8.

Erasmus+ project week

On monday I finally met my friends from Germany again! After I hadn't seen them for one and a half months, it was a happy reunion and first I didn't really know where to start when they asked me about my time here because I realized that I didn't just see important sights but got used to roman habits and mentality. However, we had a heavy day ahead which hadn't even started at that point.
E.g. we went to the exhibition "Keys to Rome" where we could see ruins of the old city. It was just a pitty that our guide spoke a not very understandable English.

 

We also visited a few conferences about working abroad or the history of the European Union. Today we went inside the Colosseum and were guided  through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill by a bunch of students of us, which was an absolute highlight for me.

All in all the last three days were terribly stressful though because of all the walking and standing around until 6 or 7 p.m. (not to mention this extrem heat wave that came over us) but we all made it at the end - my feet still hurt by the way. 

 

7.

Strike!

So, today we didn't go to school because of a strike.
My previous host sister tried to explain what this strike was about and if I got it right, all the students were supposed to write a big test or exam today which the state should have used to compare between
schools in Italy.
The schools which achieve the best results in this test get more money from the state, which, in my opinion, is a terrible thing to do. Students who don't have the opportunity to get the best education should be taught by competent teachers who e.g. went to a further training which is why they would need the money urgently. It would be very helpful for their advancement.
Instead of that the state decides to give ist money to schools which mostly are already rich and have a better education system.
The students and teachers of the school I'm going to were striking today because the Vittoria Collona (school's name ;)) doesn't have much money already and they are, as I am, totally against this kind of stupid action.
Just wanted to write about that, I hope it's understandable to you.

6.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

... I brought myself to writing a blog post again - which is actually not so easy because many things happened lately.
I think it's important to mention that we've been to a few universities where professors of these were giving speeches about different subjects e.g. taxes compared between countries (which I, to be honest, found pretty uninspiring), about future chances and politics.
The speech I thought was the most interesting was about religion and  politics and their effects on each other. It was given by a young professor from Minnesota, USA who was quite dynamic.

It was not just fun listen to him but he also made the subject fascinating and interesting.
We also went to a cool park with members of my host families friends and family where we made a picnic for lunch and hung out all afternoon.

But the most important thing I didn't tell yet; I changed host families a few days ago! First I was a bit sad and perhaps even a bit afraid to leave the familiar environment and all the habits I got used to. Now, however, everything is fine, my new host family is casual and easy and very nice. Mostly they even speak English with each other when I'm around. So I am really happy to be here as well.