're ever in Turin, it sure is a must to go on the top. On a clear day it seems you can see all the way to Slovenia. Well, almost ;)



TTT- The three teachers ;)

In the afternoon we visited another important sight- Palazzo Madama, one of the residences of the royal family. The palace now houses Turin's Museo Civico d'Arte Antica.


In the evening I was supposed to take the Dutch teachers out for dinner. I have to admit I don't remember the last time I had so much fun ;) To make the story short- late evening we ended up in the apartment of Sara, our afternoon guide to Palazzo Madama. Don't ask, it's a looong story ;)

I've never been to Milan myself, and so going there was something I've wanted for a long time. My wish came true on Thursday when we all went to see this fascinating city, found only two hours away from Turin. When we got in front of The Duomo there were crowds of people staring at the sky, shouting something. A couple of minutes later I found out the cause of their enthusiasm. On one of the balconies there she was.. Dolce Nera. Never heard of her? Well, join the club ;) But according to the number of people gathered there she seems to be rather popular among the Italian youth (recently she participated in the San Remo festival).
Anyway, let the photos tell more..

The students in front of Castello Sforcesco

The professors in front of Il Duomo

We ended the week on Friday by going to Parco Valentino and to see Borgo Medievale. Due to some organisational problems (or the lack or it, for that matter ;) we didn't actually enter (but as a proof, we did take a photo in front ;). But I think the students actually prefered having some unexpected free time than seeing yet another museum. I can't really blame them ;)


With more experiences that I have here I see my horizons are spreading. I see more and more possibilities that are offered by the EU and I can only hope others do, too. Take advantage of it or else you may end up regreting for not doing it. There are very many possibilities and so I'm sure you can find one that suits you, as well. Go for it, guys! ;)

A week in a life of Comenius Assistant

For those who happen to be interested in my days here in Turin, here's a brief summary of the passing week.

Last weekend the weather was really horrible. Let me tell you that after three weeks of pure sun I had loads of difficulties with excepting such a change. However, I wanted to take advantage of my stay here, so I decided to do some sightseeing. »The more the merrier«, some say and so I invited my friend Alex to join me. We went to Monte dei Cappuccini which is not found far from the city center. Besides the church of Santa Maria del Monte, National Mountain Museum can also be found there. The thing I liked most was the sight that was offered from the top of the museum (the rest I didn't really find that interesting ;)


The rest of the day I spent preparing for the lessons that I had in the coming week. However, when my flatmate then invited me to join her and her boyfriend for dinner I just couldn't say no. We went to Eataly (I just LOVE the name ;), a place where you can do both, try different food and also buy the ingredients (it serves as a restaurant and a kind of market at the same time). It was a true cultural experience as the food offered there is supposed to be genuine Italian (oranges are from Sicily etc). As you can imagine the prices are sky high. So I'm guessing it was my first and last time in Eataly ;)

On Monday the other flatmate and me have decided to visit the biggest shopping center around (Le Gru). There wasn't really anything special we needed to buy, we just considered it to be a nice way of spending the afternoon. And it was. Even though at the end of the day I was tired as hell, it was worth it!

In the evenings I like to prepare for the lessons that I have the next day.. but then, you cannot only study, can you? ;) There's time to work and there's time to have fun.

On Tuesday afternoon I had some extra lessons (Corso Sostegno) with the students who are facing problems with their English. I find it really great to be given the opportunity of presenting English to those who in most cases dislike it. It's a very big responsibility but at the same time I am given the option to let the students know that English in fact can be- fun! And most of all, very useful. I hope I did make a change. I certainly did do my best.

Even though at the end of these afternoon courses I get really tired, there was something I just had to do that Tuesday; my friend Crystal was returning home after five months that she's spent here. We meet up, went to apperitivo for one last time and them parted (hopefully not for good ;).

On Wednesdays I usually join one professor of TOK (Theory of Knowledge) and then spend a couple of hours with another professor of English. My duty is to get the students talking. I am doing it by asking questions and expecting them to actually answer ;) I've been quite an optimist so far, as I hope I did make a tiny difference (some students who had problems with expressing themselves before actually utter a word or two when I'm around ;)

In the evening, it was fun time ;)
Together with some friends who I met at the Italian language course I met up in the evening. The plan was to go to a club which is very popular among Erasmus students. It was certainly the right decision! It was a blast! ;) It gave me the opportunity of re-experiencing my Erasmus life. But.. let me tell you a secret. I was kind of happy to return to my »old«, Comenius life. Life, in which people actually have to work and when partying 3 times a week is just not an option. Well, I just realised I'm getting old ;)

Friday was nice, too. One special event made it even nicer. Do you want to hear more?;) Well, a friend of mine (Kate) paid me a visit and we decided to make the most out of the afternoon. Each month one of the best ice-cream shops prepares a new flavour of the month. Last time that we went there was in February. This Friday was already March.. you get it? ;) We just couldn't resist trying out the new flavour. And I'm happy we didn't miss it- peach with chocolate proved to be an excellent choice!

The week actually got better and better/tastier and tastier. Let me explain! Friday, the 6th of March is also the date when the traditional 10-days Turin Chocolate festival (CioccolaTO) began. On Saturday I went to see if they have anything that might interest me. Both, me and my flatmate were more than impressed! Yeah, it did interest me ;) All those different flavours, shapes, colours, scents.. I'm sure I'll go there again!

My flatmate and me

In the afternoon one of my students has invited me to join her for a walk around the city. She's a native from Turin and as I find her knowledge of this city so priceless, I could not refuse her offer. She took me to a place, saying it was there that the best ice-cream is sold. I agreed to go there, but to be honest I was rather sceptical about »being the best one around« part. After trying out that on Friday I was almost certain I've already discovered the absolute winner. However, my assumptions proved to be incorrect! Riva Reno in the center of Turin is, undoutedly, THE BEST ICE-CREAM I've ever tried (well, until I find the next shop ;) By the way.. thanks Claire, I really appreciate you taking me there ;)

When I woke up this morning I was really glad to discover that the weather is sunny again. As I'm the sort of person who likes to discover new things I decided to take a trip. Together with my »travelling companion« Alex we went on a near-by hill to see the famous Basilica di Superga. It was spectacular! It is actually very much reminiscent of St Paul's cathedral in London. There was one more thing there that really left me touched. Almost 60 years ago a plane carrying the Grande Torino football club crashed into the hillside. Everybody on board died. Now, only a stone plaque and hundreds of fans that go there are commemorating this tragedy. Let the photos tell more..



When returning home I was starving, so I was happy that my flatmates and me had agreed to spend the afternoon preparing food together. It was a very nice way of socialising, and it also gave me the opportunity of actually learning a new thing. So now I'm almost an expert in making real Italian pizza and foccacio. Any questions? ;)