Barcelona for Conference

Here for another quick post, this time on a conference I was very lucky to attend. This year, I went to the ECIS Conference in Barcelona for both a Responsive Classroom Pre-Conference, and the conference itself (jeez, how many times can I use the word conference, amiright?).

 

The Duomo and My Tupperware of Wine

Buonasera famiglia!

What a week. This has seriously been such an exhausting couple of days, but so wonderful and what I've been wanting for my life for as long as I can remember. I can't even decide if I'm happier about being in Europe or being a teacher!

Quadrilatero d'Oro: Plaza of Gold

The plane ride was long but went well. 

Everything was on time, luggage arrived, etc. The one exciting part was that because of the orientation website, I knew a newly married couple was coming to teach from Rochester. When I saw two youngish looking people from the Rochester plane to Newark at the Milan terminal, I asked if they were teaching at the same school and they were! They, as well as the 15 other new teachers, ended up being so nice. I know it's still early, but I'm hoping all of my worries about being the youngun' of the group (I am, but not by as much as I thought), the only single one (I'm not, but the 5 married couples are great! And only one has a kid, and the daughter loves me), and the only new teacher (I am...) were for nothing. When you're living abroad, you bond quickly because you all have something so important and huge in common. Everyone misses their family, is confused and lost, so excited, and unsure about everything from getting a phone to the language to getting around town. But my group of new teachers really seem great. They're all so accomplished and most have already been so many places and done such great things with their lives!

Navigli was beautiful! I need to go back alone to take
better pictures!

What was surprising was that after traveling for 9 hours, instead of heading home to rest a little and get settled in, we started right away touring the school, talking to the director and one of the principals, and meeting people. 

I think they've been trying to keep us busy to keep our minds off of being so far away from home and to help get over the jet lag- if we're busy all day, we're forced into a new sleeping pattern! When I finally was brought to my apartment, I'm happy to say it's even more amazing than I could have guessed from the pictures. It's huge compared to my teeny little dollhouse in Alfred! I'm as settled in as can be without my shipment (it won't arrive for another few weeks), but I don't even have to use the Spork and collapsible bowl I packed because the apartment really is fully furnished- dishes, pots, pans, decorations... None of it's really my style but it is pretty and I like it for now. And there's so much storage space so I can put it all away when my stuff gets here! Woohoo! No pictures now, but I'll add some when the rest of my things arrive. 

Bellagio on Lake Como was amazing!

One of the nice things the orientation committee has been doing is meeting us close to our apartments to walk to school together. Thank goodness, because I am the absolute worst at directions and while the walk is nice, it's been taking 30-40 minutes with a couple of confusing turns, and I'd really rather not get lost when I'm this new! The school is incredible. I don't know how I'll ever be able to teach anywhere else! I might have mentioned this in another post, but the school is about 50% Italian students, and the other 50% come from around 52 different countries. While the foreign students tuition is typically covered by their parents companies, the Italian students are paying roughly the equivalent of two years tuition at a SUNY College each year. I've been told that there are students with body guards who wait outside all day, and that my absolute favorite movie star and idol's grandson is a student there. The cafeteria is gourmet, the facilities are huge and beautiful... It's absolutely amazing. The best part is that the other teachers I've met and the administration are so kind and helpful. I can't even get into it because I'll go on and on forever! My classroom is nowhere near finished, but when it is I'll post pictures. It's going to be so cute!

We took a ferry from the bus into Bellagio

An Italian tradition (for lack of a better word; I don't know that it really is a tradition exactly!) that I've been loving is aperitivo. At an aperitivo bar you'd buy a drink (usually 6-10 euro so pretty expensive), but then have a buffet of appetizers to help yourself to for free! So far we've been to three; two at teacher's houses and one at a bar and they've been so good! Some of the teachers who've been in Milan a while and the principals have been coming, so it's been great to have a casual setting to get to know them in. Any school where the principal takes shots of limoncello with the new teachers sounds like a good place to me!

All of Bellagio was like this- so amazing!

Yesterday's aperitivo followed our first jaunt into the actual city of Milan. 

When I signed the contract with my school, I read every article and blog I could find on the city, and it wasn't good at all. Everything said it was an ugly, boring, un-Italian city, with too many big business and not enough Italian personality. I wasn't expecting much and was so happy to be proved wrong. The parts that we saw were beautiful! At one point, we were walking on a covered sidewalk with pillars that obstructed the view to the side and someone mentioned that the Duomo was right there. I couldn't see it because of the pillars, and because that's basically all that comes up on GoogleImages when you search Milan, I wasn't expecting to be all that impressed (I thought I was a little desensitized). When I finally caught a little glimpse between the pillars, it literally took my breath away, and I practically ran for a better view. It's so huge, so white against the bluest sky, and every bit is so intricately designed that pictures do it no justice at all. That and the Navigli region were by far my favorite parts. It was an almost Venice-like canal lined with adorable shops, bars, restaurants, and apartments and the narrow, cobblestoned streets were full of artists painting the scene. Apparently, Da Vinci planned a whole network of canals throughout the city, but then Mussolini decided (like a big dummy) to cover them up, which could be why its so humid in Milan! Today we hit Lake Como, the land of George Clooney. Bellagio, on one of the arms of the Y-shaped lake, was amazing, beautiful, etc., etc.

The group and I at the Duomo!

Currently, I'm a little out of it (I think I'm allowed to blame jet lag for another week), but really my eating is about as off as my sleep. It's about 11pm, and while I wasn't hungry at 7:30 (I got home early today! Woohoo!), I'm now starving to death and making myself some penne. I thought I'd be fancy and Italian with some wine, but the cork crumbled and I had to push it into the bottle with the end of my wooden spoon. I sifted most of it out but had nothing to put my wine back into but a Tupperware. Just keeping it classy. Tomorrow we're going to IKEA to pick up things we may need, going on a walking tour of Opera, and then a fancy-shmancy dinner with some of the teachers and administrators. It'll probably be another long day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! 

Good Things Coming My Way!

The last few weeks have honestly been pretty rough/emotional. With everything going on, I keep wondering whether I'm making the right decision in moving over 4,000 miles away for such a long period of time. I'm freaking out. But, this week a few things happened that helped me to remember why this is my plan and why this is absolutely the right decision.

Awesome Thing #1

I met my future principal via Skype! My principal, Mr. H., was so great. I had roughly a billion questions for him, but he answered them all so thoughtfully and gave me such a wonderful mental picture of the school. I learned that I would be working with two other women in the 4th grade team and that they were going to be awesome resources and team members, especially in helping me to figure out the Science and Social Studies curriculum. That'll be great, especially because the program for those subjects has me a little lost. I'll have an interactive whiteboard, and I LOVE those! I'm considering buying an ELMO to go along with it so that I can put anything up there, but we'll see. I was a little shocked to find out about the breakdown of my students. Since it is an American school, I had thought I would have about 50% American students. Nope. The school is home to 52 different nationalities with about 40% Italian students. Next to none will be native English speakers. Gulp... But hey, this whole experience is going to be a challenge and that's just one more that will make me an even better teacher in the end! On a more curricular note, I am and have been obsessed with CAFE and the Daily 5, and have always planned on using it as a supplement to my teaching no matter what the mandated reading program was. Guess what the mandated program is? DAILY 5! WOOHOOO! I am so excited to be able to use this! Part of the awesomeness is that the planning/record keeping binder for this program is called the Pensieve. Yes, after Dumbledore's Pensieve. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love Harry Potter. Yay yay yay :)

The outside of Apartment 1

Awesome thing #2 

I received an email from a woman at the HR department with options for next years apartment! I have two choices. The first was cute, but a little disappointing. The outside of the building was amazing, but the pictures of the inside weren't great. There weren't any of the living room or kitchen, and the rest were from awkward angles. It was quite a bit more expensive which makes me think it's bigger and in better condition, but who even knows. The second was adorable- there were no pictures of the outside of the building, but the kitchen was absolutely adorable, with the most quaint white cabinets and a bench built into the wall of the kitchen for seating. I loved that one, but it is on the first floor of the building, which makes me a little nervous. I have to decide by Monday, and right now I'm leaning towards the adorable kitchen. Both are in easy walking distance from the bus stop, and I could bike to school. They're also walkable to the other new teachers apartments, and to the main shops.

The kitchen of Apartment 2

I'm such a planner, so these were two of the best possible things that could happen to shake me out of this funk. Now I have all that I could ask for to start planning my curriculum for next year and start making different materials and lesson plans. I can also start picturing myself in Italy better, heading home after a long day to my conveniently located, picturesque Italian apartment. In a town called Opera, which is pronounced like Oprah. Could the future look much better!?

Start of an Adventure

Here I am, posting my first ever blog post! 

I'm assuming that everyone reading will be friends and family, keeping up with my adventures. I've told my story so many times so far but if we haven't gotten in touch yet I'll fill you in!

In case you don't know me at all, I'm Jesye Streisel, and I'm 22 years old. I'm just finishing up my MSEd in Literacy at Alfred University and part of the reason I went into teaching (one of a billion reasons!) is that teachers are needed everywhere. Since middle school I've dreamed of living in another country. At the time, the plan was to be an ethologist living in a treehouse in the Amazon. By the time high school rolled around, the dream had changed to teaching in Europe. It seemed so far off at that point but here we are! This August I'm moving to Italy to work as a fourth grade teacher in Milan!

 Earlier this year I found a group called Search Associates that hosts job fairs for international education jobs all over the world. 

I attended their Cambridge conference in February. At first it was incredibly disappointing- hardly anyone would interview me! Understandably, every school representative that I spoke with was looking for more experience. I was feeling pretty downhearted, but because I had only a few interviews, I was able to attend presentations by school administrators and hear more about these amazing schools and what exactly they were looking for. Though there weren't any elementary openings, at the end of one presentation I introduced myself to the director of the school, handed him my resume and the 'business card' my mom had made for me (I have such business savvy, creative parents!), and asked for him to keep me in mind should any openings come up. I emailed him that night to say how glad I was to meet him and as it turned out, one of his teachers was leaving after having a baby. 24 hours later, I was signing a 3 year contract with the school!

Too cute, right? 

*About business cards: My parents helped me with this as a way to set myself apart from the other candidates.  The slightly blurry line is where my phone number was. Every administrator, whether they offered me an internship or told me they needed more experience, LOVED these and said to call them when I was ready for something new or had gained more experience :)

I'm freaking out. 

I'm excited, nervous, overwhelmed, terrified, ecstatic, and so proud of myself for taking on this new challenge. The idea of leaving my family and friends, especially after attending a school close enough to home where I could go home for dinner if I was really homesick, is just so scary to me. At the same time, I know that this is the turning point in my life and I want to document it as thoroughly as I can and live it up to the fullest!

A note on my blog title...

I love the Disney Princesses and have always related the most to Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Like her, I love my family and am so content to be curled up with a book, but the line from one of her songs "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere! I want it more than I can tell!" resonates with me so much, and I feel like thats what I'm going into this with. So much fear, and so much passion!