giovedì 23 maggio 2013

SEWARD, AK

If you ever want to go to see whales, orcas, dolphins, sea otter and other wild sea animals, Seward is where you wanna go!
I went there last weekend and I had a blast... 6 hours of a sea life cruise and I saw animals I thought I could never see in my life because too wild and too big, but, I ALASKA YOU CAN! :D
The first day we went there we didn't see too many sea animals and we also had to go back because the engine of the boat burnt eheh...
The days after we booked the cruise again and THIS time was the right one!!! Whales, orcas, sea otthers, stellar sea lions, dolphins, seals..... it was ah-mazing!!!! You should definitely try it once in your life! :)
Plus, while we were driving from anchorage to seward, the view was gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!
Trees everywhereanimals everywhere, sunshine... the PERFECT LIFE <3

Bear survival!

Two posts for two different occasions today! Sweet!
Guys, I think I have an angel right by my side... yesterday evening I wanted to walk home instead of driving but my friends insisted so much that I gave up and jumped in the car. After they dropped me off, on their way home, what do they see? A MAMA BLACK BEAR crossing the street with three cubs... That means that I should have fought back if she decided to attack me 'cause she felt threatened! Sometimes I think I am a lucky Italian girl in Alaska. This just made my day, no more walks in Alaska, I promise!
That's pretty scary isn't it?!

Farewell Party, 8 Days till I'll be Home!

You guuys! It's always so much fun to update this blog! It's crazy to realize how many people want to know what I'm up to and my thoughts in this last period of time in the amazing Alaska... Such a beautiful state! :)
So.. First of all; today we have our farewell party. The group of exchange students decided that graduation wasn't the right place to say goodbye to our closest friends, so we decided to have a party here at our house and have fun :) It's gonna be so hard to say goodbye to my friends, even because I don't realize that I have to leave in a week and I won't have a chance to see them again. But that's why we're having a party, to make it seem funner! :P
In 8 days I'll be home... Well... I am truly excited to see my family and friends again, to spend a little time in my cozy and new looking house, taste again those amazing dishes and start with a new beginning... But at the same time I feel like Alaska gave me so much.. I think it's a land that can speak by showing the green of the trees, the fresh air, the wild animals, the Northern Lights... It's alive in its own way and I can't forget how much this views helped me throughout my year... Alaska is just like a creature... So extreme that pushes you to understand that this world is big and it's crazy!
I asked the universe to see places like this for years and years and it seemed like I couldn't have a chance to see it in my early life... But it was just a matter of time.. It was moving things to that I could have had to see such places. :) Keep dreaming guys, keep doing the right stuff to chase your dreams, go towards them, they are not as far as you think they are: YOU ARE YOUR DREAMS, I learned it this year and you will as well. :)
I truly feel so much blessed you have no idea... This experience, this place, this year will be in my heart forever. :)
Love you alllll

mercoledì 15 maggio 2013

Graduation Day!

Here we are guys, I have been waiting for this moment for about 2 years! GRADUATION day is today!
Everything is almost ready and I feel like today is gonna be Great! :) Right now it's 9am and the plan for this morning is to get my hair curled a little bit, put my make up on and put my dress on. Around 12 we should go to Mag's and Mark's house cause we are having a lunch there before leaving for graduation... I cook the Riso in Insalata for an army basically and I'm gonna cook special eggs once there. Mag and Marta are preparing spiedini to do on the grill! Mag's parents arrived two days ago but I just met his mother and she is nice and looks truly like him ahahah they're twins!
I tried the gown a week ago and it's HUMONGOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I look like a trash bag.... But, oh well, I guess I have to live with it! :)
Guys, I'm sorry if the text is not smooth but I'm both in a rush and excited :)
Graduation day starts at 7pm but we have to be there an hour and  a half earlier!!! :)
I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!
I am more exited for graduation than I was for prom, believe meeeee :)
Wohoooo Guys, I am going to curl my hair and follow my schedule...
Plus, yesterday afternoon I was so tired that I slept 3 hours and last night I did not sleep at all, bummer...
byyyeeeeeee Love y'alll ... You're the best <3 <3 <3

venerdì 10 maggio 2013

LAST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL! :) :(

Hey guys, the last day of school has come and today, after the first two periods I won't be part of this school anymore. I am kinda happy cause it's still school and that means no more waking at 6.00 am, but at the same time I will miss these school and these teachers so much! South is amazing..
Today I took a picture with the school bus and the bus driver to remember the mornings I hated for the entire stay but that now are such sweet memories. This has been my home, where I met all of my friends...
Since it's the last day of school, we are gonna have 2 periods and then graduation rehearsal  and then: DOOOONE! High school musical style! Kaylee, a friend of ours, is gonna drive us to Moose's tooth to eat for lunch and then we are going home cause it's the last day I have the chance to see my host mother again; we are leaving tomorrow to go camping for the weekend and she is leaving for Ireland on Sunday. So after this afternoon we'll leave just with Dwight who is going to work all the time but at least we are going to Seward with him and while he'll be hiking, Marta and I are going to do a SEA LIFE CRUISE in Seward, a very small town in the Kenai Peninsula! :) We are so excited cause we'll have the chance to see gray whales and Orcas! :D Isn't it truly exciting?!?!?! :D
All in all there is the bad and the good in everything!
Guys, I am going to enjoy this Last Day of High School because it's gonna be such an amazing memory. I can't even explain how it will be hard thinking about this exchange year once at home, it will be in my little and big heart for as long as I am alive.
I hope you're enjoying the days of sun, but Alaska is trying to give us some too ahahah
Remember to ask questions if you have any, I am always willing to answer! :)
Bye Bye. This is the last post from South's Computer Lab!

giovedì 9 maggio 2013

The amazing Danish hottie

Hey Italy!
I just wanted to say hey to all of you, I can't wait to visit Italy again!
I want to go to Rome next time i come, I have only visited Bibione and Venezia and I loved it!
I can't wait to go there and eat Italian food haha!

My name is Magnus, I'm 17 yars old and I'm from Denmark.
I'm living in Alaska and I'm really good friends with Gaia.
In only one week my parent will come here, and Gaia will have to talk Danish - She needs to practice!

Next summer I'll come to Italy if Gaia has the time to host me haha :D
Sandra, Marta, Mark, Gaia and I want to do a Europe trip and we want to go to Italy as our first stop!
I really want to visit Milano - The capital of FASHION! Wuhuuuuu can't wait!

It's so hard to live in Alaska, they don't have any discos, they don't have Ikea, they don't have fashion and they don't have any good shops.. And they have cold weather haha! If i didn't have Gaia and the other exchange students I would be so depressed haha!

BUT I have to go to Student Government now, sooooooooooo.... HAVE FUN

BYE  :-)


Last day of school tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the last day of school guys... It's gonna be so sad to say goodbye to South, I love this school so freaking much! Yesterday the Spanish teacher, who I'm an aide for, gave me a water bottle and a letter... It was so sad, she is such an amazing person! That woman has to face a terrible loss, but she is doing a really great job.
Today basically I have all the finals that I have to take this semester... Next period I have a film as literature test, then U.S. Government and then again Chemistry... It's gonna be a long day but I'll do my best :)
Yesterday my exchange sister and I packed a lot of stuff and it looks like we can actually pack everything... my hand luggage is so heavy that you can't even imagine! ahahah it's so funny...
This weekend we are going four wheeling and camping!!!! It's gonna be so much fuuuuuun!!!!
Bye Love Bugs =) 

lunedì 6 maggio 2013

Yearbook!

And finally, like in every American movie, I have my yearbook too!!!
For those who don't know what a yearbook is, I'll try to explain it and I'm sure you've heard it before from movies.. The yearbook is the huge book that has pictures of all the students, staff and team of the school. The students themselves can take the yearbook class and work about it the entire year, from the inside to the outside. This year's yearbook is WAY prettier than the past ones because it's really simple outside but modern in the inside. Usually people use the yearbook to let friends write in it and I have to be honest, I love what people wrote in mine, I think I couldn't get better friends! It's crazy how people who I talk to but don't hang out with wrote such sweet things! It's true that I always want to be nice to people, but still... :) I am really thankful. My pictures turned out better than I expected and this year for the first time at South we have an EXCHANGE STUDENT PAGE!!! :D It's really exciting! The reason why we had one this year is that we are friends with one of the guys in charge of the yearbook and he loved us so much that he wanted us to have a page. This is what he personally wrote: " Imagine leaving your home, your family, and your friends for an entire year to go not just anywhere, but to Anchorage, Alaska.  That's exactly what nine of South's own foreign exchange students did this year.  They packed up their things, got on a plane to the United States, and prepared to brave the cold- each with their own expectations, fears, and hopes.  During their year here there were definitely rough patches and struggles, with the language and cultural barrier presenting a challenge at first.  Many of them claimed that they missed the food and the warmer weather of their respective home countries.  Compared to below freezing temperatures starting in September who can blame them?  As they adjusted to the American culture, however, they began to experience things they never could've imagined.  Gaia Quinto, from Italy, was "surprised that I could get eaten by a bear", and Blanca Icaza, a Junior from Spain, found that "teachers are so nice here".  Despite the obvious hills and valleys, South's exchange students found a pleasurable environment in a totally alien setting."

ISN'T IT AWESOME?!?!?!
Thank you Travis for this amazing page! It's very very cooooool!

We made another video for film as Lit! We had to make a video for a song at our choice and guess what we chose? MULAN! I'll make a man out of you! It sucks to hard that I cannot put the videos on Internet and show you guys but trust me that is really funny ahah

I hope all of you guys are doing okay and that Italy doesn't bother you so much.

Oh I forgot.... We had the "goodbye" orientation two days ago that should prepare us to come back to our different lives and handle the reverse cultural shock. If you think that the exchange student experience ends taking the airplane back to Europe, you're wrong. After you lived here a year and you learned so many things, you adapted yourself to the food and lifestyle of another country, learned what your dreams are and learned that you're strong enough to pursue them.... You have to come back and put in practice what you learned and make your old life like the one that you want to live. And at first everything will be different again and we won't recognize the place anymore... So we have to wait a couple of months and then everything will be normal again. That's why who's an exchange student is an exchange student forever, because experiencing and adapting yourself to new things is something that happens billions of times in your life. :) We should look for changes and challanges and see how much we can push ourselves. If it's easy it's not challenging you enough, if it's hard, then you get something out of it.  That's a fact! :)

Now I have to go but I hope everything is okay, I added a page where you can ask questions, feel free!
Bye! Positive attitude! :) 

giovedì 25 aprile 2013

South Movie Premiere

Tonight we are gonna present our Digital Composition video at the Auditeria! Everybody invited is gonna see it. Our video turned out good, I had SO much fun doing it pretending to be a fashion stylist, and I am proud of the work that we did editing it because I think it's really good to be a school project!
:) Besides that I will update the post so that I can tell you what people thought about it.. Acting, editing, music and scenes!  We already got an  A for the movie, which was the best grade we got! I have so much fun doing all these movies! :)

mercoledì 24 aprile 2013

Few days left, gym, videos, birthday party!

What's up guys? I am pretty okay... Today it's cloudy outside but for the first time in my life I like it because otherwise the sun will be out till 10.30 p.m. and falling asleep is impossible. Moreover the girl who lives with me decided that she can't wake up in the morning if the curtains are down... So according to her I should sleep with the sun on my face=sleeping so bad that I can't even be awake in the morning..
But, anyways... Counting today there are 13 days of school left and it's basically nothing! I remember myself on my parents' bed watching interviews and movies in English and waiting for my family to show up.
It's a weird feeling but.. I lived this year intensfully and it's not like I don't remember it and it feels like the time flew fast, I just thought that an year was longer. But it's long enough I think... I did not need more; now it's time to join my family and my friends again and start a new chapter of my life. I am quite happy to come home because sharing the room with another person is not easy and I need a break.

I am also trying so hard to lose weight before coming back to Italy and before graduation... I gained weight while I was here but I am definitely trying to lose it. I am doing an hour of bicycle and at least 30 minutes of Pilates every day. Plus, I am eating way more veggies and fruit and less carbohydrates, fat and crap.
I will update my results... I won't write the weight I started from though ;)
But I am doing pretty good!

The video projects are almost all done, we have done an episode of what not to wear, a video where I am the Italian actress advertising the ideal President of the United States, and the next project coming soon is a remake or parody of the song "I'll make a man out of you". All of this videos will be uploaded on youtube of course.

Birthday Party!!! June 9th I'll spend the day with my family to celebrate my birthday and the day after I will celebrate my 18th Birthday with my friends at Yabboq in Milan... I will have to find an amazing dress and take super pretty pictures! :) By the way... I have to invite people here otherwise it will be too late ^^

Bye Guys I love you so much! You are the best!
*Follow your bliss*

venerdì 19 aprile 2013

#Twitter

Hey Hey Hey! Here I am again during my computer keyboarding class... (I should play games but typing here I believe has the same effect).
How are you guys doing?! Everything is going pretty good for me.. Jayme left to go to Florida and Dwight will meet her in Orlando for a vacation in SOUTHERN Florida to fish and have fun with Kile, their younger son. Tammie will come to our house to take care of us...
I am kinda stressed because of my assignment in US gov... I have to do a video and I have to hurry in order to finish it in time.. Plus we gotta do a funny video for film as literature... Oh well... I guess that I will work about it during the week-end!

Big news of the day: I joined the Twitter community yesterday!
I haven't posted something yet but I guess that once you understand how it works, it can be as useful as Facebook to stay in touch with your friends abroad...

Second Big news: My mom and my dad are trying to figure out how to spend my birthday party and especially where! I personally want a quite big thing because it's my 18 birthday party and for us it is a big deal (here in America for example there is the 'sweet sixteen')... But at the same time I just want to spend time with my friends, laugh and be thankful for what I have! So, we'll we what I'll get! I also asked Neus, my sweet Spanish friend if she wants to come to Milan for my birthday and stay there 4 or 5 days! That would be so much fun I swear! But since it's the end of school, she has to check that everything is okay with her parents and stuff like that!

martedì 16 aprile 2013

Newark?!

I am so busy in these days cause I have to think about the insurance, the Final Transcript and to prepare things to come back to Italy.
Yesterday Dwight asked me when we are leaving in May and, since I didn't know I sent an email to my Italian organization.
I DID NOT KNOW I HAD TO GO TO NEWARK AS THIRD AIRPORT!
THAT IS SOOO COOL!

 Anchorage, Seattle, Newark, Milan!
Parto alle 00.30 and arrivo alle 8.50 am

Night to Remember [SAHS Prom 2013]

I remember 8 months ago watching High School Musical and imagine how my prom would be.
Time flies so fast that after 8 months I had my prom and almost everything was perfect: I picked out the perfect dress (red with sparkles), I went to a nice restaurant and ate a really good meal (TGIF-Chicken, Caprese and Tortellini) and the place Prom was set (Captain Cook) was really amazing (even better than the movies I swear to God! I have never seen a well-organized Prom Night like that before!
The room was red and gold: red rose petals on the tables, red carpet, huge gold lamps and gold tables.
It was really amazing.
The day started pretty good, we went at 11 to Nordstrom (Rinascente kind of place) where Marta and Sandra had their make-up done; they both looked really really good but I did not want to spend 50 dollars for make up... It was kinda useless for me... Then after they both had make up we went to the hairdresser to the diamond mall to get our hair done and they did a good job with Marta and Sandra and at first with me too but I lost all my big curls on the way home basically...
Then we went home and I did my make up that it would have turned out pretty good if I remembered to put mascara on.... (Yes, in the pictures I have almost no make up.. you can notice just the eyeliner and just a little bit of brown cream, not foundation... all the rest is me basically).
We took pictures and even though I hoped I lost weight I didn't... And I am kinda sad for that but at the same time I tried and it did not work... That's part of the experience, our bodies tend to get all the calories from the food because of the change of diet and stress. But there are really cute pictures where I look almost normal.
When we were done with the pictures we went with Sandra's parents car to TGIF (thanks God is Friday) and I had a really good meal for just 16 dollars!
Then we went to Captain Cook, the nicest hotel in Anchorage and we danced (it was so funny because everybody was so dressed up that they could barely move) but that was the fun part... Prom Queen and King were elected and danced a little bit!
At the end of prom, around 12 we went to Carrs to buy food since the others were hungry and we kinda had fun watching all the videos we made on our way to prom. :)
It was overall a fun day because we had the chance to dress up nicely for the last dance, the one that we can only dream in Italy basically...

martedì 9 aprile 2013

Acting as an experience! #fun #useful #creative

When you're used to the Italian schools that don't allow you do anything else but studying and then you attend just one here in an American school, you have the chance to try tons of new experiences and activities that you never realistically thought of.
For example I had the chance to be a part of a parody movie of the tv program "what not to wear" and I found it to be extremely funny because I was one of the two "fashion stylists" from Europe that had the task to help a girl with a horrible fashion sense.
I had also the chance to be Hermione for a scene of the first "Harry Potter" movie and I found out that acting takes you into the character problem and you have to pretend to actually have a problem of huge importance without laughing and putting 100% of your effort and professionalism in it and I also found out that it's amazing being another person, learn from her mistakes and way of living and seeing yourself in another prospective. The most amazing thing is that I had also to edit the entire scene and make it exactly like a director would do it.
I had the chance to be a part of a horror movie where I was the dead and creepy girl and use the body language and loud screams to scare the good guys that challenge the Death and I found out that It's easier to be creepy that being sweet when shooting a movie.
I had the chance to make a parody of the song "Physical" of Olivia Newton John and dress up with many colors and useless jewelry and I found it out being extremely funny because I had to act like I was tired and couldn't do more than 3 squats.

This stuff are funny to make and everybody can contribute to make it amazing, from choosing the song, the scene, shooting it, editing it... To presenting to the class being proud of your work! :)

Viva il futuro e l'arte!!! :)

Prom in 3 days

Hello everybody again! It's Gaia here, from the computer keyboarding class! How are you doing today? I'm fairly good.  My locker just broke today and I was told to go to talk to the security guardians but unfortunately I don't know where to find them..
Prom is near, just 3 days left, and I have everything I need but the ticket ahah I love my dress, even though it's a little bit long, I have pretty rings and a bracelet!
Marta and I got along for 2 weeks almost and that's definitely a record... Probably we are feeling like this experience is gonna end soon. We definitely had our pus and downs but I believe it's because we live together all the time, and it's hard!
This entire experience is gonna end in 2 months or so and in this period of time you start thinking about all the important decisions you will have to take when you come back.
While I was here, I thought about my life in Italy and I know what I can improve and fill my life with, How to use the resourses that a big city as Milan can give me and could have given but never taken...
The problem is always that you never know if it's worthy to follow your bliss, work hard and see it positively or Choose the smooth way but never be' totally Happy and Proud of yourself cause you never gave a single chance to the other way.
It is true that in this world you're not always able to achieve what you want easily, but it's Also true that it delenda on your skills, strenght, determination, support from other people and hard work that determine where you will end up being...
What I learned while I was here is that you can't just wait days to pass and live your life with out goals because you will lose every joy. You have to have a goal in your mind that pushes yourself and keeps you alive. That is the best way to not die while you're still alive. So... Do I want to live with a huge regret or even collect them alone the way or just work to make my dreams come true? That's a tough one... For sure, knowing myself I have a hard time working hard for stuff that I don't Like to do, I don't understand or that don't help me achieving my aims.
The truth is that we need to be clear with ourselves and don't lie. We Also need to be' clear with people around us and have the courage to say what we want from our lives. That's a Great beginning. And That's where I want to start from.
You Also cannot let people decide for you because They have no idea of what you're skills, abilities are, simply because They have some different from yours and They think about the best solution according to their abilities... the result? We'll never be the best.
I am excited to Go home and fight for what I want to see in my life using my experience here. At the same time it will be hard to do everything but my Secret Is to not waste time. I have done it before.
I hope that you will take this suggestion and make a change in your lives. :)
I hope you'll have an amazing day and start ma king a difference Now! Don't just hope, wish and pretend or imagine. Plan instead and start to work for it right now! :)
Bye followers <3

martedì 26 marzo 2013

A spalare si dimagrisce!

GUUUYS! You have no idea of how much snow we had yesterday... 50 cm! It's really crazy how in Rome they close schools just because they forecast snow and here in Alaska not even with 50 cm they close schools... Walking up the hill is always less pleasant...

Rude people treat you a way you don't like? Well, stop being mad at them instead of making fun of them! :)

I told you many times that this experience doesn't teach you just English. It brings out all the defects you have and at that point what you have to do is learn and swing back! You know, sometimes people think that they are smarter than you, when in reality they know 1/10 of what you know, but they actually make other people think that they are the smartest in the world... At that point you don't have to keep everything inside, you have to LAUGH OF THEM and not being afraid of anything because it's better
  1. learn how to defend yourself from that kind of person;
  2. defend yourself always thinking that you are better, because you are;
  3. and then just let them stay in their shit, since they really enjoy it
You know, I am the kind of person that look the positive side of everything and don't like bring people down... But every once in a while I have to expect people educated in a way I don't like and that, because of that, you gotta first of all try to get along with and try to change your attitude too, if that's not possible, change approach and see if it works, and if also this method doesn't work.. Well... There are many other people who deserve staying with you. So... Just let this happen!

It is also true that people treat you the way you let them to be treated. So just start thinking about that they are not meant to be there with you, just use them to learn how to defeat them. THEY ARE WEAKER THAN YOU THINK THEY ARE.

Rule to success number 3: NEVER TELL YOUR WEAKNESS TO PEOPLE because if they are your real friends they will like to spend happy time with you, if they are not they will be glad because their life results being better for just a moment.

DO WHAT YOU WANT AND LET PEOPLE TALK. Everything they deserve they will have back!

So.. Keep smiling and swing back! Booom!

See yaaa!

venerdì 22 marzo 2013

Always wanted to play Hermione!

I remember the first time I watched "Harry Potter". I was on vacation in one of my grandfather's houses, probably in Trieste, and my mom that day wanted to bring my brother and me to the movies because she heard that that new movie was already considered a great one. We went and since then it was a ritual for our family to watch it. We were always so exited to see what was coming next!
Of course I was just a little girl, I think I was 6 or 7, but I always admired Hermione for her intelligence! And well, after 10 years...... I can play her character!!! :D
Marta and I have to shoot a scene from the book that we chose to read and the first book of Harry Potter, the Sorcerer's Stone. I chose for my scene the one with Nicolas Flamel, where they read the big and old book that Hermione found in the library.
I am so exited! It will be such a good memory.
Bye, love you all!

giovedì 21 marzo 2013

How do you come back to a helathy life style?


The answer is... painting the walls of your room of green of course!!! :D
I am so excited to see how it turned out.. I was tired of the blue with Paperino e Mickey Mouse on the top! It was so childish!
And maybe we will paint also the kitchen of pink but we gotta discuss about it because I can't really imagine it.... Orange probably would work better!
But for now I think about my green room that will make losing weight easier. The green color doesn't lead people to eat did you know?? Now you dooo!!! Let's paint the entire house of greeeeen ahahah

Ps. I am 62 kilos now... So: -1.5 kilos...
Basically I exercise every day and I try to eat less to just lose 1.5 kilos... WHAAAAAT?

martedì 19 marzo 2013

VOLO DEFINITIVO 31 MAGGIO!

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" SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FORGET WHAT'S GONE,  APPRECIATE WHAT STILL REMAINS,  AND LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT'S COMING NEXT.  GOAL AFTER GOAL"



This will be the quote that will help me coming back. It's not easy at all, it's definitely another challenge because you have to use what you learned in the last 10 months and try to let them fit in your old but at the same time new life. Sometimes exchange student consider coming back another exchange year and this helps them understand that there is more to experience in our lives and why not begin as soon as possible?

It's really weird explaining what I have experienced this year in America but I can proudly say that what you learn and the mature person that you become come from difficulty. After that you had a lot of crap going on and you have to find a way of getting out of it, you realize that you have done another step towards a whole new world, or better, a whole new way of looking at the world. We don't like difficulties, do we? Of course, because they challenge us but what always we have to remember is that we gotta go through them to become independent and happy.

When you decide to do an experience like this you don't know at all of what will happen. I mean, you know that you will go through something bigger than you but what you imagine is way far from the reality!  It's like a cold shower. But you become a little bit more confident of what you can do and you will follow your dreams with more confidence and pride.

I wanted to stay here till my birthday but then I realized that I just don't wanna come back because I regret not having done some things during this year. And that's what I always try to do, take more time... But sometimes you have to fix and try with what you have and learn from mistakes! If I haven't done things during the first part of thins year I have to find the reasons why I didn't and consider the period I was going through and finally not being too hard on myself. I always want to be perfect but every time I have to remember that perfection does not exist because nobody in this world is perfect, just like ever rose has its thorn! The rose is beautiful, it smells good and look pure but it has a lot of thorns... I wonder why then it's one of the most liked flower?


 So... Rationally thinking I come home with no regrets.

Spring Break is over... That means we're headed towards Prom!

Hey guys how are you? Unfortunately the Spring Break is over... It has been nice this week, it was always sunny! That's why Marta and I once tanned in the hot tub, to get ready for prom and take a little bit of sun.. Then Katelyn spent a night at our house and we kinda had fun.. Then we went to the swimming pool, we went shopping and ice skating, we exercised a lot, we ate healthy... (tra parentesi sono dimagrita 1 chilo ahahah faccio ridere).. people came over for dinner and we spent almost the entire afternoon cooking risotto with salmon which was kinda good..
We are trying to get everything ready for prom that it's in 3 weeks! I got the dress, now we need jewelry!
Everything is better and worse.. I  mean, it's better because now the end of school is getting closer and we will have two important events, prom and graduation, and we'll party :) Wohu...
But it is also worse cause I have to come back and work on myself and my life to fit in my old one again and in a better way with different goals!
I am kinda happy of coming back because life here is getting to be kinda the same, even though when the guys are at our house everything is so much more fun.
I did softball for 2 months and it was really fun I liked softball! But I couldn't join the team because I had to get in the Varsity team and they were all really good players. The bad part of our school is that is a big school and students are really really competitive in sports and that means that join a team is almost impossible... I could have done swimming at the beginning of the year but I came here so late that the team had already started for a month.  That sucks so much, I would have made the team with no problem! But.... That's the price to pay to come to Alaska and that's okay... I can't complain!
The beautiful thing of this experience is that every exchange student faces both bad sides and good sides of the host family, host school, host state and host country just like a normal American!
I feel really lucky to be in Alaska because it's an amazing place to live in due to landscapes, views, wilderness... It is a real experience and it's way different than living in the lower 48 where from one state to the other it doesn't change that much... Alaska is almost in Russia and it has even the North Pole!!! :)
I live in the place where Balto and Koda fratello orso (or the brother bear) is set, I mean.... Not bad, uh? sometimes I with I could have gone in the lower 48 so that I could have lived a "easier school" but at the end of the day when I see the view from my house I ask myself what else I need...
I have some more work to do on myself and I'll try to reach my last goals in these last 2 months. Deal! :)

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

lunedì 4 marzo 2013

Updates

It's really weird but every time that I update my blog, I'm bored or sick. :) Anyways.. This weekend we had an AMAZING Saturday. We woke up really early cause we had to be downtown at 10 a.m. for the Iditarod!!! La corsa con i cani! It was really amazing... Have you ever seen Balto?? It's exactly the same! I took some pictures with all these beautiful dogs that wanted to run so bad! After the Iditarod Mark and I went shopping and I bought a few cool things. At 4 p.m. there was the reindeer running, which is basically the Spanish Corrida but just with reindeers! It was really cool, people were dressed up and some of them were almost naked! We got free hot chocolate, cookies and a poster! There was also a snow sculptures gallery that was nothing special but special enough to be visited by many people and tourists.
There was a big man who carried on his shoulders a wolf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I felt do bad for that poor animal!
Then we went out for dinner with a old couple from Australia (they had the cutest accent) and their daughter from Maui, Hawaii!!! They were really nice and they talked to us about Australia and its snakes and horse riding ( they got lessons from a famous Portuguese horse rider) and how cool and particular Australia is. I'll go there one day! We had really good time and good food. After that we went to the theater to see the musical "Dream Girls" (originally filmed with Byoncee).

A week ago I got my cap and gown! They are black and gold, they SERIOUSLY KICK ASS!!! Usually exchange students have horrible ones: yellow, blue, purple..!! I was really a good feeling having everything ready for graduation... I mean... It's ones in a lifetime!

If I have everything ready for graduation I cannot say the same thing for prom... I don't have a dress and they are all really expensive and it's really hard to find a cheap and cute one and I got to take my senior pictures and ask for a limo and a restaurant to have dinner at! Basically I gotta hurry!

Softball is going well but unfortunately Jayme won't be able to drive me so I can either join the Track and Field team, that I don't like at all, or staying at home....
I'll find a way to lose weight cause I seriously need to.. at least 5 kilos...

Peace out XO  

venerdì 8 febbraio 2013

SOFTBALL FINALLY!!!!!

Guuuuys!!!!! What's up? Okay, Today I'll have my first softball pratice at 6pm... So i'll have to stay after school till 6 (don't ask me what I am going to do in that period of time) and then coming home around 8 I think, they didn't tell me... But It's a really good news cause it will be the first time that I will be' part of a team in this school! I didn't do anything during the first semester cause I came here late and All the activities were already begun...
Softball is so American and it's a sport that I cannot do in Italy so easily! For Who doesn't know softball is baseball for girls and the ball is thrown differently...
i would have really enjoyed to do swimming during the first semester But I fame here so late! :( I would have had so much fun But I found the way to have fun anyways... :)
Since there are just 3 months left I don't want to waste time and finish this experience as much as possible... I found an equilibrium a few weeks ago and now there are many things to see and to do! I'm kinda nervous because I have never played softball before and I can just be' in the Varsity team that is the best of the entire school... So I basically need to Practise.. But the coach was so nice and He went to Italy some years ago and HE really enjoyed it so coming from Italy helped me I think ahahah... Sometimes i love my country, Everybody is so amazing when I mention it.. And if you tell then that you're Not only from Italy, But especially from Milan.... They want to become your best friend sarah ah

giovedì 7 febbraio 2013

My Infographic Resume

My Infographic Resume: Check out my infographic resume created via Vizualize.me. Create yours with one click.

domenica 3 febbraio 2013

Trying to become a Social Butterfly!

Okay guys I got news for ya! Everybody knows that I am the girlsitalian Who loves opposites... That's why since i Did basically Nothing last semester But studying, this semester I'm trying to join as many activities as possible! i am gonna be' in the backstage of the musical of my high school and then at lunch on wednesday i will be in the international club where we talk about countries and blah blah blah and then I will do volunteer work for the hospital and i will keep company to Poor kids... And then I want desperetly join the SOFTBALL team... But those stupid tryouts are ma king my life hard!!! :) so i will give you more informations about that! :D
Love you guys. Peace out!

giovedì 31 gennaio 2013

The Next Step? (Mamma non leggere che ti viene un coccolone)

Since this blog is meant to be something that contains all my thoughts after this year.. I want to share this mood that I have now.
The idea was born 3 or 4 days ago in my computer keyboarding class. The teacher asked me where I wanted to travel so bad and my mind started travel all around the world till it stopped in New Zealand... Right after having looked up on Internet the question was: I just need to find a cheap way to go there. But how?
Well, guys it took me 10 minutes to realize that I know a girl now in Australia and she is working and she is happy. :)
Badabim badabum: the answer is applying for the Au Pair program!
It's totally different from the program that I'm experiencing now.
This year I had the opportunity to live the American Dream, to live an American school life, to live as an American-even though I would say more Alaskan-girl, to learn how to manage myself in many situations and to learn new skills that our Italian schools cannot teach me.
The Au Pair program is completely different; you have a sort of job there, such as babysitting for x hours per day and receive a salary every week. You need to stay in your host family's house and they pay for the food and activities that you do with their kids. You have a little bit of free time but the main thing is that you are there to work a little bit to afford activities such as going to the museum or cinema, going out with you friends...
The cost to apply is REALLY cheap.. Not even near to the one that I paid to come here, since here I live in a school and an organization takes care of burocracy..
It's nothing that I have decided yet but I would really love to do it just because I could live in Australia or New Zealand for one year and it would be even summer time!!!
You guys I bet are asking when I plan to do it... Well... The right moment would be right after the 5th year of high school in Italy because afterwards I will have to apply for college and I need to study and maybe get a scholarship for kind of Erasmus program! :)
I am not crazy... I do love my family, I love Italy.. but that is a land that cannot give any success. And I love travel and this way is the cheapest way.. Let me know what you think. Mom I know you read this, try to understand :) You can always come to visit me in Australia or New Zealand :)

-“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” -

-“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."-

-“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”-

-“Travel brings power and love back into your life."-

-“To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.” -

-“To travel is to live.”-

martedì 29 gennaio 2013

Useful in any moment

http://www.google.com/search?q=www.balancedpolitics.org&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&safe=active

lunedì 28 gennaio 2013

Digit Composition



This video talks about how important in our society is looking as close as the perfection as possible. This pursuit of beauty can become dangerous for little kids, teenagers and adults. The goal of this video is to let people think about how much our society and our society consider important being beautiful is, even to get a job that should not require being good-looking except some cases.
The author of this video in order not to be vague decides to add commercials, front pages of magazines and advertisements that we see every single day and that affect the way we look at ourselves and other people. Social media use young women with perfect bodies, perfect skin and perfect hair to make other women so jealous that they are lead to buy those magic creams, hair products and make up. In the video the song “Barbie girl” is used to emphasize the stereotype of the perfect girl that cannot exist in the real world because she should be made of plastic to be so beautiful. What a ordinary woman should have to look like a Barbie is: eye lift, nose job, tummy tuck, perfect tan, lypo, breast implants, botox.
At the question: does look matter? Every interviewed teenager answered a positive yes. And what the video says is that it is not just the way that we look ourselves that changed through years, but also the way we look others. Magazines are sold because they promise to give guides to have perfect skin, skinny body, to dress up always sexy and in the right way. Also TV series and movies send the direct message that happiness and success are reached with beauty and they convince to change ourselves to become attractive based on what the society thinks is beautiful.
The scary fact is that women do not use just make up, which is pretty inoffensive, but they want more so they also decided to get a surgery, or more than one, and fix their bodies and faces. More than 80% of women declare that they are not satisfied of their bodies and most of the time because of their weight. These women then try to lose weight in extreme ways and start to suffer of a mental issue called eating disorder and this include: skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, taking laxatives or vomiting.
What the video wants to say is that beauty does not have just one definition because we all have our own qualities that make us unique. We need to take a step back and redefine beauty. The real beauty is the happiness, the energy, the love that shines in each one of us. It is in your friends, in your family, in who makes you laugh and love you and most of all it is in you. 



domenica 27 gennaio 2013

Beauty And The Beast

It promises success, freedom, access, and economic opportunities. Beauty promises a myriad of exclusive and bountiful positive things and it promises relief and absolution from bad things. Beauty is so desirable that the ancient civilizations created gods and goddesses whose whole existence were to be beautiful and create beautiful things. Beauty is desired over more gracious attributes like being truthful or loyal. Beauty is so desirable that the ancient civilizations created gods and goddesses whose whole existence were to be beautiful and create beautiful things. Beauty is desired over more gracious attributes like being truthful or loyal. Beauty is ephemeral and in the end, the pursuit of it will lead to a track record of physical and emotional scars. st everyone from a boomer to a pre-teen want to be accepted. Many believe that being beautiful is the way to get attention and acceptance. Movies, TV herald the handsomeness of beauty as the epitome of getting riches, acceptance, comfort, love.
It is hard to live a regular life without being reminded of how important beauty is. Jobs and other socio-economic opportunities lie in the balance when someone is not attractive. There has been studies done of how an unattractive person will loose money over their professional lives in comparison to less experienced, but attractive people. Even though physical beauty varies from culture to culture, beauty, all around the world is synonymous with goodness or naughtiness, purity or sexiness, and other attributes that depending on who it is talking, can be highly desirable. When we see someone that is beautiful, we assume that the person is good on the inside (or interesting, dependable, etc.).
However, beautiful people get the benefit of the doubt nearly 100% of the time whereas unattractive people must prove themselves worthy again and again.
Even though beauty has its advantages, it shouldn't be the only or the essential measure on how we view ourselves or others. This idolization of beauty is causing younger children (boys and girls) to hate themselves, their bodies and their peers. Through magazines and other media like television and films and see how valuable and glorified beauty is, I become concern at the path that our societies are taking. 

mercoledì 23 gennaio 2013

Find out what is happening in the United States! :)

Gaia Quinto

P4

01/24/2013

US Government

Current Events

http://www.adn.com/2012/11/27/2705873/obama-issues-disaster-declaration.html

Summary:

President Obama ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the
area affected by a severe storm, straight-line winds, flooding, and landslides during the
period of September 15-30, 2012. That funding can be used for emergency work and repair
or replacement of facilities that were damaged by the storm. The declaration covers the
areas of the Alaska Gateway REAA, Chugach REAA, the Denali Borough, Kenai Peninsula
Borough, and the Mat-Su Borough. The deadline to apply for the state’s individual
assistance programs is February 3 next year.

It relates to the government:

With this kind of help Alaska can save money and work on other issues instead.

It is important:

It makes feel Alaskans part of the United States. At the same time it proves that the US
Government cares about Alaska as a State.

My opinion:

I think that some States need help more than others and Alaska is one of them.
I am glad that the President Obama thinks about Alaska’s issues too.

Y'ALL!

Everything is so great and so cool that I don't want to spend too much time on blogger, even because I don't really know what to write you know.. :) Peace out and take careeeee

A few minutes of perfection :)

Gaia Quinto
P2
01/25/2013
Digital Composition
Viral Event

"A Few Minutes of Perfection!" YouTube. YouTube, 07 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.


“A few mines of perfection!” is a video made to make a positive action choice. It represents an idealized society where everybody helps everybody else. With this video the author hopes that people can watch it and make a change and a positive action whenever they can.
Everything starts with a child that helped a fellow student who was just bullied. This guy was amazed by that nice gesture, small to do but really big for who receives it. He internalized that gesture of kindness and in the video we see that, even many years later, he is helping other people too. And those who were affected by other people’s gestures, decide to give it back. That is how the chain reaction started, with a small and cheap gesture of kindness.
The video presents a large amount of different situations and all of them are related thanks to the person that in the scene before has seen receiving love and in the scene after the same person gives love back. The song chosen is very appropriate. The singer says that love is his whole being and he shared what he could. He also suggests the listener that life is the one that gave the love first and that if you give a little love you can have a little love of your own – this is basically what the video is about, sharing love.
In the tile the word “perfection” suggests that all those people who, helping each other, are building a perfect society and in that way, even realistically speaking, many society’s  issues can truly get better and better and almost reaching a perfect community.
“A few minutes of perfection!” is a video that proves how nice, important and helpful a single gesture of kindness is. It shows how every person has something to give to make a change and how important is to start. A little but powerful action will let the chain reaction continue, just like one spark can start a fire.


Some of my works!

Digital Literacy

For this unit we had to create a Visual Autobiography.
We used programs as IBM’s “many eyes” or Google Docs Draw, Wordle, Tagzedo or basic graphic design software like “Pages” for Mac.
For my poster I chose a world map as background and I used:
  • 7 red dots to indicate the places where I have been before;
  • 11 blue arrows to indicate the places where I want to go;
  • a yellow star to indicate where I was born.
I added three pictures of me taken this year that represent the most important things that happened this year in Alaska.

Visual Autobiography
For the Lab Poster we had to choose a rule or something that somebody should remember of the Computer Lab. My partner and I used a black background with an hamburger and a drink that represent food and drinks in general, in fact you should not eat in the Computer Lab. We also used the red for the sentences because red is easy to notice on the black background.


Lab Poster
I – Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities
II – Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance,
to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments
and media
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures
d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
Reflection
Knowing how to crate a blog is very useful. I liked a lot creating it even if at first you need to understand how WordPress works but with the teacher’s help you start to understand it and then it becomes really easy to use. It is something that you can use for all your life