Hi Listeners. I finally made it back home to Italy. To be able to travel I contacted the consulate and they sent me a form that I must complete for each flight. Because this form is written in Italian and it contains a lot of terminology that is not in my vocabulary I asked my Italian friend to help me.

I arrived at the airport but when I checked in they told me that I must complete 2 of their forms, which were identical except for a stamp in the corner. Then, when I arrived in Rome airport, they told me I must complete 2 of their forms, which were identical except for a stamp in the corner! When I arrived in my local airport, the same thing happened again. In total, I completed 8 forms, now all of the terminology is in my Italian vocabulary!

Hi Listeners. Today I have been doing lots of cooking. I have cooked enough food for three days. Usually I love cooking and I enjoy cooking every single evening however, in my current accommodation the kitchen is very simple which makes it quite difficult to make decent meals but worse than that there is no dishwasher! For me this has sucked the joy out of cooking (*). I despise washing dishes, once you have owned a dishwasher it is very difficult when you don’t have one! I told my husband that I am not completely sure whether I miss my dishwasher more or if I miss him more! He told me that he wished he was here to wash the dishes for me. I don’t know if he really meant that or if he just said it to make me feel better.

SUCKED THE JOY OUT OF SOMETHING - to cause something to no longer be enjoyable.

Hi Listeners. My husband came to visit me from work for one week. He is currently working in America. Although the borders are closed, because he has a special visa he is still able to fly. His boss was very concerned that if he flew to Europe he would not be able to return to America but my husband reassured him that he had all the correct documents and paperwork in order(*) to fly.

A few days ago we drove for two hours to the airport for my husband to return to work. We stopped outside and said our goodbyes and then I got back on the road (*). About half an hour later my husband called me to tell me I must return to collect him from the airport. The airline did not know that my husband was exempt from the travel ban so they would not let him board the plane! It was terrible, he was very worried that he would lose his job and he was not looking forward to having to call his boss and tell him. Fortunately this morning my husband was able to get on another flight with a different airline. We were both very very nervous but thankfully everything worked out OK (*).

IN ORDER - to be able to

GOT BACK ON THE ROAD - recommenced my journey.

WORKED OUT OK - at the end all the components of the situation became right and everything was ok.

Hi Listeners. This evening I video called my Italian friends. It is very important for me to talk to them frequently now because I have been away from Italy for a long time and I am afraid that my Italian will begin to suffer. I prefer to video call them than to voice call because it is much easier to understand when I can see people talking, the telephone is very difficult to understand Italian for me. It was so nice to talk to them, I am really missing my friends. In fact I am really missing everybody because I have been in self isolation for seven weeks with very little contact with anybody. I can’t wait (*) to be able to return to my home, even if I won’t be able to see my friends for another couple of weeks or go to my favourite restaurants for dinner.

CAN’T WAIT - I am so excited.

Hi Listeners. I usually run in the morning five days of the week. I didn’t bring very many running clothes to England with me and I don’t have a washing machine, therefore it is very difficult for me to run nearly every day. Because of this I am walking instead for three days of every week. Although I usually run a lot, I have not been hiking for one year and I am finding walking very tiring, more so than running! Fortunately the weather here has been beautiful which makes it much easier to find the motivation to exercise.

I am also staying in a very beautiful area. There are many country lanes, there is a golf course and there are many public footpath’s for me to explore. Sometimes I walk to the supermarket but I always buy too much and then I have to carry it home.

Hi Listeners. I am currently in the UK. I left Italy on the 9th of March to come to the UK for 5 days. Unfortunately as my plane took off, Italy went into lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, and I have been unable to return home since.

I have been staying in a very small and simple apartment for six weeks now. The internet here is not very good and the kitchen is very basic.

I miss my SmartTV, I miss my very comfortable sofa, I miss the very warm weather in the South of Italy and most of all I miss my husband.

My husband is at work in America. I am unable to visit him because of the travel restrictions.

• no idea - to really not know • stuff - things •

• doesn’t make sense - is a contradiction • either way - whichever

• in limbo - in undecided situation • mini-break - short vacation • gardener - someone who works in your garden •

• Looking forward to - to be excited about something in the future • consultation - a discussion between a client and an advisor • assignment - a long piece of written work for school, college or university