Early Morning Thoughts

I'm sitting on my balcony right now. It's 3:30 in the morning and I cannot sleep. Inspiration always comes to people in the middle of the night, at least that's what I think, so I decided to write a blog post. I don't have a certain topic in mind, I'm just in the mood to write. So here it is.
I've been in Italy for almost four months. Wow has the time passed by. I feel like I've been gone from home forever, but I feel like I've been living here in Galatina for no time whatsoever. It's strange, the way time passes like that. I am almost half way through my exchange, I have learned so much, but I know I have so much more to learn in these next six months. And now here comes my random thoughts. It's strange. This whole thing. I decided to go live in a completely different country without any knowledge of the language, culture, or people. My parents agreed without much hesitation and sent me off on an airplane to figure it out. A random family agreed to let me stay in their home. They had no idea what kind of person I was, if we would get along, or if I would be happy with them. All they knew about me was what I wrote in a pretty generic profile of myself. So we met at the train station, they took me home with them, and we tried to figure each other out while trying to avoid the awkwardness that was inevitable. Now I've been living with this "random" family for nearly four months and they are starting to feel like my real family. We have inside jokes, they know what foods I do and do not like, we communicate in Engliano and they are accepting of my past and mistakes. After spending six more months with them, I can't even imagine how difficult it will be to leave. But that's the beauty of an exchange year. I get to experience a whole life in only one year. So far, I've definitely made a lot of new memories, friends and stories. But once again, it's bizarre to think about. These kids who have known each other for probably their whole lives meet this random American girl, decide they want to hang out with her even though she doesn't speak the same language as them and they get along great! Once again, the beauty of an exchange.
Another thing I love- I have met people from all over the world and learned so much about the world and many different cultures. The most interesting fact about that is the amount of studying I have done. Back home, I studied a lot. I got decently good grades and made the honor rolls. And yet, I knew absolutely nothing about the world. I couldn't have told you where Portugal was located, how the Italians eat their pizza, or which form of you (plural) the Australians use. In four months of living in Italy, I've barely studied because I'm not nearly advanced enough in Italian, yet I've learned so much more than I could ever have learned in school. I honestly believe that every teenager should experience an exchange, whether it be for six weeks, three months, or a year. A person learns so much more about the world when actually experiencing it rather than just reading about it from a textbook.
That's all that I've got for tonight. Have a great New Year's everybody, I know I will :)
Alison