ACLE Summer- June

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Week 1 - San Remo, Liguria
Week 1 of my summer working for ACLE summer camps in Italy flew by. Orientation week took place in the beautiful seaside town of San Remo, near the French border. Arriving into San Remo we (myself and four Kiwis I met in Nice also working for ACLE) were greeted by the unnaturally enthusiastic and energetic returning tutors. The returning tutors all have past experience working with ACLE and possess the inhuman ability to recognise and greet us all by name from the passport photos we had sent with our application. As well as this they have inexhaustible levels of energy and a permanent smile engraved on their faces. I think ACLE has a secret lair somewhere where they genetically engineer these superhumans. The week was spent getting to know the 120 odd tutors from English speaking nations all over the world whilst learning about ACLE’s methods of teaching English. They have essentially waged war on the Italian education system and are trying to inject new ideas and methods into English language teaching in the country. The rest of the successful tutors and I are now part of the ACLE army. San Remo itself is a great town to have a wander around, especially the old city with its narrow criss-crossing streets and houses which date back over 1000 years.. Arrigo, the founder of ACLE, took us on an interesting and well informed tour one night before dinner. Each day was taken up with lessons and school visits from 8am-6pm with a shot break before we headed for dinner at 8pm. The long days meant sight-seeing was kept to a minimum, especially with the odd late night meaning free time became nap time. On Friday everybody was anxious as there were not enough camps starting to cater starting the following week to cater for everyone. The directors kept us in suspense the whole day before revealing who would be going to a camp and who would be going on hold. Those lucky enough to get camps were sent to every corner of the country, some even hopping on night trains to Calabria and Sicily. My journey was a mere 7hrs train journey to the small rural town of Breno, North of Brescia.

Week 2 - Breno, Lombardia
Until this year ACLE have run two types of camp. Summer (residential) and City (daytime) camps. This year, in order to promote ACLE in areas where they have no presence, they introduced half-day camps. Half-day camps run for about five hours in the morning with the afternoon and evening completely free. I was lucky enough to secure a half-day camp for my first week. Along with four other tutors - one Kiwi, one Canadian and two Americans - I was sent to a small town named Breno. Breno is placed, along with a few other towns, in a large valley surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The lakes on route to the town, and the mountains surrounding it provided the perfect setting for the week. The town itself is placed at the bottom of a large cliff on which stands an ancient castle. Italy was a good choice methinks. The camp director, Barbara, met us at the station and took us to our flat. Four of us stayed in the flat for the week while Mark was posted with a host family just outside the town. We were told by returning tutors that the host families are one of the highlights of the ACLE experience and on Sunday we found out just why. Mark’s family invited us all over for lunch traditional Italian style. The combination of breads, cheeses, pasta, potatoes and fresh fruit and veg make an Italian meal an epic experience. The fact that you cannot leave the table until you’ve eaten your fair share and more means there is no need to fear rudeness in taking an extra helping, or cutting another slice of cheese. It’s encouraged. Afterwards, Mark’s host father took us on a drive up through the mountains in his Land Rover. Four of us crammed into the back, with the younger son relegated to the boot. The road twisted and turned up the mountainside like tarmac spaghetti and it’s no wonder the area is a favorite of local motorbike enthusiasts. After the long ascent, and 20 minutes playing the snow which still survived at the very top, we descended through a forest and some old dirt roads. Of course this only one side of it. The camps usually take place in wealthier areas of the country though they cover almost everywhere. The host families differ greatly but most will take exceptionally good care of you. The kids in Breno were happy to be spending the last week of term in camp rather than in classes but as we only had a few hours with them every day it was a little too brief for our liking.

Week 3 - Rovellasca, Lombardia
Four of our original group were sent to Rovellasca, near Como, for our second camp. Myself and the three girls were all placed with host families this time, all within cycling distance of the school. The week turned out to be a bad one weather-wise which was disappointing from a teaching point of view as we couldn’t utilize the large park beside the school for games. My host family were still determined to pack in a few outings however. On the Saturday night we travelled to nearby Como for pizza and mini-golf. The pizza was excellent but the mini-golf ended somewhat prematurely when my host brother -for those of you that are familiar with golfing terms- followed through quite aggressively and connected with my host sisters head. Patched up in a nearby café, we called it a night. The days in Rovellasca were from 9-5 with an hour lunch spent in a gazebo set up in the town park. Every Italian town has some sort of a festival or celebration going on every week. We watched some folk singers in Saronno on the Thursday night and on Friday, my favourite made-up festival yet. The town park in Rovellasca was host to a spectacular joint celebration of cherries, Inter Milan and tango dancing… all in one. What a combination.

Week 4 - Rovello Porro, Lombardia
The following week was to be spent in the same school but in a separate camp. This time for the primary school. So, a change of camp, meant a change of host family. On Saturday, during a torrential downpour I suspect was the edge of the storm pounding Southern France all week, we made it to the school to meet our new families. Myself, Emily (United States) and Sophie (New Zealand) were to stay with families in the neighbouring town of Rovello Porro (still within cycling distance should the weather permit it). One of the families owned a pastry shop in the town so this stirred quite a bit of excitement amongst the group. I couldn’t have been happier with my family. The mother, Angela, spoke very good English. The father, Mauro, spoke none, yet we managed to have a conversation every day about the latest world cup results and news. It involved a lot of body language and facial expressions with the odd simple Italian or English word thrown in. The son, Luca was the image of Fernando Torres, and the daughter, Beatrice, was a sweetheart. All the Rovello families knew each other so we got together for a meal Saturday night and went bowling afterwards. It was all in good fun and we weren’t even keeping score… I did win though. On Sunday, the tutors travelled North towards Lake Maggiore for a day trip. The rain threatened all day but luckily a few light showers were all we got. We got a ferry to a town across the lake and wandered around the many exquisite villas you find in most lake regions of Italy. The school week got off to a better start with the return of the sunshine. It was my first week with kids of this age - 9-10 yr olds - and they were extremely lively, but good fun to teach.

Week 5 - Ponzano Veneto, Veneto
For week five our group of four was split in half with two of the girls heading for a small camp in Milano, while myself and one other were sent to Treviso, not far from Venice, to a 130 child camp. It was the first time the school of Ponzano had held a camp and so we weren’t quite sure what to expect as you don’t receive much information. At a connecting station we met three tutors coming from a camp in Milan which proved that this job isn’t always as perfect as it has been for me so far this summer. They were based over an hours commute from their camp in an apartment in Milan. The camp director was strict and controlling and even quite interfering. They argued with her a lot and incurred personal cost to stock the flat with essentials such as detergent and certain foods which should be provided. Our new camp was luckily the exact opposite. We were greeted by the two camp directors at the station where they gave each of us a present of a United Colours of Benneton bag. We discovered afterwards that a lot of the children attending camp have parents who work in the Bennetton headquarters based in the town. My host mother included. The company has given literally a truck-load of materials and presents for the kids in camp. We were amazed once again on Sunday when we met at one of the director’s homes and discovered how well organized the camp was. They had chosen and found various ways of using the theme of the World Cup for the camp, with each class adopting a country, flag and yellow and red cards for discipline. Lunch groups were also prepared as well as a large and motivated group of Italian speaking helpers. When a camp is this well planned it makes things much easier on the tutors. Myself and Keiran, an Australian tutor, cycled into Treviso that evening for a look around the town. We enjoyed sushi and Japanese beer while watching a bad Bob Dylan cover band in the city centre… not quite cherries, Inter Milan and tango, but it’ll do. One week in to this two week camp we’ve decided that getting lost is the only real way to get to know a city. We’ve enjoyed Treviso far more when we’ve lost our way, even if its seen us arriving home late into the night. On Saturday, we made the short journey to Venice to have a look around the famed city. The heat, as all week, was stifling. Watching the news I discovered that temperatures all over Italy were in the mid-thirties all week. You really feel it when you’re in a flat area like this. I’ll spare the clichéd Venice talk and just say that it was a nice day and somewhere I’d recommend if you’re in the area. Obviously it’s hard to get a real feel for the place when everybody around you is speaking English, German, or anything else but Italian and whilst you don’t have to worry about traffic, an even greater danger exists in somewhere so photographed. Americans get annoyed if you step in front of them as their friend is taking a 23rd picture of them in front of a gondola. I sometimes wonder how different things would be if people actually took a look at things before whipping out their camera and taking seven slightly different angled snaps of it.

That’s June over with anyway. In July many Italians go on holidays so the ACLE camp season slows down meaning I could be put on hold for a week or two. As I’m still in the North of the country I hope to visit Bologna to meet with a friend I was living with in Malta. After that, I’m not sure where my travels will take me. As things stand I’m in no rush home and really glad I took the chance in moving abroad for the summer. I’ve met some great people and hopefully there’s more of the same in store for July.

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