Day 3 - First day in Instituto Leone XIII

My room woke up at around 6:30 and started discussing what we think the day would be like, we thought it would have been very class room based and would be learning Italian and would be getting introduced to the teachers we would be working with. We were all getting excited to see what the school and facilities were going to be like and what groups we would be working in for the different lessons. We then started hoping that we would be together for some of the session so we could plan and deliver then together. We met down in the lounge at about 8 and set off to the school, everyone seems quite tired but I was wide awake really looking forward finding out in depth what I will be doing in these two weeks in Milan. When we were walking to the school I started to feel quite nervous, hoping that they would be very friendly towards us and understand that out Italian isn't very advanced. We were walking for about 5 minuets when the school got pointed out to us, it was massive! You could see some of the sports pitches and a massive building in the back ground. I started to get excited because the school looked very nice and seemed to be very sports based which is a massive plus.

We were greeted by the entrance and everyone was very welcoming which made the situation less awkward as we were just standing not knowing what to say or do. We then got taken to a room and Pablo introduced him self and started to talk briefly about the school and its history, which as it was founded before WW2 but then moved to its current establishment after wards. After this he took us on a tour of this huge school, showing us class rooms, sports and drama facilities which were all so modernised and lovely. The school had lots of culture and religion init as in the corridors there were huge paintings stung on the wall. After the tour we then went back to class room and was presented with lots of interesting and unusual facts about Milan, he talked about its history and culture and also the geography of the place which I was many interested by it as I enjoy geography so I really enjoyed the presentation. After the presentation we has time to look around the school and interact with some of the students at first it was very awkward and I felt nervous but the children started coming up to use and chatting so I started to feel more conformable. when we returned to the class room we started to get introduced to the Italian language, getting taught words and phrases which we would learn within out sporting lessons which I found very helpful as I don't pick up languages very well. We did language for a while and then went to lunch, at lunch we has some pasta and fruit and chatted about the morning with my mates as we were paired together for the majority of the sports sessions. We then walking around looking at the out door sports facilities which were amazing!

We then thanked Paulo and the other teachers that we met and headed back to the youth hostel. At the hostel we started to plan some warm up sessions that we may be delivering with the  weeks that we are placed at the school, this was very fun as I enjoy planning session as I can take them away and use them in the session that I teach in Britain. I was then sitting in the lounge by myself doing some more sessions by my self when i started talking to a local about the area and the best places I should visit within Milan so I have decided that i need to see if I can look around the Cathedral in Milan because apparently it is beautiful inside and out and has an amazing view of the city.

After we had finished we then went get the metro back by the school and went into an Italian restaurant, here we got to try a variety of Italian dishes from pasta to lasagne, which was very interesting to see what foods are associated with Italy. Even though I didn't really enjoy the majority it was good to gain more knowledge of the Italian culture.

Over all I think this day has been very beneficial to my learnings as I have gained lots of knowledge about Italian and Milan culture and history and also about what I will be going during these two weeks. I am now really exited about the trip and cant wait to start coaching!