just call me an ethnic hipster.

Bonjour!

Had to switch it up, my cool mamma jammas.

But really, buona notte de il mio letto (nuovamente!).

Being in this stage of my choice in life, even though I'm the meek 15 years of age (lol nope), I'm getting more aware of the world around me every day. Not the kind of aware that I know what is going on in every country and the economical downfall of a country in southern Europe or the riots breaking out in a country different from last week's rioting, but the way people think around me. I've been on rants and condescending yelling conversations with people that share the same views of how life should be lived for a long time. If you know me and I've had one of these with you, you know exactly what I am talking about. I really don't have the power or the audacity to say that the way people are living is wrong and that I'm right, I just don't understand how many opportunities people are given that they aren't willing to take because they actually involve work. Know what makes me frustrated, possibly more than anything? When people say they want to leave, want to start over, want to get out of the town, state, country, yet they don't do anything about it. I mean, what?

Look around you. We are surrounded in a society now that we have the terrible tumblr phrases pasted everywhere, like "I live in a small town that everyone claims to hate yet never leaves". Well you know what? That's true. I never really could figure out the logic behind that. Because, if you aren't looking for a way out of it, you aren't going to leave. It takes self initiative (oh no, physical labor!) to actually get stuff done. You want to leave this town you grew up in? Fine by me. But don't just wait around to scratch off that lottery ticket or marry some person wealthier than you. You want it? You gotta get it. If you don't get it, you aren't really trying.

Which brings me to this: you can't hate where you come from. Hating where you come from just blatantly prints "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING" on your forehead. All it is, is a sign of immaturity and being too adolescent for really understanding the beauty of the world. You can be 109 years old and still be too young to absorb your surroundings. Yet another example: if you claim to hate where you came from; your country, your hometown, your family, your ancestry, your history, your culture...you have literally a 1% chance of enjoying the world and what it has to offer half as much as a person who respects their roots. Sitting around, complaining over the internet to all of your friends about life here gets you ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE. Not that I am one to not complain because believe me, I get really rammy to be leaving in almost 2 months. If you constantly find yourself behind that computer, behind that smartphone, just tapping away about how much you are going to leave, but never do, then is that what you really want? I found a way to not only get away for a little while, but to find out where I really am in life. Find out who I am. Cause in all honesty, it's a question still whether or not I know for sure.

You get one life. You can either be a tourist or you can be a traveler. Tourists go to see what they go to see. Travelers see what they see. (This is a quote from somewhere, I'll have to get it for you guys.) So what are you? A tourist, or a traveler?

Moral of the story is, nothing gets done without work. The more work put in, the more you get out of it. No amount of waiting will ever do the trick, as I have found out many times before. If you want something, you have all the power you need to get it. In the words of Nike, just do it. swoosh.

"Cool story, bro. Tell it ag-" NO.

Buona sera de il mio letto!

It's almost 10 o'clock at night in the wonderful comfort of my own bed, covered in Disney creatures, pillow pets, and a really creepy penguin I really don't know why I've kept this long. Sitting here and scrolling through my social media feeds, pretty much criticizing everything I lay eyes on, I get really bored. So I go on google images, or sporcle (this really cool/nerdy quizzing site, check it out) and just try to find something that won't really kill off my brain cells or put me to sleep. Plus I am really getting the hang of the idea of blogging almost daily, and I came up with this snazzy subject.

Actually, I came up with nothing.
Or maybe I did.
The quality of this entry will prove so.
You be the judge.

In most of my freetime, I loiter around on the interwebs (mostly facebook nowadays) because of one sole purpose in mind: talking to exchange students from around the world. Me and a girl named Katie (she doesn't have a blog, but she was mentioned in a previous entry with a mishap at lunch if you remember) talk a lot. Normally talking about people we've met and the pains/perks of being an exchange student. We also have this thing where we skype until midnight and talk like we've known each other all our lives. We share the same concerns, views, and not much of a lifestyle because she actually exercises and I eat Nutella straight from the jar while watching my 8th consecutive episode of Doctor Who in a sitting. But here is some of our plans/thoughts.

goat farms vs. city flats
Our primary worry that we joke (even though it has high potential to come true one way or another) is that one of us will end up on a goat farm in the middle of Sardegna with no one around us while the other one ends up in a nice flat in the city of Milan or whatnot. Since Katie got her host family yesterday (yet knows nothing about them), we don't know where on that scale she'll end up. Fingers crossed for goat farm! (;

bunkbeds in Roma
All the exchange students going to Italy are flying into Rome and staying there for a few days/nights before going to our host families. Katie and I hope we are allowed to pick, if not, are at least placed together. To put this in perspective, here.

We've came to the assumption that Rome will be less of a "take a nametag, be awkward, and go speak english to the people from your own country" thing and more of a "WHERE IS ALL MY FRAAAANDS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES I MADE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS I LOVE YOU SO MUCH LET ME GIVE YOU A NONVIRTUAL HUG FOR THE FIRST TIME" thing. This is why the internet is such a blessing. Speaking of friendship bracelets, that brings me to my next bullet.

crash crafts and survival kits
Some time in the next 2 and 1/3 months (76 days) Katie and I are getting together and conquering arts and crafts alongside of maybe a small shopping trip. We are actually planning to make friendship bracelets, knit some scarves or something, and basically do all that sorts of junk before takeoff. Hopefully I know where I am going before then. So, to all those Italian families looking to host:

Just kidding.
sorta.
arrivederci, il miei amici.

nonsense rambling (kinda with a meaning)

Ciao ragazzi!

Ah, the things I could write novels on this week. Not that my life is that exciting, it's just a lot of thoughts were running through my head and I probably could make a few million bucks if I ever wrote them down and published them. That can wait til I'm broke from college, though. And now for today's top stories.

Wait, I'm going to Nashville?
Yes, yessiree. A week from today in the wee hours of the morning, me and 13 other rammy teenagers are going down to Nashville, Tennessee for a missions trip. We're driving for most likely about 12 hours (knowing us we'll make a plethora of stops throughout every state we pass through, it'll be more). Down there, we will be giving meals and supplies to the homeless, working in a type of old person's home that I forget what the proper name for it is, where we will be sitting and talking with the residents, and all that nice jazz. This is my first time going to Tennessee, or driving though Kentucky and the good stuff. Of course, we will be servants of God (as we all should be 24/7!) while working. My goal for the trip is to touch at least one person, just to make their day shine a little more. Just one.

Did I just become a Baltimoron?
Saturday, we went to an Orioles game. Out of the 5 Major League Baseball games I've been to, it was probably the most fun I've had at one of these games. I discovered my closet hatred for all New England sports teams (and some of their more "outspoken" fans), how awesome Baltimore is, and I always get a bad seat. Not the view of the game, but the people around me. I always get those loud kids behind me that really enjoy sticking their feet in the crack of the seat, kicking me in the butt for all nine innings. At an Orioles game last year, a couple behind me was obviously on a first date (they were talking about dentists and puppies like they were actually intriguing subjects). The more they drank the more they....ended up snogging. And splashing beer on me. But that doesn't matter anymore. I got a pretty swagalicious Orioles hat (you're allowed to punch me in the face if you ever see me in public now. I used "swag"). Sports memorabilia is kind of like tattooing a bible verse on your lower back: just because you have it, doesn't mean you follow it. (yes, I did just come up with that on the spot. give credit if/when you use that in real life.)


You ever been part of a crowd wave? A guy two sections over (resembling from afar Duff from "Ace of Cakes") spent quite a few innings when the Red Sox were up to bat and all the B-More fans were bored and tried to start the wave. Eventually, in the top of the ninth, the whole stadium got involved. We got the whole friggin' stadium to do the wave a couple times around! I have it on video but I'm laying in bed and completely unwilling to get up to load it here. So just imagine really grainy footage with me screaming in the background of a wave around the stadium.

A small life lesson (and I mean small, friends).
If another person doesn't live life the way your standards are set, it's not your job to correct it. It is, in fact, your job to accept it if you love and care for that person. Not try to change it. And hey, if you really want a change, why don't you try changing yourself?

That felt good. Maybe that'll be a end-of-every-post thing. A Kara Kwote. lolz.

Arrivederci!

i've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty....

Ciao ragazzi!

Well, fantastic accomplishments left and right this week. Yesterday, I finished my first level (course) or Rosetta Stone, which means I can speak less Italian than a native toddler!

Joking aside, I am really proud of finishing that. It was mandatory to go to Italy, and if it wasn't accomplished you'd owe 50 euros when you get there. And I finished it within just a month of having it. Here's to the next 3 months of learning more unfluent and rubbish Italian! 

Today, we had a huge storm in the morning. Be it I only got about 6 hours of sleep, it was not very pleasant. My brother has anxiety issues, and he was very scared. I watched him for a little until the rain died down and he went over to a friend's house.At the end of the day, I ended up taking a trip to Best Buy to go for my first errand for Italy: find a non-piece-of-crap camera! Weeee!

It really didn't take that long, and I ended up with a Samsung that can connect to WIFI and has a touch screen (which is exciting for me, cause who doesn't want a camera with a touchscreen?!) I honestly don't have anything to take a picture of now to test it out besides....my couch? MUY INTERESANTE.

Yay for low quality pictures!

Lately I've also been talking to kids from around the world on facebook that are going to be in Italy at the same time as me. Most of them already have host families, which makes me sad because I still don't have mine. So, Italian families, PLEASE LOVE ME ENOUGH TO LET ME STAY WITH YOU FOR 10 MONTHS POR FAVORE I MIEI BELLE. 

Well, until next time my lovely readers!

Arrivederci!

Perks of Being an Exchange Student

Ciao ragazze!

Greetings from a torrential downpour in southern Pennsylvania. Still waiting on the news from a family in Italy saying that they've picked me to live in their house for 10 months, but there seems to be a lag in the system because no one going anywhere has gotten one in a while, at least from my chapter. I just hope it's soon!

What I have to bore you with today, however, is that I am finding a TON of exchange students through facebook, from anywhere, going anywhere! Yet another opportunity I have to learn about cultures through this one trip. AFS has had a lot of groups on facebook made throughout the year(s) by students, which I'm thankful for. I discovered this yesterday, and already have found at LEAST another dozen students going to Italy from anywhere. This is ridiculously exciting for me because I love meeting, chatting, and befriending people from different cultures! So far, I've mingled with a few, friended a few, and my personal favorite, I spoke with a Chilean in Spanish over facebook messenger! How awesome is that?! Of course, I was barely able to keep up with her, but I did it! Hopefully my spanish teacher is smiling somewhere, where ever she may be. (:

In other news, I made a video. Vlog. Whatever. Check it out at this link thing!

5 Things You Hear When You're A Future Exchange Student

Ciao amici!

We have T-minus 6 days until summer vacation, but more like 5 since the last day we all just sit in the gym and no one takes attendance so no one shows up. Whatevs.

This idea for a blog post came to me on the walk home today while blasting the Italian National Anthem (Inno Nazzionale Italiano is what it's titled on my phone). Whenever people here make me sad/mad/frustrated, I just think about Italy and get myself pumped. But today, I thought "what are the dumbest things future exchange students hear from other people before they leave"? And here's what I came up with.

1. "Are you excited?" It's really not to give a sarcastic answer to this, but it actually is a hard question to answer. I'm not really excited. More like anxious. It's such a big concept to grasp and it seems like such a long time away, I can't really say whether or not I'm honestly excited. But I am very anxious. I'm waiting for it to hit me 2 weeks or so before my departure, when I start freaking out  because it'll hit me out of nowhere.
2. "Where are you going?" This one doesn't seem to be as annoying as the others, but when you are eagerly awaiting for the call/email/announcement that you've been picked by a family in Italy to live with, it gets irritating. 
3. "Are you going to go to school there and stuff?" I'm not really sure why people are beginning to think this is going to be a 10 month vacation or something. Exchange student, thank you very much.
4. "Do you speak Italian?" This one isn't that bad, but I have to explain how Rosetta Stone works immediately after it. So a question turns into a 10 minute demonstration and description of the set up of the program. 
5. "How'd you get it?" Normally I just say I got a scholarship, to shut them up. For those who really want to know, it's called the Speedwell Scholarship. The Scholarship is given to 30 kids in the Susquehanna Valley (the area of Pennsylvania which I live in), and what we had to do was fill out our AFS application and write 4 essays about why we'd be good exchange students and how we'd go about problems abroad, etc. Only 36 wrote in for the scholarship, and 4 didn't accept it. So there are only 2 kids in the whole scholarship program that weren't offered the scholarship at all. If you'd like to know more on the scholarship and live in Lebanon or Lancaster counties, or the Susquehanna Valley, hit me up! (woah chronic teenage girl syndrome).

Well, that's the most that I could come up with so far. I'm sure I will have a plethora of odd questions once I'm in Italy. Ciao for now!

Arrivederci!

American Idiot(s)

Ciao amici!

This is a long post. If you want to skip to the rant, the paragraph begins with "This American Idiot". (:


It's the middle of Memorial Day weekend, and I'm really enjoying my time not being in school. Warm weather, acceptable to walk around outside in shorts, and being able to drink a frappucino or slushie without your fingers being so numb they fall off.

Memorial Day also falls right on or near my little brother's birthday, and this year we decided to take him down to Washington DC to see a Phillies-Nationals game. I, for one, really do enjoy going to baseball games. Even though I don't have one clue to what is going on or know who anyone is, I love them. So, last night we trucked it down the Beltway to our friends who live 20 minutes outside of DC in a suburban area to spend the night. We sat in their living room until about midnight, then slept in until 9 to go to the ballgame.

There was literally no points scored the first 6 innings, and things didn't get interesting until the bottom of the seventh. I mean interesting. If you are not mentally inclined in the sport of baseball, in between the top and the bottom of the seventh inning, there is the seventh inning stretch. Normally this is when the announcers tell you to stand up, sing a round of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and possibly another Patriotic song. Today, a man named DC Washington (awesome awesome awesome!) sang "God Bless America". This is where the italicized interesting comes in.

If you don't know me in person, I am extremely patriotic. I believe this is the best country on Earth. We can argue about it all you want. DC is one of my favorite places to visit ever, which is why I've spent ehhhh, I think 3 birthdays at? History, food, culture, beauty, the city has it all. So it's easy to imagine that when someone makes cracks on how this country quote-on-quote "sucks" or says how much better (fill in country that person has never been to here) is, I get frustrated. Back to the story now.

This American Idiot 4 rows back is pretty much making up lyrics to God Bless America. I didn't notice this, but my mom did. So she looked back to see who this person was, and it was a fully-grown, graying, jackwagon that had his hat on, sitting down, and sitting with his fricking kids. After the song was over, a very kind couple sitting directly in front of the disrespectful warthog turns around and tells him basically to shut up because he's being rude. The guy responds with a rude comment, when it turns out this couple's son is fighting for his (and our) freedom in Afghanistan. Dictator Douchebag doesn't think that's cool enough so he shoots back another rude comment. It's not until two older men (who served in the forces and made it known to swampbrain) left and told security about the man swearing and being disrespectful to primarily everything in existence that security comes down. He doesn't even get kicked out. Uh, I'm sorry. whaaaaat.

Let's point everything out that's wrong with this picture. It's friggin' Memorial Day weekend, in Washington DC, around kids, around his own kids, arguing with veterans and a couple who's son is in friggin' Afghanistan, and not even listening to the security guard claiming that what everyone within a 5 row radius is saying is "bullshit". There is no amount of words I can put into a blogpost that can get out this frustration. He is a citizen of these United States of America. He has so many wrongdoings in 9 innings than most of the people I normally rant about. I originally had the intention of making this a rant about types of people that need a reality check, but disrespectful, unpatriotic slobs definitely rank first in my book. If my father was sitting down during that, and mouthing off to the people who have fought for our lives, I'd disown him on the spot. What sort of mindset would you have to have to think you contain the audacity to do that kind of stuff? I'm praying to the dear lord above he was drunk. If not, that man is a spawn of the Devil himself.

What we can learn from Mr. my-ego-is-bigger-than-jupiter-itself is that wherever you are located in this world, you always have to respect what is being provided for you from it. Politics is a go-to subject in our society, as it has been since the beginning of its establishment. But if you don't have any respect whatsoever of the people who make your freedom what it is, why even bother living here? Sure, you have all the rights in the world to not like Barack Obama, or you don't have to wave a freedom flag from your truck window. Respect comes before your own personal beliefs. We are one nation. We are indivisible. We have our liberty, our justice, our freedom. We have our rights, our votes, or speech, and our assembly. Millions of men have died over the past 200+ years for the way we live in this moment, and it honestly doesn't get enough recognition. So the next time you find yourself looking at an American Flag, think of how it got to be that way. If you look at a map, think about who was lost, what was made, and where it took us to be one of the strongest nations of the world today. This country is remarkable, and there is no amount of complaining that will change it.