New lesson!

Lesson #5 - Europeans treat every ball like a soccer ball

When camping in Rome we went out to throw a softball. Every person that walked by stared at us like we were circus animals! These two Italian boys saw us and looked on amazed at this ball that was being thrown. They were about 4 years old and 6 years old. We could tell they wanted to play but how do you ask children who only speak their own language and do not know any English? So we tossed the ball to them and they threw it back but not like you usually would throw a softball, with one hand. For anyone that plays the beautiful sport of soccer ;) you know that they throw the ball over their head with two hands. This boy started to throw the ball a few times like it was a soccer ball until he started to learn that there is more you can do with a ball then just use your feet. When I rolled to ball to him like a grounder instead of picking it up with his hands can you guess what he did? He stopped it with his feet, it was really fun! When we left we left the boys a softball of their own!

Football in Italy!

I played soccer today in Italy! It was so much fun, I feel like a real European now since soccer is the world's most popular sport. All you soccer players from Reach Academy, check out the video and learn a few things ;)

This is an EDUCATIONAL trip!

I'm learning a lot while I am here. I'm thinking we should ask Mrs. Breakiron to pay for a Middle School Field Trip to EUROPE!

Here are some lessons that I learned while here:

Lesson #1 - Don't eat "American" food.

When you are in Italy, eat Italian food! When we went to Rome we stayed in a campground and the restaurant advertised an "American" breakfast. There was a picture of bacon and eggs and I started to feel a little home sick. So I went for it and the Italian waitress was not happy and after I ate my food I wasn't happy. Italians should stick to pasta and pizza and let us Americans cook the eggs! The yolk was overcooked and they charged us 6.50 Euro a plate for two eggs (thats about $9)!

Lesson #2 - Unisex bathrooms are awkward.

The first bathroom we went to was in a parking garage in Verona. I have to say it was weird to see men and women walking in and out of the same bathroom. And as a guy it is unpleasant to here women chitter chatter while you are taking care of business. I also learned that Italians are okay with unisex bathrooms, so in my brain I prepared for going into the bathroom with ladies, hmmm.....

Lesson #3 - Not all bathrooms are Unisex!

So the Second bathroom I went to was not for men and women and boy did I learn my lesson! Let me paint a picture for you...   I really had to use the bathroom and I decided to find the nearest restroom. Here is a question, How do you find a restroom if everyone speaks Italian!? I did not know what they call it and I tried to figure out what I was going to use when asking, “Bathroom” , “Toilet”, “Restroom”, “The John”, “Potty”. I picked one and asked the closest waitress “Where is the restroom?” They pointed me in a direction and I followed and it worked! When I made it to the place they call the “Toilette” I saw a row of doors. Assuming it was unisex I went down the hall way and went with the first door that had a green mark indicating that it was unoccupied. “What do we have behind door number 5 Bob!?” … a lady on the “Toilette”! Yea that was awkward. She looked at me and screamed. I looked at her and thought “Welcome to Italy.” I spent the rest of the evening dodging the old Italian woman in the red and blue floral dress, unfortunately some images are burned in your brain!

Lesson #3 - Not all bathrooms are Unisex!

Yea, that’s right… I didn’t learn my lesson the first time! When we went to Rome we stayed at a campground. My cousin Adam and I walked in to the bathroom and seeing no indication of Mens or Womens I assumed it was another of the unisex variety. When we walked in Adam jokingly teased, “This is probably the Womens! Ha!” As I was about to walk out of the stall I heard two young British girls voices (this was a gift so that I knew what they were talking about).  They said giggling “Oh Dearest Mumsie, there is a man in the ladies bathroom!” Thinking they might have seen me I stayed in there for what seemed like forever until I heard no more voices. Then I got out as fast as I could. Now for the rest of my life I will never use a bathroom unless I see a little stick figure man telling me that “It is all going to be okay!”

Lesson Learned, Great SUCCESS!


Lesson #4 - You have to BUY water!

Water is not free! Not like America where every restaurant starts you with a tall glass of ice water. Here in Italy you must order “una liter acqua” just to have any sort of drink with your meal and most places charge 2 euro per liter (about $2.80)!

I'll have more lessons for you tomorrow!

Florence and Rome!

I'm back... and it feels good.

As you know we are staying in Vicenza, Italy but we took a weekend trip to Florence and Rome. It was a 6 hour drive and the freeways are crazy. There is pretty much no speed limit and most people drive 90+ miles per hour.

When in Rome we traveled from place to place using the subway system and we walked and walked and walked. Today I wore my TOMS and I have a "TOMS Tan." Any one out there who has TOMS will know what I am talking about. My feet and legs hurt but what I saw was AMAZING! I took a lot of pictures and want to share some with you... I will add more later because it is time for bed! Check back in the morning :)

In Verona!

The first day here was so much fun! We saw so many old buildings every where we looked. I don't have time to add captions now as we are off to Florence and Rome until Tuesday! There will not be any internet there but I can't wait to show you all of what I have seen when I come back. If you click on the pictures below they will appear bigger on your screen :) Enjoy!

Off to Verona, Italy

Not because we want to, because we have to!

Now we are playing "Capture the Luggage." Sort of like Capture the flag but in this game we run around Italy like crazy people until we find four bags and bring them back to home base where we can claim victory.

The Airline company (cough... Delta...cough) won't deliver our luggage until tomorrow.

We were planning on making a day-trip to somewhere in Italy anyways, so Verona it is!

I am actually really excited because so far we have been on a US Military base and it sort of feels like being in the United States, except for the time change. The weather here is very nice, 85 degrees! Remember because Italy is at a similar latitude as the United States they have a similar climate. (Thanks Paris T. for asking :)

I can not wait to update this post with pictures from our trip today. Don't forget to comment on my other post "Worst Case Scenario!"

Have a great day!

Some Pictures!



Worst Case Scenario!

Since last time I talked to you a LOT has happened!

I am glad to say that I made it safe to Italy... but our luggage did not!

This is pretty much what we saw when waiting for our bags!

Although it is somewhat disappointing I figure... HAVE FUN and make a game out of it!

Let's play ... it's called "Worst Case Scenario"

We checked 4 bags in at Detroit Metro Airport and I assume they made it on the flight over the Atlantic to the Netherlands. To play this game you have to tell me... What is the Worst Possible Case Scenario for the fate of our four bags of luggage!

I'll start and you can leave your ideas in the comment box...

Worst Case Scenario...

...the luggage fell out of the bottom of the plane and was carried by a gust of wind to the tip of Spain where a genious scientist has just discovered the cure for amnesia! Unfortunatley before he had a chance to share his findings of the cure all four bags landed on his head leaving him with a severe case of amnesia causing him to forget everything! Now he is walking aroung Europe causing trouble and telling everyone his name is Mr. Rick Meyer. Because of this I am not allowed to travel between countries ruining my entire vacation!

Now it is your turn! BE CREATIVE, and the most interesting scenario will get a reward when we return to school in the fall. Parents and teachers may participate, may the best story win!

It’s past my bedtime…

….and I can’t sleep. But that’s okay; this plane shows movies on a big screen kind of like a movie theatre, as we took off they showed “Just Go With It.”

About a half hour into the flight the Pilot came on the radio and told us that our flight pattern would take us from Detroit to Amsterdam and that we would pass over Quebec and England before landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

You should look at a map and draw a line that would copy my flight path to Europe!

I figure right now I am somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean and will be like that for a while. So far they fed us dinner and I was able to read the first four chapters of the “Hunger Games” book. If any of you are reading a good book you should leave me a comment with what you are reading. Don’t forget to read this summer and if you have not found a good book, read the Hunger Games with me! I would love to talk about it with you when we go back to school!

Everyone around me is sleeping and I am envious! Actually I don’t really like sleep, then I miss out on fun things that could be happening (at least that is what I am going to tell myself right now). For example we are going through a lot of turbulence right now. The plane is dipping down and shaking, I keep feeling my stomach drop like on a roller coaster.

Well the next time I write you I hope to have slept at least an hour and have great pictures from the start of my journey!

Goodnight all, I hope!

We Have Lift Off!

Goodbye ALL!

Off to Europe! When you are sleeping at 6 a.m. it will be noon in Italy and my vacation will officially begin.

We just boarded the plane and it is huge! I think it is incredible that something that big and heavy can FLY! Thank Orville and Wilbur Wright for inspiring that one.

I hope for two things on this flight: that I finish the book "The Hunger Games" or that I can fall asleep! (I doubt either will happen, the picture is from the GVSU trip I hope that is me on a few hours!).

Anyways we are taking off!

Goodbye AMERICA!

Ciao ;)

2 WEEKS in a BAG!!

2 DAYS until takeoff...

I finally did it. I am all packed and ready to go! I don't mean to brag or anything but I am pretty sure I beat the World Record... packed in less than 20 minutes! I am not going to lie. Although I am impressed by my own packing skills I am a little concerned I forgot something...

Oh Well!! Let's just stick with the fact that I packed for a two week vacation to EUROPE in under 20 minutes!

Can you believe that it all fit! Here are some highlights of what I have packed...

8 Pairs of Shorts
6 Pairs of Socks
4 Tank Tops
4 Polos
4 Books
3 Belts
2 Pairs of TOMS
1 Baseball glove

You might be wondering... Why are you bringing a Baseball glove!? Well, I'll have you know that right now your favorite teacher... yes that is ME!... is a League Champion with his summer softball league! I am going to Italy with my cousin who I play on the team with and we don't want to go two weeks without hitting a softball. Besides I am on a HOT STREAK right now (... any baseball fans out there...) I am 10 for 12 in my last three games! 

This is a picture of our tournament championship team from last year!

Anyways, I am relieved to finally be packed. Hope you are all enjoying your first week of summer! If you have any BIG vacation plans leave me a message! I'll write back to you when I have the chance.

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE and one of the two longest days of the year!

Why do they call it a PASSPORT!?

A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth. Most often, nationality and citizenship are congruent (bonus points in Math class for Mrs. Schultz or Ms. Rosinski if you can tell me what congruent means :) ). Basically, your passport proves to everyone else who you are like a birth certificate can prove when you were born.

A passport does not grant you access into other countries, it is merely used for identification. However the passport is used to grant you access back into the country that issued you the document.

BUT WHY DO THEY CALL IT A PASSPORT!?

(I'm so glad you asked... :) I'm kind of a nerd but one of my favorite classes in college was Linguistics and we studied the origin of words!)

The word PASSPORT has it's origins in France all the way back to the 1500s. When broken apart the word passport becomes the french verb passer (meaning: to pass)+ port (a place where ships load and unload). In that case the word literally means to pass through a port. Back in France in the 1500s there were no planes and the only way to travel overseas was by a boat. In this case everyone had to pass through a port if they were entering another country or returning home. The passport allowed officials in the home country to validate the individuals identification and allow them back into their country.

Inside each passport is the following page which states: "The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hinderance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection." The helps to tell other countries that the United States government believes that the person holding the passport should be able to pass freely. (The US will not issue a passport to those who have committed a crime or if they feel they will be a threat outside of their home country).



We still use passports the same way however most of us will not travel by boat. I will not be entering a port when I make it to Europe but this passport will be used as it has been by others for hundreds of years. I will carry it with me to each country I go and as I visit they will add a stamp to the booklet that says where I have been. I will update you as I move throughout Europe and show you the stamps that I have collected for each place that I have been.

Below is a picture of my passport.