My sister did her best to arrange the tree and Presepe! She did a good job indeed!
foto from Flickr
Image taken from here.
09/11/2001 I had one of the best ice cream of my whole life. I was in Sirmione on the Garda lake, and suddenly everybody went to watch the TV nearby, I went too and I saw what seemed to be a film. The attack, the tower collapsing... so unreal! I didn't realize immediately what that could mean, but then I remember that the strong feeling we had was fear. What will the Americans do after that?!
In 2003 I was attending my first year at University, the very day of the attack on Baghdad I had a lesson in the Political Science department! When I reached Piazza Antenore I understood that reaching my class that day would have been really hard. There were many students outside, complaining for the attack. I had economics, and since I don't understand a thing about economics, all I wanted was to go and see whether my Professor was going to teach us something that day. He arrived and was going to do his lessons when some students came in to call us to join the demonstration. After deciding to stay there, our Professor asked us “Do you know what happened on 9/11?!” Who didn't?! And someone asked back: “What year?”
I had already read The House of the Spirits, And I knew what happened in Chile in 1973, but I had never realized that the day of the coup d'état was 09/11...
On 11th September Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende's government, with the help of United States intelligence. During the military Junta of those years there was a word largely used: desaparecidos, disappeared. All those who had something against the government simply disappeared.
In 1998 Pinochet was arrested for Crimes against Humanity. He was practically never processed, because of his health problems or many other little reasons.
Today is 09/11, and even though I live in Italy there are many programs on TV remembering us what happened 7 years ago. I respect those people who died in Twin Towers attack, and their families too, their sufferance.
But is there any respect for the more than 3000 people who died during Pinochet's government?! Are they once more desaparecidos?!
This morning I sat the German written exam, I had to translate a text that my teacher took from La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper.
So far nothing strange, but the article dealt with the biological problem in language learning! Researchers from the University of Chicago have found out that there is an area in our brain that help us (or doesn't) to learn a foreign language. If this area is well developed you'll make no particular effort to learn the language, instead...
Was she trying to tell us something?!?!
P.S.
For those lucky of you, who know this marvellous language that is Italian the article is here!
I spent 10 wonderful days, I've been so tired this week, and now I know I have so many things to do... but I'm ready and back home!
P.S. I'll post some photos in the next few days, the thing is I didn't take them with my camera, so be patient (as I am!!).
A huge flower on a not so big plant. It lasts only a day. Then you have to wait until the next flower.
Actually, I've already found an answer to this question but the thing is: Will I be able to do this without Sarah asking me to write a post every week?
One could say that if I like to write my blog (as I've said more than once...)... well, Yes I can (It seems to bring luck, this slogan... not in Italy!)
Those little flags...that's the kind of help I need... and comments (also corrections!!), of course!
Will you help me?!
Here we are thinking about our way of learning, the opportunities around us, and how to use them properly. Here we are, again.
I don't think there is much difference from the first time I analysed my personal language environment. The greatest change is that I am going to finish my classes at University (I hope, let's see my next exams...), and so the larger part of it will be informal. Those new tools I have added during this course, and in my years at the University, will play a different role. I have found many new occasions of improving my language and to test my intercultural competence, and I had the opportunity to decide what is better for me. I won't attend regular lessons (perhaps), and so I have to reflect on how keep on learning, and I'm ready to reflect on it,because I have many different tools.
I think the blogosphere is going to play a great role in my future learning experience, because I found an enjoyable way of training my skills, I found people who are (surprise, surprise) interested in what I write, and who give me advice and opinions. Relating my learning experience to people is a great way to keep on learning, because I'm always interested in communicating with other people and because, as someone told me recently, 'life is all about people'.
For the end of this second semester we again have to reflect on our intercultural competence. To help us in this hard task we had a questionnaire.
It is always a good thing to stop and reflect on what you did, in order to understand what concrete goals you achieved, and in what way.
This exchange with American students gave us first of all an occasion to reflect on our own culture. I had to reflect on my culture, in order to explain her things in the most objective way, and then to add my opinion. I was always glad to answer her questions and discuss the "topic of the week". I like the idea of comparing our two lifestyles, but sometimes I had to remind me that she's younger than me ( Elena's 18, while I'm 24), and probably we have different approach to life.
I have never had problems or misunderstandings, even when we compared things different for our cultures. For example when we talked about death penalty, although our opinion were so different, we compare our ideas respectfully, I really appreciated it.
I learnt many things about their lifestyle, about education, and of course many about election system that was the topic of our final project.
Another particular thing was that those guys are children or grandchildren of immigrants, and so discussing with them about immigration provided a particular point of view, it was no more a matter of American and Italian culture.
I really appreciated this activity, and I think I was particularly lucky because doing it not inclass but in my spare time there were always just the two of us talking. I hope that Elena too had found it interesting, probably the fact that at a certain point we realized that we spent more than an hour talking together reveals that we enjoyed the conversations.
This week, our topic to discuss was Election. The election system in Italy and in America, the candidates and so on...
The first question was really difficult, because she asked me my opinion about Berlusconi, I wanted to be as objective as possible, but I'm not! The election will be in a week, and I've got an idea of who I'm going to vote, so I have even a precise idea of who I'm absolutely not going to vote. Anyway I tried to explain my reasons and that is my own opinion, and if you ask my class mates you'll find many different opinions.
Then she asked me about "quote rosa" because we wrote something on the forum about it, and again she asked my opinion... And again I tried to be as objective as possible, but I'm definitely against this "anti-discrimination system", because I do not think it is effective! I can't imagine to vote someone just because they are female (or male), and not because of their opinion or their value. It is anyway, unfortunately true that women have no place enough in politics, but I think we should try other ways!
I particularly enjoyed this discussion on Friday with Elena, because I asked her something about death penalty, it was a topic we discussed on the forum, and I understood she agree with it. It is something strange that two 20-something girls who live in the west have so different opinion on a topic like this. America is the country in which there are less cultural difference with Europe (I think...), but anyway we see it in two completely different ways.
I didn't try to convince her, and she didn't try to convince me, of course! But it made me think about how far we are sometime even though our origin is the same...
I'm not! Or, at least, not without great effort! But I perfectly agree that is important to know how to assess your personal ability in order to reach new goals!
To assess my personal intercultural competence was particularly difficult, because there are many things that work in our mind without we are conscious of. Schemes, stereotypes, help you to comprehend the world around you, and they are not always a negative thing, but we are not always conscious of how much they influence our perception.
So, to assess my awareness of negative reactions to differences was quite a problem, how can I be sure that I do not think my reactions are due to the cultural differences when it is so?
Our mind sometime reacts in a very particular way (take an exam of social psychology if you don't believe me!) and we cannot be aware of that.
Anyway, I really reckon it is useful to value these different things (Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Language Proficiency and Skills), to stop and think about it let you know that these kind of mechanisms exist, and then maybe next time you'll be able to suspend judgement, or just to be aware that your judgement is due only to the cultural difference!
