Capodanno a Roma

2012 eventually arrived…happy new year!

Allora, una festa with friends from school among others was supposed to be held at home for NYE yesterday, and pretty much everything was set up and ready – however in the afternoon a few people bailed for whatever reason and subsequently the whole thing was called off. Vexing, yet as recompense I spent new year’s eve at the Colosseum in Rome.

As you’d expect, la metropolitana was packed with masses of people, but once we arrived it actually wasn’t as crowded as I’d expected. I guess the main difference was the fact that there wasn’t one centralised place where everyone gathered; rather it was just a huge celebration all around the city!

Vibe is definitely something I can’t describe adequately enough – all I can say is that the Romans know how to party! I fuochi d’artificio was spectacular, but to be honest I don’t think any city can ever rival Sydney. Given amateur fireworks are readily available from the shops everywhere, they were set off all throughout the night which was generally pretty exciting!

At midnight, we toasted spumante along with the rest of the city and once we got home, apparently it’s some sort of tradition to eat ‘cornetti’ (croissants), so in the end I went to bed after 3am. It was really fun though and a great start to the year, I’m really looking forward to 2012 and all that it brings!

xxxxxxx

Serena

Ps – as I mentioned briefly in my last post, we’re going to the mountains for a week so I won’t be able to update anything until I get back. Even though it looks so amazing, unfortunately I can’t go skiing due to restrictions with contracts, insurance and whatnot but hopefully it’ll be a relaxing time away!

[NYE '11 at the Colosseum]

Vacanze

During the past few days, I guess nothing overly exciting or new has happened – but here I am blogging to keep you all updated anyway!

First to the weather: the temperature currently sits at about 2˚C in the daytime, however it definitely sinks to negative territories at night. To be quite honest, it’s freezing! Since my arrival though, I seem to be cherishing that extra minute of sleep every morning. Fortunately school is only a two-minute walk away and the teachers always arrive late!

On the way to school though, it’s slightly uphill and there are parts where it gets really, really slippery because there’s ice all over the ground. Alright, I haven’t stacked it as of yet, but definitely expect that in a post sometime soon!

In other news, tomorrow is the start of ‘le vacanze di Natale’ which also equates to the fact that I’m now officially on holidays! As per usual, we had a massive party at school to celebrate the end of the year – and I must say although it has certain downsides, one of the great things about staying in the same classroom throughout the day is that in this case, the party just stretched out as one, long, continuous event!

So while I’m really enjoying everything about school, I’m also really glad about the forthcoming break as I really need it. Having been immersed in such an environment where listening, understanding and speaking Italian is something I constantly have to do requires at least double (if not more) the amount of concentration. And hence, it’s fair to say that I’m exhausted!

Having said this, it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed every experience so far! Even though Italian is still really difficult I think I’m improving ever so slightly each day…well, hopefully at least!

xxxxxxx

Serena