Marco+Rossi

WEEK 2

The chance to express your free opinion is a right that was not obtained by people all over the world. History shows how unlegitimate governments always tried to forbid the free thought of the people. Internet is an unique tool to spread the news and share the thoughts and many governments are scared and worried that this tool helps people to fight their unright autority. All over the world internet helped to share news and also democratic governments started to look at this phenomena and consider what is better to do. They can't forbid its use, but in a certain way they would like to control it, or at least control a part of it. The is not a most powerful communication tool in our age and to control news is one of the most important power that someone can have. It will be interesting to see how the different countries will rule, or at least, will try to rule the world wide web. For sure there will always be someone who will try to use internet to affect the thought of people, and year by year, this power will become more important. The question are, will people be affected by the online opinions? Who will try to use this tool for take a personal advantage?

April - 03 - 2012 I watched and appreciated so many movies that it is really hard to say what is my favorite one. I love fantasy novels and i always searched for their representation in movies. So i can adfirm that my favorite movie is 'the lord of the rings'. I know that there are three movies, but it's also true that they describe the same story, so i prefer to consider them like one movie divided in three parts. Naturally i like it for the story, but i think that the world created by Tolkien seems live on the screen. Every detail is so accurate that you can pretend to be there, with your heroes, to bring the ring to the Vulcano. I watched all three movies with my friends and we were so happy that finally our favorite book was in the cinemas.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April -04 -2012 Yesterday evening i had an amazing dinner with my girlfriends and her roommates. When i suggested to cook for them, they all were surprised. I don't know the american habits, but in Italy it is really common to have dinner with friends and i like to cook, so normally every two weeks, on friday or saturday, i invite my friends to my home and i prepare dinner. Sometimes, if i have no time, i make only a simple pizza, cause even if it's fast and easy to do, everyone loves it! Moreover you can add to your pizza everything you prefer, so the flavor is always different. Normally i use sauce, cheese, hot-dogs, peppers, zucchini, salami, mushrooms, potatoes, eggs and olives. Mixing those ingredients i create many different pizzas. My favorite one is the eggplants pizza, where there is not cheese and the crust is covered by sauce and slices of eggplants. Yesterday i prepared three different pizzas asking to everyone what he or she prefers. Everyone was really happy to eat and italian pizza, and i loved to prepare dinner and eat all together. I hope to organize and prepare another dinner soon!

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334072118"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334156926"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 05 - 2012 The civil right act is something that will remain in the history as an important step for our society. I think that people should be treated equally for a simple reason, and that is that every person has the same dignity as the others. It's not important the color of skin, the country or the gender, every person has the right to be treated with honesty and respect. The problem is that people always looked at what is different as something to avoid, or worst, something bad that must be killed or controlled. It's hard for human mind to ignore the instinct to run away from what is completely different from what it knows. Something this feeling is generated from fear and the survival instinct suggest to our mind to avoid what is different, thinking that it can be dangerous for us. Actually there is a lot to do in order to win this prejudice that is intrisically linked in our mind. A good education can help to teach to young generation that what is different it is not bad. We should try to convince ourself and show to our kids that every person indipendently from skin or other differences have the same dignity and must have the same rights.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334072118"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334156926"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 06 - 2012 If i were able to create my own foundation i would like to shape it in order to help people in poor countries. I would like to organize three things: the first one is to sent voluntiers where there is the necessity of help. My idea is to sent specialized people, in order to teach a job to poor people in order to make them indipendent once they have learn a profession. Naturally, to do that thing, and this is the second one, i would send tools and all the necessary stuff to work and produce. It is obvious that this is a long term project and so the third thing i would like to do is to send food and other stuff to help people to live. The basic concept of the foundation could be summarized not only in helping but mostly teaching a job and making people indipendent. I know that it can be hard, but i'm convinced that to send food it's not a real solution to solve the problems in the poor countries, and even if it is necessary, i would like to do something more, something that one day can improve their lives in a concrete way.

WEEK 3

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334072118"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334156926"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 09 - 2012 On friday evening i went to Columbus with Gina, my girlfriend, to her family's house. We celebrated Easter with the whole family and we were twenty two people. On saturday we prepared the table in the dining-room and Gina's parents cooked all day. On sunday morning all the relatives came to the house and i met all the aunts, uncles and cousins. Everyone brought cakes, cookies, sodas, and many other things and on 1 o' clock we started to eat. We had a abundant starter with olives, salami, ham, cheese and many different type of pickles. Then we continued with the italian soup, prepared with spinaches, meat and pasta. It was delicious! Around 3 o' clock we had a break and we went in the garden where all the kids and young boys participated to the treasure hunting. Adults hid fifty eggs and they had to find them to obtain the reward. It was really fun and thanks to the sunny day we enjoyed our afternoon. After this game, we came back into the home to eat the second course and the cakes. I did not eat so much since many months! Around 6.15 pm we left the house and we came back to Athens, ready to return to our university life.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334072118"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334156926"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 10 - 2012 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On Saturday evening I went to my first baseball game. Since I was a child I watched on television American sports and I was fascinated. I always dreamed to enjoy a baseball game and finally I had this experience. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Last weekend I was in Columbus at my girlfriend’s home when a friend called and invited us to the game. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So we went to his house and we all together drove to Huntington park, where we met other friends. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I never learned the rules of this game, so Peter explained me everything, commenting every single phase of the game. The best thing was to be around so many people drinking, eating and enjoying the show. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In Italy we don’t have anything similar and I enjoyed a lot that evening. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We watched the game, then we bought an hotdog and I was happy like a kid. When I was drinking my beer and eating my hotdog, sitting with my American friends I felt that my dream had come true. We stayed there for more than four hours and finally Columbus's team won the game. I can't wait to go to another baseball game with my friends!

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 11 - 2012 Today I ate lunch in a Mexican restaurant. The uncle and the father of my girlfriend came in Athens to visit us because they were in a close city to work. We didn’t know where to go to eat, but uncle Larry said that some friends had suggested him to go to casa nueva restaurant, so we went there. The place is nice and they have all the typical Mexican food. I ordered a burrito with black beams, cheese, pulled pork: it was delicious. I tried also to add hot sauce to my burrito and I enjoyed it a lot, because I love spicy food. After lunch we had also a margarita and I can tell that I was really happy. It was the first time that I had a margarita for lunch. Uncle Larry paid the bill for everyone and gave us a box with a wrap that he didn’t eat. He was really kind and I enjoyed the meal with him, because I’m used to have lunch or dinner with my family or my friends and since I’m in Athens I often eat alone and I don’t like it at all.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334267049"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334535240"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 12 - 2012 I love reading. When I was a child my mom had to force me to read because I didn’t like it, but then, when I was eleven, a friend told me about a science fiction book he was reading and he made me curious. So I went to the library and I asked for the library’s pass that I didn’t renewed since four years. Then I searched for the book my friend told me about and I started to read it. It seemed incredible to my parents but I finished it in three days. Considering that it had 400 pages, I did good! As soon as I read it, I came back to the library and I chose another one, still about science fiction. From that moment I became a fan of reading and I began to collect books, building day by day my own library. Actually I have more than two hundred and fifty books, and I’m proud of my little library. I like every kind of books but I still prefer science fiction books. Every year, for my birthday and Christmas, I receive many books from my aunt or my parents, and normally I read the most part of them during the summer, when after a day of work I can seat down in my garden and enjoy the fresh air while I read a good book. It relaxes me and brings my mind to far and amazing places.

WEEK 4

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334693405"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325">April - 16 - 2012 On Saturday morning I went with my girlfriend to the farm of her aunt. I never visited a farm like that before, in fact Aunt Gina has a big farm with only some animals but many fields, more than 400 acres. Her farm is located west of Columbus, more than seventy miles away from the city. When we arrived at 11:00 am at her house, her husband was working and she welcomed us in, preparing a delicious coffee with cookies, that she baked that morning just for us. Unluckily it was a rainy day and we stayed in the house until 2:00 pm, but we had a great lunch with hamburgers made from the cows of her farm. In the afternoon Uncle Tim arrived and he wanted to show us his agricultural machine. He drove us to a close field where he left it. The machine was 30 feet of length and more than 10 of height. I was really impressed but when we entered in the cab and Tim showed us the GPS system and all the technology set on that machine, I was completely astonished. I didn’t expect something similar at all. Tim explained us many things about cultivation and all the works he has to do every season of the year. Then we came back to the farm and we thanked Tim and Gina for the hospitality and we returned to Columbus.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1334869223"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 18 - 2012 In the ancient Greece, Aristotle was one of the most important philosopher and he was the first one to differentiate four different types of love. He said that the first type of love is “philos”, something that we can call friendship. It is a feeling that a person feel about what he or she likes. Another type is “eros” and it derives from Gods. This feeling is stronger than “philos” and normally is shared with a man and a woman. It has also a sexual connotation The third type is “agape” that is the most pure and high existing love. It is an ideal and abstract feeling and often it is a love for ideas or concepts. The last one is “stirge”, a love we feel for relatives or something that we own since a long time, like objects. Stirge is also known as “old-shirt” love, in the meaning of what we feel for our favorite shirt. Nowadays, we use only the word love for all four types described by Aristotle, but other cultures, like Chinese, have different name for it.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335057260"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 19 -2012 When I arrived in Athens, my girlfriend introduced me to Francesca, an Italian teacher who lives here and teach Italian language in Ohio University. It was a real pleasure to meet her, especially because she is Italian like me. We talked for awhile about America and Italy and then she invited me to the weekly Italian conversation hour. She explained me that every Thursday she goes to Front Room in Baker center and speaks Italian with her students. This is a wonderful chance for who wants to improve his or her Italian speaking skill in a relaxed context. I went to this meeting for the first time two weeks ago and I knew many people. We talked about several things and it was really interesting to speak my language with students who are studying it. Some of them told me that they want to visit Italy this summer and I suggested a couple of cities I think it is better to visit when you are in my country. After the first meeting I decided to go every week and so now on 6:00 pm of every Thursday I go to Baker center for the Italian conversation hour.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335201103"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 20 - 2012 Every year, during Easter, I play soccer with my friends. It is a old tradition that my brother Matteo started more than 15 years ago. The first time we played soccer on Easter was with my family and only a couple of friends. I remember I was only a child and they didn’t let me play so, even if I was fascinated by the game and I wanted to play really bad, I had to wait some years. At the beginning, also my uncle and my father played but then more and more friends came to my house during Easter and the soccer game became a traditional entertainment for me, my brothers and our friends. Year by year the number of players increases and the tradition becomes more popular between our friends. For the last Easter I was in America, so I could not able to play, but to show that I love this tradition I created a website with the story and many pictures of the games we played in the last years. All my friends appreciated my work, and now we have an online diary where to add comments, pictures and videos of our tradition.

WEEK 5

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335279742"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 23 - 2012 Yesterday I talked via Skype with my friend Ivan. He is finishing his engineering degree, and just two days ago he did one of the last three exams he had to do to get the degree. He was really happy, and now he is searching for a professor to decide what kind of thesis to do. I don’t know exactly how it works in America, but in Italy, we you have only one or two exams left, you have to search for a professor who assigns you a topic for a thesis, a kind of research that normally lasts six to twelve months. You can decide the professor and discuss with him or her the argument to study. Sometimes, if you are not interested to do a long thesis, and you want to get the degree fast, you can ask for a short-thesis, that normally takes one or two months. Ivan would like to get the degree on July, so he is searching for a professor who gives him a topic for a short thesis, but I suggested him to not hurry up for two reasons: the first one is that if he will do a good thesis, he will find a job more easily and the second is that considering the economic crisis, it will be impossible for him to find a job during the summer, so. Instead to get the degree on July, I think it could be better to do a good thesis and get the degree on October. He said that he will think about it.

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335298325"><span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 24 - 2012 It’s always enjoyable to talk via Skype with my family, and the most fun thing is to speak with my niece. She is almost three years old and every time we talk via Skype, she asks me if I’m still on the plane. When I left Italy, my brother Luca told her that I was going on a plane to America, and probably this fact remained in her mind. So when we talk, I have to explain that I’m in my new house in America. Normally, after this explanation, she asks if I will go to her house to have dinner with her, as I did every week. I respond that I would like to go, but I can’t. To make her happy I say that as soon as I will come back home, we will have a great dinner all together, and I will prepare a cake for her. She likes to listen these things, and I have to repeat my promise every time we talk. Sometimes she shows me some new toys and I pretend to be surprised and I tell her that she is really lucky. I can’t wait to hug her this summer!

<span class="skype_pnh_print_container_1335460175">April - 25 -2012 Today I found a message on my Facebook page from an old friend. She was a roommate of my girlfriend when they studied in Florence two years ago. She wrote me that she will visit a friend in Cleveland this weekend and so it could be possible to meet and hang out together. After some messages we agreed to meet in Columbus, on half way between Athens and Cleveland. We decided that we will have lunch in Columbus and then we will spend all Sunday together. I don’t know what to do in America, because I’m not expert about the places and activities in this country, but I know that in Columbus there is the second zoo of the United States, so I suggested to go there. We don’t really care about where to go; the important thing is to meet each other and spend a day together, but if the weather will be beautiful, probably we will go to the zoo.

April - 26 - 2012 My girlfriend works for //the post// the journal on campus. She writes articles on several topics, but she has also to edit articles of other authors. To do it, on Wednesday evening she goes in Baker center, where there is the editorial office, and she works until 3:00 am, sometimes even more. Normally, before she goes to Baker, we eat dinner together early because she starts at 6:00 pm, but yesterday I was busy and we could not spend time together. So I decided to make a surprise to her and so around 9:00 pm I left my home and I went to Baker center. I called her and we met in the common hall. She was really happy, especially because I brought her a pop. She loves pops and during the long hours of editing, she likes to sip a coffee or a soda. We stayed together only twenty minutes, but she really enjoyed that break and I was happy to spend free time with her. Walking to my home I realized on more time how much I like her and how it is important to take care of many little details with the person whom you are in love.

WEEK 6

April - 30 - 2012 Last week I read a flyer that said that on Friday night a tribute band of Guns and Roses group would have played in a bar of Athens. Guns and Roses is my favorite band since I was a child. My brothers were fans of it and I listened at its songs since I can remember. Because of that, I decided to go to the bar and enjoy the concert. I wrote a message to a friend and I invited him to come with me. The appointment was at 10:00 pm in front of the “smiling skull” bar. I was excited and I arrived exactly at 10:00 pm but my friend was not there. I waited for him twenty minutes but he didn’t arrive and meanwhile the band was starting to play. So I entered in the bar and passing many people I went closer to the stage. It took only few minutes for me to start to sing the songs with the band. I know every words of every single songs of Guns and Roses and I was really happy to be there and enjoy the concert. After ten minutes my friend arrived and we sang together until the end of the show. It was great and I had much fun. I didn’t expect to have the chance to listen a tribute band of my favorite group, here in Athens. I hope it will happen again.

May - 01 - 2012 On Saturday students from Athens celebrated Palmer’s fest. It’s an important fest of the spring and everyone starts to drink during the morning. My girlfriend lives exactly on Palmer street, so we celebrated that day together, with many friends. We were enjoying our day in a house of our friend, when we saw that the house across the street was on fire. In few minutes the party became a chaos. Police men were everywhere and they pushed people from the street to the houses. Firemen arrived to extinguish fire and the scene became something similar to a war. People ran everywhere and someone tried to fight the police. It was completely crazy. It was something that I had seen on television and it was unreal for me to be there. I can’t really understand why some people were so crazy but I’m happy that at the end no one got hurt. I hope that that guilty, if there is one and it was not an accident, will be punished.

May - 02 - 2012 On Sunday morning my girlfriend and I left Athens and we went to Columbus to meet two roommates of Gina. They lived with my girlfriend for six months while they were studying in Italy. Mackanzie is a girl from Seattle. She flew from her city to Cleveland on Friday and she stayed at Maddie’s home for a couple of days. On Sunday Mackanzie and Maddie drove to Columbus and we met at 11.00 am at Gina’s home. It was really beautiful to meet them again. The last time we were all together was two years ago in Italy. We had lunch in a fancy restaurant and we talked about our lives. Mackanzie told me that she will get the degree on September and then she will go to Europe for a month. She wants to return in Italy, so I suggested to visit Milan where I will be her guide. Then we visited a park in the city and while we were walking we kept on speaking. We had a great day together and the time flowed really fast. At 3:00 o’ clock Maddie told us that she wanted to come back home for dinner and so we hugged each other and they came back to Cleveland while Gina and I returned to Athens. I’m glad to have met them again and I hope it will happen again in the future, maybe in Italy.

May - 04 - 2012 Today I found a mail from my mother with a picture of our garden, with a man on a big branch of a pine. She wrote me that my father called a specialist to chop the high trees we have. Two weeks ago, the expert came and analyzed the situation: he referred that we have seventy-six timber trees and five of them require an immediate intervention to decrease the danger of dead wood falling. Other ten trees need to be cut in order to avoid any risk. Because of that, today four specialists of timber trees chopping went to my home and they started a long and dangerous work to do what it is necessary to reestablish security. It will take three days to finish the work, but then the expert told us that all our timber trees will not need to be cut for the next ten years at least. My mother sent me also a video about men-at-work. It is very interesting to see how they operate, preparing all the equipment they need to work with safety. I’m curious to see also how the trees will look like after this intervention. I will ask to my parents to send me more pictures.

WEEK 7

May - 07 - 2012 On Friday evening I went to the African show in Memorial Auditorium. We knew about this show because last week my girlfriend interviewed the director of the show to write an article. He invited her to enjoy it and so we went. I was not excited to watch it, because I thought it would be boring. The show was mainly dancing with typical African music, played by students. The rhythm was given by drummers and dozens of students danced excited way. They shook their bodies without break and I have to admit that the choreography was really nice. They did more than ten different typical dances from several African countries. I enjoyed the show and at the end all the spectators were dancing, pushed by the singer who was performing the final song. It was a good evening and I really appreciated the willing of the students.

May - 08 - 2012 On Saturday I went to the cabin of my girlfriend. Her house is close to Burr Oak lake, north of Athens. We arrived at the cabin at 11.00 o’ clock and we met the whole family. We played for one hour with Gina’s nephew and then we prepared sandwiches and drinks for a boat-trip. In fact, her parents have a boat and we planned to spend our day crossing the lake and playing on a beach. I didn’t expect a boat like that: it has comfortable seats, similar to couches and a big sun blind. The engine had some problems but after the intervention of the Capitan of the little harbor, we started out trip. After twenty minutes of navigation we arrived on a beach and we stopped there to play and enjoy our day. In the evening we came back to the cabin where we had a family dinner on the outside balcony. When finally it was completely dark, we lighted a campfire and for the first time in my life I had smores. I was really excited to cook the marshmallows on the fire because I have seen it many times in American movies and I really wanted to do it too.

May - 09 - 2012 On Saturday afternoon I did a boat trip with the family of my girlfriend. I already described our day, but I didn’t tell what exactly happened during the day. As I said, we had a problem to start the boat and we were able to leave the harbor only after the help of the Capitan, who recharged our battery. We thought that the problems were solved, but we were wrong. In fact, when we arrived on the beach, on the other side of the lake, we turned off our engine and then it was not able to start again. So Gina’s father called the Capitan and he came to drag our boat to the harbor. We stayed only two hours on the beach, so the mother of Gina rented a boat and we came back to the beach. We spent all day crossing the lake and enjoying the sun. I also drove the boat, and it was really exciting for me. We saw the whole Burr Oak and we stopped for three times in the middle of the lake to tan. It was a great day but another surprise was waiting for us, in fact, when we were coming back to the harbor we saw an eagle. It glided over the water surface not too far from our boat and then it flew away. It was a wonderful day!

May - 12 -2012 On Sunday my niece had her Confirmation. Even if I’m in America I wanted to give her a present, so I decided with my brother to buy and Ipod with her name inscribed. We ordered it on the Apple store and in only five days it was delivered at my home. My niece was really happy and she wanted to use it as soon as she received it. My brother loaded her favorite singer on the Ipod and many others songs. She spent all day showing her new device and make my relatives listening to the music. In two weeks my second niece will receive Holy communion and I bought an Ipod also for her. As her sister I think she will appreciate it and finally they both will able to listen to music without stealing the Ipod of my brother.

WEEK 8

May - 14 - 2012 On this Saturday I went kayaking. I’m not a good swimmer and I was a little bit scared about this sport, but my girlfriend insisted and finally she convinced me. We went on Burr Oak lake and we rented two kayaks in the harbor. They gave us also a double oar and a life-jacket. We put the kayaks on the beach and we easily got into them. At the beginning I was afraid to lose the balance and overturn my kayak, but I discovered very soon that it is more hard to overturn it than I expected. The real problem is to follow a straight direction. If you don’t row in the right way, you keep on turning and you waste much energy without result. It took me thirty minutes to understand how to do, but then I was able to go straight and enjoy the experience. We kayaked for more than two hours and I loved it. I think I will do it again, as soon as possible.

May - 15 - 2012 When I was kayaking I saw many interesting things: the first one was a couple of flowers named water lily. I know that sometimes frogs stay on the lily pad, but I didn’t see them. However staying close to one side of the lake, I arrived an area of shallow water and there, among many seaweeds, I saw a turtle. Leaving that zone, I kept on sailing along the lake and few minutes later I saw something moving on the water surface. It seemed just grass, but staring I realized that it was a beaver. Probably it was bringing that grass to build its dam. A that time I was kayaking for fifty minutes, so my girlfriend and I decided to take a rest on a beach. We reached a beautiful and sunny beach and we stayed there for awhile. There, Gina found the trace of a deer and explained me that there are many animals in those woods, around the lake. After a break, we returning to the harbor and we finished our trip.

May - 16 - 2012 On Saturday evening I went fishing with my girlfriend’s father, Jim. I was tired for the long day that I spent kayaking and hiking, but the idea of fishing on a boat on the lake was too alluring. Moreover I love to watch the sunset and stay outside during the dusk. So, after we had dinner, around 7:00 pm we left the house and we went to the harbor where our boat was waiting for us. We reached the centre of the lake and then we turned off the engine, letting the waves dragging the boat. At that moment Jim gave me a fishing-pool and I started to fish with the spinner. I think that it is really fun that technique, but unlikely no fish swallowed the bait. So we tried to move the boat but even in this way we were lucky. Anyway, we enjoyed the sunset and around 9.30 pm we came back home and we made a campfire with the whole family. I have never been lucky with fishing, but I don’t care, I had a great day.

May - 17 -2012 On Sunday the Italian soccer league finished. I’m a little bit upset because my team, Milan, was at the top of the league until four games left, but then it lost a game. So Juventus team went on top and kept on winning. In this way Juventus won the Italian soccer league. I’m upset because I know that my team is stronger than the others, but due to some errors we lost. Moreover at the end of this year, four historical players will finish their careers because they are too old. That makes me sad. My team won many important cups with those players and I really love them. I cheered for them since I was a child and I don’t like the idea that I will never see them playing again. One of them wrote a letter to us, his followers. He said that he had a great time in our team and he is leaving only because he is too old to keep on playing. It’s a natural thing. It’s the right choice. But I still feel sad and nostalgic. Anyway, I will keep on cheering for my team with the same enthusiasm I had with my favorite champions.

WEEK 9

May - 21 - 2012 On Friday night I went to the concert of Wiz Khalifa. He is a famous rapper and even if I prefer hard-rock music, I have to admit that he played some beautiful songs. The concert was in Convocation center at 7:30 pm. I went with my girlfriends and several friends. To be sure to have a seat we went at 6:00 pm and we could go close to the stage. I had never been so close to the stage in a concert, I was excited. Around 7:45 pm the headliner band appeered on the stage, and they played for more than one hour. I didn’t like that band at all. Then there was a break of one hour before Wiz arrived and started to play. I didn’t know the most part of the songs, but I enjoined the concert anyway. He sang for seventy minutes. Finally at 11.00 pm we came back home, tired but satiesfied for the beautiful concert.

May - 22 - 2012 On Saturday morning I went to the Internationl Street Fair. I Invited a friend and we decided to meet at University bookstore. It was a sunny and warm day and I walked from my house, in the Summit, to Court Street. There I found my english teacher Sally and she suggested me to grab the Italian flag and join the parade. So I went to college green, where there were all the flags, but a man, probably from the Middle East, had already taken the Italian flag. So I decided to follow the parade and enjoy it like a spectator. The parade was really nice, with dozens of different flags. It was beautiful to see so many coloured flags blowing. Poeple were excited and everyone had fun.

May - 23 - 2012 When I went to the International Street Fair, I didn’t take part to the parade, but I had a lot of fun and I had the possibility to try foreign food. After the parade i met a friend and we looked at the stalls along Court Street. There were stalls of many different countries. The most part of them were from Asia, but I found also one from Germany, with the girls wearing the typical german clothes. We walked among the stalls for awhile before we decided to buy a refreshing lemonade and thailandese food. We had two chicken kebabs with peanuts sauce and noodles. It was good, even if it tasted different from every food I had ever eaten. After lunch we went to college green and we looked at the flags, trying to recognize everyone of them. After that, we sat in the shadow under an high tree and we talked for three hours laying on the grass. It was really nice and relaxing.

May - 23 - 2012 On saturday night we prepared a surprise party for a friend, Katie, who will get the degree soon. She didn’t expect it at all and she loved it. We had dinner with all the roommates and some friends. I prepared four pizza and everyone was amazed becuase I prepared them like we do in Italy. After dinner many other friends came to our house and we listened to the music, while we played some games all together. The most surprising fact was that the boyfriend of Katie came too, but she didn’t know it. When he arrived she screamed and started to laugh for the joy. We had a lot of fun and we also went to the pubs to drink a cocktail all together. We came back home at the midnight and I went directly to bed cause i was really tired for the long day.