Nothing real special

Toady was just like the title---Giulia went to school, I slept in, worked out, had lunch, hung out,took Giulia to meet her liaison and picked her up from swimming at the YMCA. We had stuffed shells with ricotta cheese which she seemed to enjoy. We also know what vegetables she likes/doesnt like.....Ha!

AFS Picnic on Saturday/Sunday/Monday

We had our first gathering with host families, liaisons, students and friends at a local beach to welcome our new students. It was great weather with comfortable water (some students disagreed including Giulia), great food, great fun, and meeting new people. We palyed Global Bingo where students had to ask other students'/host families/ chapter presidents if they knew X or Y. It was fun! We took a group picture and we have  a large group this year of 26. Not all came for various reasons but it was fun! I think Giulia will make some friends with AFSers--she seemed to become friends with a Thai girl which is great. I think overall we will have a great year filled with diversity.

On Sunday, I had to work and Giulia went to the mall with girls she met from a party the night before. She had fun! I came back from work and took a nap, had dinner, and watched the Emmys--surprises there!

Today, Giulia went to school and I met my student teaching college advisor for lunch and Giulia had more homework then usual--American Government and Math, which is not that bad. She has a test tomorrow in American Government and says she studies in Italian (translates from English to Italian) to study. Cool! We also had ribs (she never had ribs) and she enjoyed them. She is excited to meet the grandparents in PA. We are going back this weekend for Labor day. Speaking of which, I will not have computer access there,so updates will come next week.

First football game

Giulia went to school as usual while I ran errands--got some GREAT deals at the mall :) Then I came home and had dinner, then Giulia and my rents went to a football game. I am not a big football fan so I didnt go and she almost didnt go cause I was gonna be by myself, but I told her I  LOVED that and she was like ok... It is Giulia's first one :) She is excited!

I love experiencing "new" stuff with her like eating tacos and tuna for the first time, buying back-to-school stuff,etc. It is way exciting!

Eating tacos for the first time and getting used to her mannerisms

Hey everyone!

Today, Giulia had school and I had some phone calls to make and I had to get up early..GRR! But its ok....later I went for a walk and came back in time for Giulia's bus. She had a good day and had Physics homework. She did that while I took a "pesarino" or nap in Italian. It was good! Then Giulia went to the YMCA to swim onlyu to realize she forgot her bathing suit.....I was going to pick her up anyway, so I just stayed and read my "Italy for Dummies" book LOL. Then we went home and had tacos--Giulia never had tacos, so it was an adventure --we put so much stuff on it and she was like "no....its SO beautiful"...LOL one of her mannerisms.....but she liked it. She also never heard of cupcakes and thought it was hysterical when we explained to her how cupcakes are really big in the US now as a replacement for wedding cakes.

Speaking of mannerisms-- we already are beginning to catch on "oh...it is SO beautiful..." "thanks so much" , "what can I help you with", or  "I'm going to go to X or do X". It is WAY cute! We are having an AFS picnic this weekend where we meet the other AFSers, so we are looking forward to it! I will write how it goes.....

Got my parents an anniversary gift and running errands AGAIN

Today was a lazy day. I slept in, Giulia went to school ( had a good day), went for a walk, and then ran errands. I almost got into a car accident because of a jerk who didnt see me because of my "blind spot" and went into my lane! GRR! I honked the horn for if I wouldn't have...CRASH! But thank God I was ok...anyways...

I went to get my parents a gift certificate to a expensive restaurant where we live and the good thing was that not only could me and Giulia split the cost ( I paid half, she paid half), but they could choose the restuarnt they want to go to for they are "parent restaurants" in a way to each other. So taht is cool! I had her pay me when I got home :p and signed the card. They will enjoy it on their anniversary which happens to be on Labor day. We will be out of town that weekend, but there's always next weekend or whenever....

Dad is helping Giulia with math for he is the math "guru"and I am SO not! Ha! I believe it will go quite well....

Giulia's first day of high school in USA!

Today was Giulia's first day--she was quite nervous, as to be expected, but I gave her a "Good Luck" card so that helped I believe. She said her day was quite long but good. She is taking 5 classes and has math homework tonight :p But it looked quite easy.... I helped her organize what school supplies she needs for what class and tonight we are planning on going shopping for them. She has classes with some of the other exchange students,which helps,and ate lunch with her friend Carlo ( the other Italian boy) and met Alexandria from Germany who was with EF.

It seems like she will have a course load with chemistry, honors algebra, Brit. Lit, and physics, but it will be good and challenging for her I'm sure. Many of the exchange students say that high school in America is way easy compared to their home country schools and are surprised kids "dont care" and fall asleep in class!

In other good news, I passed my second test that qualifies me to become a teacher, so now it is "official" :) I just need to meet with the chair of the education dept at my college and fill out paperwork to get my license. It took me several times to pass as these tests are VERY hard and Giulia saw me crying and she was like "OMG Whats wrong?" but when I told her, she was VERY happy for me and dried my tears and hugged me! It was cute!

Arrivederci!

Giulia's pasta and running errands

Toady, we ran errands, very simple, and went to her high school to drop off paperwork. She is nervous about starting school, but I told her all exchange students are and that she will love the school! I still cant get over how good Giulia's pasta was last night! It was simple rigatoni with a light marinara--she pulled all the seeds out of the tomatoes and had a VERY light sauce--I didn't know this but she said she would have ate more pasta IF we had it for lunch and we didn't...we feel bad for I think we may have offended her accidentally, but dinner is our main meal here and she doesn't eat much and eats much more at lunch, which is their main meal in Italy and perhaps all of Europe too. I don't know.... BUT for lunch she had her pasta and I was happy she finished it for she made it and I felt bad she didn't eat much of it.

She does not eat much overall, but maybe its because she isn't use to eating a big meal around 6:00ish--maybe that will come with time, who knows. We are looking forward to Giulia cooking us more pasta or whatever!

Pasta from the kitchen of Giulia

Hey!
Tonight , we will have a special dinner! Giulia will make us rigatoni pasta-- we are very excited to see what she comes up with! I will definitely let you all know how it is.... We also went over the handbook in the afternoon of AFS rules and it went well. We played the Wii Sports in the afternoon and now she is taking a nap.....

Talk to you all soon :)

Shopping and hanging

Hey everyone!
Today, we went to get Giulia her bacpack for school--tote /messenger back really--she was being picky about it, but finally found one at Victoria's Secret and I got a sweater/jacket there and its way cute! She also got sunglasses that were $80--according to her in Italy, those same glasses would be $120-- so she saved  abunch of $$

Later, we went out to Don Tequila and she has never been to a Mexican restaurant before so I had to explain to her nachos, tacos, burrito, fajitas....it was long..but she enjoyed what she got. I then had to go to a meeting and we were gonna go bowling but the meeting went over, so I just came home after and we played on the Wii.

Baseball game and hanging

After sleeping in and hanging out, we took Giulia to see where I worked-- Lake County Captains baseball stadium--farm team for Cleveland Indians.We got free tickets because I am an employee there and they had great seats. They ( my rents and her) came in the 5th inning and stayed for the fireworks. It was difficultexplaining to her what was going on in between innings for there is so much LOL. But itw as ok :) Fireworks were great as usual! After work, we went to Cold Stone Creamery. She had her first one :) She liked it!

We are planning on putting together a book for her via Shutterfly of her year here with us which will be great and much cheaper then scrapbooking. These same photos, or most of them, are on my Facebook profile (name Katie Caporossi in AFS 2010-2011 album) so feel free to check em out and comment if you wish!

Laterz!

Having fun and meeting others

Yesterday, I went out with my freinds to a casino in Erie, so therefore Giulia couldn't come. But she did get a chance to meet a Thai exchange student, Opor, and her and Carlo went over her house, went in the hot tub, played the Wii, had sausage for lunch,etc. She had fun.....

 Today,in the morning, she had her orientation at her school and found it informative.In the afternoon, met Felipe, a boy from Brazil, who will be going to a local high school near her school. She also went to a soccer game at her school to see a boy from Italy, Fillippo, play. It was a scrimmage. I believe she will have fun and maybe learn a few tips about soccer :-)

1 Week left till Giulia goes to Willoughby South! Time flys!

Hey everyone! She has only been with us since Saturday and yet it seems longer (dont know why) maybe because we skyped/talked for quite a bit after she  knew we were her family LOL. I also remember how nervous I was before we picked her up and I have no idea why! LOL  But yet as I write this, it is also hard to believe she starts school in one week. She got her classes today and it will be a full load, but she is smart and I'm sure it will be a good challenge for her. I think she is nervous about making friends for I can sense that (she asks for me a lot which I don't mind for I enjoy her company, HOWEVER during the year I hope she does make some USA friends for I am 7 years older then her and she needs to be with people her age, I believe it will be great for her). I believe she will regardless whether that will be through classes or being involved with extracurricular activities like Drama Club or maybe swimming. The only thing I regret is that I wish she was here last year for I could have introduced her to two seniors who could have introduced her to their friends ....but oh well.....

Today, we went shopping with Carlo ( a boy from Italy) and she bought a cute Hollister dress, top at macy's (she was SO excited when we had Macy's LOL), and a surprise gift for Carlo's birthday from Build-A-Bear. They loved how cheap everything is here and to us it can  be expensive depending on what you buy. At night, we had vermicelli with garlic and bread crumbs and didn't think she would like it for she is more of a pasta with tomato sauce person we believe, but she liked it....then we went to go see Eat,Pray, Love and some of it was in Italian and she said that the characters/Julia Roberts did very well! :) It was really cute! She also met Mary, my best friend and her best friend in Italy is nicknamed Mary too! How ironic!

Just a relaxing Monday

Yesterday, we met our Serbian friends at Cheesecake factory and it was fun. Today, we went for a walk around the school where she will go and went to the YMCA to get her registered. She is interested in swimming, so may do that in the Y--I dont know yet. We also saw Carlo from Italy too. He will be at Willoughby South as well. We may go out for lunch or go get ice cream at Coldstone. Either way yum! In between activities and what not, we have been playing Wii Sports and Giulia beats me at tennis almost everytime LOL! BUT I get back at her and beat her at bowling :-)

She may be a little homesick but that is ok for that is normal. She asks for me alot....I also noticed that she asks for "my Mom" or "my Dad" now and not just Mom/Dad or Sandy/Ron, but that is ok. Either Mom and Dad will come soon or she may just stick with Ron & Sandy. Whatever she feels comfortable with. Later today, I have to go to work :(  We were thinking of making vermicelli with bread crumbs and garlic for dinner but that will most likely be tomorrow.

It was a VERY good first weekend!

"More Today then Yesterday"

Yesterday , we met Giulia for the first time--she is very sweet and very polite. I believe she will have a great year with us. Yesterday, we took her to the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy and they (my Mom, Dad, Giulia-I was at work) had gnocchi and gelato. Giulia didnt say how it was exactly so I will ask her--she most likely will say "good". It will be interesting to see how she compares our Italian food to her Italian food. After work , we went to a neighbor's party that was wild and had  a caveman and hillbilly theme along with cornhole, food, and many people who taled to Giulia. We are not really sure what she thought of the party really, but she said she had fun. She played cornhole and met our neighbors and talked Italian with one of the ladies that was 100% Sicilian which was cool.

Today, Mom took her to the grocery store and I will take her to the local target, show her her school, go to Starbucks, and maybe see Downtown Willoughby in the day depending on time allowed. Tonight, we are meeting our Serbian friends, who the wife was best friends with our first girl Hege,(the wife Ivana was a exchange student with PAX during Hege's year), her husband, and sister. They are now married and Hege went to their wedding and they went to Hege's in Norway. It was fun seeing them all dressed up in their native costumes.They are great people and are looking forward to meeting Giulia.

Meeting Giulia for the first time

Today, finally arrived-the day we would pick up Giulia. We picked her up at a volunteer's house and met her. She is so cute and very sweet! Many "thank yous" and hugs and kisses along the way. She opened our welcome gifts and hugged and kissed us, had lunch, and talked. We talked about what she liked to eat, what she would like to do academically, and also with extra curricular activities at school,etc.She also brought us gifts from Italy including a necklace for my Mom, bracelet for me, apron to share, candy, and cloth like poster of the region she is from. She even brought a little espresso machine from home :) LOL

At times she said "Katie, I will go up to my room now--see you later!". Its cute! She skyped with her Mom & Dad and was very happy to do so. Her Mom is telling me that she is very happy and that we are a beautiful family.She even talked to our Nana and Nana said that she has a very "productive" or something to that matter accent. It is a good thing though!

It seems like it will be a great year. Tonight we are planning on taking her to the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy (if it doesn't rain) after church, to eat, then we are going to a neighbor's house for a party. Unfortunately, I most likely will not be able to go due to work which really bums me out, but oh well.

I am looking forward to writing many more blogs throughout the year as well as post pictures.You will be able to see pictures on my Facebook account.

Ciao!

We are Italian--We NEED to experience hosting from Italy--Giulia from Italy

I have told you about the other four in my life and a last minute decision by our family was made to host an Italian student this year. We are Italian, hence last name Caporossi, and the region from where our girl is coming from is near the region where my Dad's father's parents grew up--near the Marche region, specifically Cupri Maritime/Ascoli. My Dad's mother's side is from Sicily. So in a way we have a connection--sort of. We are excited for she will be our first Italian and I am excited to host again, learn about my heritage, and maybe learn some Italian too. I am considering taking an Italian course at a local community college in the fall. She arrives today at 2:00pm but her liaison will be picking her up and we will get her tomorrow morning.

We have already contacted her via Skype and Facebook and she seems really sweet. In my life, I knew I was Italian but never really thought about it much especially in my childhood. I had a Nana and a Nono and that's all I knew really. When I became involved with AFS and even in high school/college, I became more aware of what it meant to be "Italian" really through getting to know the students from Italy and my mannerisms, not that they were bad or what not, just "Italian like". Now I believe my experience of hosting a girl from Italy, will make me appreciate my heritage that much more and have a "full circle" experience so to speak.

I have always wanted to go to Italy and see what you see on TV (ie. Rome Colesseum) and I even got a book called "Italy for Dummies" and am highlighting/bookmarking good hotels/restaurants/attractions/tips,etc. I am halfway done for it is quite a big book. I am planning on substituting in schools near where I live and will plan on using that money for a trip to Italy--whenever that may happen.

I may talk about the other girls, if they come back and visit or what not, but the main focus will most likely be on Giulia/what our family does with her,etc.

So stay tuned!

Arrivederci!

Come on..I'm in college now..lets do it again.... Sigrid from Sweden

After Vale, we literally thought we were done for hosting for good....well not so fast..... my Mom still President- and doing an awesome job!- saw that there were two girls left who needed homes for the 2008-2009 school year ( I was again a senior, this time at college and away at college in an apartment) and there was a girl from Japan and Sweden left. I remember we looked at both bios and decided on Sigrid because she was different-- she was into music, had excellent grades, excellent English,etc. Our Hege was really good friends with a girl from Sweden and we wanted to experinece the Swedish life. So off we went to get Sigrid....

Like her bio said, she did have excellent grades and excellent English. I did not know this at the time, but their TV is always in English and had Swedish subtitles, that's why they are so good at it :) She was into music and we went to her concerts. She did really well! She became REALLY close with our family and also with girls from Switzerland and Spain. They instantly became the three "amigas".

We loved spending time with her on the holidays and unfortunately, I broke my hand in November, and she called and asked how I was which was really sweet of her! I feel bad I did not spend as much time as I wish with her due to being in the apartment. She was always willing to come visit and spend an evening, but didn't due to school work and what not. That was cool!

When I got back in may, we watched American Idol together and she loved two contestents who eventually became the winner, Kris Allen, and also Megan Joy, the girl who was different with tatoos and all. On the show, I didnt like them at all--since the tour I loved Megan, but still do not like Kris--sorry Kris! I even videotaped those two for her and hope to put the videos up soon....

We went to go visit Sigrid in 2009 and it was great. We saw her school, met her brother and her Dad. Her Mom came for her graduation so we saw her again - it was SO cute seeing them cry at the airport when they saw each other.It was great to share another graduation with another sister :)

Espanol hermana ahora -- Vale de Chile

We took a break from hosting between Sina and my junior year of high school. For my senior year, I wanted to host again and wanted it to be a Spanish speaking girl- I did not care what country she came from as long as she spoke Spanish. My Mom became president at the time and picked out Maria Valentina Rozas Cerda from Chile. She was two years younger then me and was bubbly,and giggly. I remember picking her up at the bus and she had stuffed animals with her and she's like "Can you hold these for a second?" shoving em toward me LOL. Literally, two days after her arrival, we turned around and went to NYC for both my Mom and I's birthday-- poor Vale--she just came from NYC--but she was cool with it!


She also helped me with my Spanish which was really nice. Unfortunately, I didn't know much at all so she tried to help me understand the "it" verbs and got frustrated--sorry Vale! But you were a good teacher :)

During the year, she had a video camera with her and always had it on her. We made a snowman in the winter and named it the "Pathetic". She put her sunglasses on it and it was a hoot!
She also met Sina through the year, our last  girl,  and met Mari ,Hege's sister from Norway, who was an au pair in Michigan at the time. She came down for the Maroon 5 concert which was awesome! I also had Vale go to the Jesse McCartney concert--it was cool at the time--

She also videotaped my graduation for me which was really nice..and even had a special message at the end of the video.

So yes we had a good year with her. We have been lucky so far with all three of our experiences, each of them were different.....

ready for yet ANOTHER one?

We loved the first time so much...we had to do it again-Sina from Germany

Hey everyone! The title says it all--however we didnt realize the goodbye was going to be SO hard. It ws almost like depressing really! Me and my Mom came in Hege's room after she left and we just sobbed :( We were in a funk for like a week-- it was not fun... BUT then we remembered all the good times we had with Hege and knew that this girl from Germany needed a home, so we took her and it was an experience for sure. Once again filled with ups and downs, but again overall good. Sina was into volleyball so we went to her volleyball matches and watched her and one time she got hurt and had to go to the ER and I cried because I was so worried about her :( But she got better and we had fun over the holidays and stuff-- she LOVED Twizzlers and we would buy them for her alot. She was independent and funny! Get this...she is now an exchange student again at LSU--her college in Germany has an exchange program and she landed in Baton Rouge yesterday....we plan on seeing her again sometime this year during a break or something :)

You will always remember your first...Hege from Norway

Again,
I am just getting started so please bear with me. The title says it all-- as I write this, it is hard to believe my AFS journey as a host sister began a decade ago. I remember it like it was yesterday, me being in 8th grade and Hege, four years older then me. There were ups and downs including me getting very sick with an anxiety disorder and giving her a hug goodnight only to see her cry because she wanted to "help" me and my Mom telling her "that I had to do it myself". I got better but took quite a long time and I know my anxiety/eating disorder will always be with me. However, there were moments that were amazing--going to Disney and getting it on film, spending time with her, having her eat only pizza at first because she thought it was "safe", her love for ranch dressing, having her meet my family,etc. All of this I wouldnt trade for a minute both ups or downs. It was an experience and she was and still is like a "Mom" to me! I love her to death and am so blessed to have her in my life!

AFS since 2000

Hi everyone! My name is Katie Caporossi. I have been involved with AFS since 2000 and since then I have met many wonderful people all over the world.It is hard to believe that a decade has gone by and since 2000 I have been everything from being a liaison to helping my Mom out with "secretarial" stuff to helping the students out at orientations and everything in between.I have also became freinds with many of the studnets and keep in contact with them through Facebook,etc.Throughout my time,I also have been a little host sister and a big sister to girls from Norway, Germany, Chile, Sweden, and now Italy this upcoming school year. I am so glad that each of my sisters have come into my life. They make me a better person and help me be open minded about other countries and customs. I have visited all of them and loved it! I even went to my sister from Norway ,Hege's, wedding in 2009 which was absolutely beautiful! I know one day I will get to Italy as well...then there will be time for a reunion for sure :)

I decided to start this blogging experience for I read others and liked what I saw.It is definitely something new to me, but also exciting as well.It is something different to do "AFS style" other then photos,and scrapbooking,although they are great too :) Please feel free to leave comments and offer suggestions if desired.

Happy reading :)