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

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  

Auguri nonno!!!!! :)

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

My Infographic Resume

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

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!

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.”-

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

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. 

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. 

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

Viral Events, Digital Composition

Christmas presents!!!!!!!!!

Abbiamo aperto i regali di Nataleeeeeee!!!!!!! :D Non posso nemmeno elencarli tutti... Però posso dire che i miei cari nonnini mi hanno fatto un regalo molto generoso che praticamente mi ha pagato il viaggio in Florida!!! :D Sono davvero contenta di poter partire e godermi il capodanno lì e tutte le belle cose che farò!!!!! :D Quindi grazie grazie grazie! Grazie anche a mamma e papà perquest'anno! :) -2 giorni alla partenzaaaaaaa

A Natale puoi.. :)

Che dire ragazzi, posso dire di aver passato una piacevolissima serata con Ann, Mag., Mark and Marta. Siamo andate a casa delle ragazze perchè tanto qui non si preparava nulla da mangiare. Abbiamo avuto dell'ottimo pollo e patate. :) poi dopo aver cantato un po' siamo andati a messa a mezza notte ed è stata piacevole (pazzesco come l'ostia fosse grande come una pizza o.o ) ahahah dimensioni americane xD domani ci scambieremo tutti i regali di natale.. :) devo dire però che questa serata l'ho passata con la mia vera famiglia qui... Quindi sono contenta :) per me christmas eve è come il natale se nn meglio.. :) i feel so gratella to have such amazing people here in Alaska... :) I'm so tired, i come from the hot tub :) baci e Merry christmas

Problema+problema+problema=stress

Sono nell'ra di classical mythology, ho finito il tema e non so cosa fare quindi colgo l'occasione per scrivere un po' e non perdere tempo. Vorrei dire che va tutto bene e che non potrei stare meglio ma non e' affatto cosi'. Sto prendendo una decisione abbastanza complicata e in questo mese la mia vita qui mi sta mettendo parecchio alla prova. Gli amici non centrano, nemmeno la scuola anche se tra una settimana abbiamo i finals e non sono sicura di passarli in due classi ma dovrei cavarmela in qualche modo, non sono nemmeno i -23* che ci sono qui o i paesaggi innevati. Il problema e' la vita in famiglia. Vorrei poter cambiare e tentare a vivere una esperienza piu' piena di quella che e' ora. Ci sarebbero un sacco di cose da fare e da vedere ma purtroppo devo fare i conti con due persone che non volevano ospitare exchage quest'anno e che lavorano molto. Mi risparmio l'aspetto piu' emotivo della cosa perche' sarebbe troppo complicato o lungo e non riuscirei nemmeno a spiegarmi compleatmente.
In questi giorni mi manca la mia famiglia piu' del solito (l'avevano deto che superare il Natale e' una delle cose piu' difficili mentre si e' qui, passato quello il resto e' in discesa). Ma devo tenere duro, trovare un'altra famiglia e continuare a sperare che le cose vadano meglio. D'altronde non posso aspettare che le cose cambino se alla fine non prendo coraggio e ne parlo con loro.. qual'e' la cosa peggiore che mi possano fare? gridarmi dietro? Tanto dopo che cambio chemmenefrega anzi, nonmenepotrafregardimeno.
ps. sono le 10 1 10 e fuori e' ancora abbastanza scuro, benvenuto in alaska!!! Qui ha nevicato per 2 giorni e adesso ci sono circa 30 centimetri di neve, ma non ne sono nemmeno sicura non sono brava a contare a occhio. :) But.. e' bello qua perche' se nevica e' bruto ma fa piu' caldo e se non nevica non c'e' possibilita' che piova, c'e' sempre un sole pazzesco e 0 nuvole!
Bye Guys love youu

Ovviamente e' quando si tratta di aiutarti che puoi risconoscere le persone che davvero ti vogliono bene.

Un normale Venerdi a scuola

Solo per questo post scrivero' in italiano perche' delle ragazze stanno usando il computer di fianco a me e mi sento particolarmente stupida a scrivere il blog a scuola ma e' divertente perche' quando lo rileggero' avro' qualcosa che mi ricordera' di questa scuola! :) (ps. Questa tastiera non ha gli accenti)
Come ormai ho detto piu' volte, sto cercando di entrare nel cross country skiing team ma il problema e' che non ho l'equipaggiamento e la gentilissima student counsoler Sarah Miller sta cercando di trovarci qualcosa a un prezzo ragionevole. Quando io e Jayme abbiamo guardato, gli scii costavano circa sui 100$.. Lei gli ha trovati a 20$ :) Non ci restano molti mesi di scii.. la stagione finisce il 28 di febbraio! Poi dovro' trovare qualche altra attivita' da fare.
In questo week-end abbiamo un sacco di cose da fare! Andiamo a vedere lo human body, dobbiamo andare da Michael's a prendere un po' di cose per il mio cookbook, devo spedire alcune lettere, dobbiamo finire gli addobbi di Natale in casa...
La scorsa settimana abbiamo avuto per qualche giorno una signora italiana di Milano che si e' fatta fare un intervento chirurgico da Dwight. lei attualmente vive in Norvegia ma ha viaggiato tantissimo per lavoro. Ci siamo divertite con lei! Abbiamo fatto il risotto ai funghi e il mascarpone per il panettone comprato da Dwight! Abbiamo parlato parecchio anche delle universita', lei frequenta l'universita' qui ad Anchorage. Tra un po' ho la presentazione della soia in food prep e dovro' chiudere abbastanza velocemente. Aggiornero' piu' spesso il blog pero'. Spero di avere comunque il tempo per fare tutto nonostante xcskiing. Vado.

 Yeah!!! Ho presentato il progetto sulla soia ed e' andato tutto bene! :) Anche se ho dovuto presentare tutti i lati positivi sulla soia ma non quelli negativi che non pensavo avesse ma che invece ha eccome.
Con Jayme e Dwight va sempre un po' meglio, ci stiamo conoscendo e stiamo imparando come trattarli e loro stanno imparando come trattare noi. Mia sorella voleva cambiare famiglia e all'inizio pensavo di fare lo stesso ma a quanto pare trovare una famiglia e' molto difficile e l'associazione non si prende la responsabilita'. Va comunque tutto sommato meglio con loro. speriamo che vada sempre meglio.

Qualche giorno fa abbiamo fatto i gingerbread man: sono buonissimi e ci siamo divertite un sacco io e marta con l'icing. Abbiamo creato un esercito di gingerbread neonati, una donna hawaiiana, un gentleman.... Sto davvero imparando a cucinare qui! Sto apprezzando molto il provare cibi diversi e cucinarne di nuovi :) End period. See ya