One thing I've rediscovered, is my love of Italy and all things Italian. I was having a discussion with a couple of college friends about what the hell I'm going to do if I fail my AS-Levels when I began to consider spending some time in Italy; which hadn't crossed my mind in a while. When I was quite young, I picked up a book called 'Pretty Face' by Mary Hogan, which I wouldn't recommend reading unless you're around 13-14, but nonetheless when I read it I became obsessed with a small town named Assisi, which is situated within the Umbria region of Italy. The book told the story of how a largely overweight girl was sent over to Italy (specifically, Assisi) where it was believed she could lose some weight. The main character managed this by climbing the mountain there every day in order to see her friend/boyfriend Enzo. It's all very gay but it's a lovely story to read if you're a young teenager, or if you just feel like falling in love with Assisi. Since then, I've had an overwhelming urge to visit Italy, and who knows, maybe even spend a portion of my life there. If I'm really gonna go all out on this 'all things Italian' point, I could also mention Marcus Butler's YouTube video "Drunk In Italy". I watched the video with a friend at a sleepover, and was amazed by the fact that they actually party in the streets! It's just that you wouldn't see a rave on the pavement in England, complete with strobe lights and everything, now, would you?
Leading on from this first point, I've also rediscovered my love for learning languages. Even before I read 'Pretty Face', I was well on my way to learning basic Italian, and a little bit more French. At this point I might only have been 8 or 9 years old. I was short of things to do at weekends so I attempted to learn Italian by reading a short children's Learn Italian book, and learning French via PC-CD ROM. Recently I realised that hardly any of either language has stuck in my head - if you asked me to speak a sentence in Italian I would have said something as simple as "Caio, amore mio" - and I can say even less in French. Annoyed at myself for letting it slip, I spoke to my friend Dan about it, who shares a passion for languages (though he's much more concerned with German). He was able to direct me to a free app on the Google Play store called 'Duolingo' which is extremely helpful for learning languages. I've been using the app for four days and I can already speak Italian to a Level 6 standard. It'll be vital that I learn at least some of the language if I want to stay in Italy long-term. If you're interested in learning a language, I highly recommend this app as you can go at your own pace, and you can choose whichever language you like. It also reminds you at intervals to keep up with studying at times when particular sections might be fading from your memory.
Something entirely new I discovered just over a month ago is Game of Thrones. I can't say with certainty that I know all the characters' names or that I understand all the story-lines because I have only seen from the end of Season 3, but I did fall in love with the Sixth Episode of Season Four: 'The Laws of Gods and Men,' where we begin to see (almost) everyone rally against Tyrion who is by far my favourite character. And I have to say *spoiler alert* "I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT!" was definitely the highlight of the season. I would love to read the books, but sadly I don't have any yet. Plus, I'm already started on two books, 'It's Kind Of A Funny Story' and House Of Night's 'Revealed,' as well as having purchased three books (including The Lovely Bones and Eragon) over the weekend. Surely, there'll be some book reviews coming your way soon.
Meaghan xx
Something entirely new I discovered just over a month ago is Game of Thrones. I can't say with certainty that I know all the characters' names or that I understand all the story-lines because I have only seen from the end of Season 3, but I did fall in love with the Sixth Episode of Season Four: 'The Laws of Gods and Men,' where we begin to see (almost) everyone rally against Tyrion who is by far my favourite character. And I have to say *spoiler alert* "I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT!" was definitely the highlight of the season. I would love to read the books, but sadly I don't have any yet. Plus, I'm already started on two books, 'It's Kind Of A Funny Story' and House Of Night's 'Revealed,' as well as having purchased three books (including The Lovely Bones and Eragon) over the weekend. Surely, there'll be some book reviews coming your way soon.
Meaghan xx
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