I was relatively quiet about this one, but I recently returned from a fortnight in Italy. What was I doing there, you ask?
Well, I was teaching English and leading drama workshops for primary school children.
As I write this, I’ve just realised I miss them dearly. I would love to post a photo of my class, but whilst the children and parents might be totally cool with that, I don’t feel comfortable doing so. But suffice to say, they were adorable and I miss them!
I worked as a Senior Tutor, which meant that I was responsible for eight members of staff and, over the two weeks, over one hundred and sixty children!
Wild ting.
It was incredible though. Where God guides, He provides, and He equipped me to provide wonderful guidance to my colleagues and to also gain the respect of all the children!
So many things happened, so I thought the best way would be to break it down into four main sections: hosts, work, travel and culture.
Hosts
The company I worked with provided my accommodation with two hosts families (one for each week). Fortunately, my host families were both incredible! My first family especially spoiled me rotten. We clicked almost immediately. They were banterous and kind and I’m certain I gained weight from all the food they gave me! My second host family were also lovely, with three of the cutest children I have ever met, seriously. I grew especially close to the children, despite the fact that we speak different languages. I was sorry to see both families go at the end of the two weeks. They both did their best to make me feel really welcome, and both sets of children made me feel welcome and involved!
Travel
So obviously travel is a key part of this job and it’s honestly one of the reasons I love it so much. I was based in Cogollo (a small town nestled in the middle of the mountains) and then later on, Morano. But I was also able to visit Verona with one of my host families, and bigger towns such as Schio!
Work
As I said before, I was there to work. The days were long but they were rewarding and I had an excellent class of children in the second week. By the time the working day was finished, I was so tired! But I was very determined to make the most out of being in Italy, so I went out with my host families most evenings. (Some evenings we stayed in and ordered pizza though — and watched movies! I finally saw Paddington 2!)
Culture/Language
If you want to immerse yourself in another culture, working abroad is a great way to do so. I absolutely adored being surrounded by the Italian language. I also absolutely loved how they pronounced English words. (There is nothing cuter than an Italian kid calling ‘teacher!’ to get your attention!) And everyone was so forthcoming with sharing Italian traditions with me!
From polenta to pizza to piadina (yes, lots of things beginning with p) to…uhm…aperitivo, patatosa (chips on pizza…I kid you not!), Italy has so much great (and bread-based!) food. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many carbs in a week before. I really, really miss foccacia and taralli (a cracker which can be eaten either sweet or savoury, with similiar texture to a pretzel. Honestly, so good!)
Finally, I would highly recommend ensuring you really take care of yourself whilst working abroad in an area like Italy. I tend to adapt to different places quite easily — I’m a pretty chill person. But I noticed that it was a bit of a struggle for others — the temperature was obviously different to British weather, for example. Additionally, you may be dealing with things such as diet changes, general tiredness and even mosquitoes! So it’s important to (gosh this sounds so boring but it’s true) stay hydrated by drinking lots of water…and aperol spritz, because at 1.50 euros you can’t really turn it down…
If you don’t know, I have a youtube channel. I vlogged all about my time in Italy, so if you fancy seeing what I’ve written about for yourself, take a look below! 🙂
anartisttravels 