That's the way it always works, doesn't it? At least for me. As soon as winter starts to wave hello, I'm going to want hot chocolate. I think the main difference between those two seasonal beverage cravings is that my title is in an iambic meter.
Sunday evening. Milan. Fashion week. What to do... what to do? FASHION SHOW! Yes folks, that's right. I went to a fashion show the other night. It was hosted by Vogue Italia (one of the top--if not THE top--fashion magazines in the world) and was the only free fashion show of all the big ones. There was a big stage set up in front of the Duomo, and there were benches set up like auditorium seating over half of it, splitting it longways. Important-looking people were allowed to sit down on the benches, and we, the unimportant public, were allowed to stand on the ground and look up at the stage. It was probably four or five feet above the ground. My friend Angela and I got there early and snatched some spots close to the front, and watched the lucky sitters find their seats. The stage was between the people sitting and the people standing, so we faced each other. People watching is really fun when you speculate what the heck people were thinking as they chose their sometimes crazy outfits for a high fashion show. The show was just what you would expect. Ten or fifteen models would walk across the stage and back, then the designer would come out and take a bow, and then the next set of models for the next designer. There were maybe six designers and the show lasted around 40 minutes.
Classes started Monday. I always have a little bit of a hard time getting into a school rhythm. I hate giving up the freedom of summer and having to show up at the same place at the same time week after week, and buckling down to do homework when I finally get time that I should have free. For some reason my Italian class didn't really feel like school. Oh, well. Mondays I am in a class on Leonardo da Vinci, who spent much of his career in Milan. I think it will be a good class. Most Wednesdays instead of class, we will be going around the city and seeing Leonardo's art. He has paintings around the city, and there is a whole museum dedicated to his science and technology ideas and inventions. Mid-October my second Italian class will be starting. There are going to be two teachers; one will be Manuela, who taught my first one, and the other is unknown. I'm pumped to have Manuela again. She's great. Tuesdays and Thursdays I am in a class on the history of Italian cinema, and how it influenced and was influenced by Hollywood, and a class on everything behind high fashion. Its history, philosophies on it, and marketing strategies employed to make people think they need it. We watched a movie the first day on Valentino, a major designer in days gone by, and towards the end of his career he had a major party. Ironically enough, at least a couple of the people shown at the party or interviewed were people that Angela and I saw at the show on Sunday! They sat front and center of the seated people, and we were center and nearly front of the standing people, and we noted that one woman was wearing a purple jumpsuit made of silk or something, and another wore big sunglasses during the whole show, and took them off when the show was over, which seemed like funny timing. Maybe it's her signature, because she also wore big sunglasses during the evening while indoors at Valentino's party.
In other news, I get to skype with my lovely sister soon and I'm PUMPED! Nothing like a little chat across thousands of miles.
That's all for tonight. Buona notte!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
A beginning, an ending, and the never-ending process
Let's start at the (very) beginning.
1. Name the movie and the character who...said...the above quote.
Classes commence on Monday. Being very on top of things in an Italian sort of way, the international office emailed me yesterday--Thursday--to let me know which classes I am registered for on Monday. Unfortunately, my level of Italian is not good enough for the class I was most excited about (think Italian language class + Italian cooking lessons with a famous Italian chef), so the international office threw that one out and registered me for a class I neither signed up for nor want. So I'll have to clear that up. Besides that, I'm excited to go start my semester!
The end of all things
2. Name the book (or movie) and the character. This one's a little tougher, huh?
My Italian class has ended. I took the final today. I was a little late for it, but I'll get to that story in a minute. Does it feel too soon for me to take a final, since I just wrote about taking a midterm? Yeah, I feel the same way, but take it I did. Speaking of the midterm, I got it back a couple days ago. I felt like I did pretty well on it, so I was eager to get it back. When I finally had it in my hands and looked at the 2 circled on top, I hoped the exam was not out of 100. It was not. The grading was as follows: 0-very bad, 1-pretty good, 2-very good. I didn't even know you could grade like that. I kind of what to become a teacher now just so I can get really creative with numbers and grading.
Never-Ending Story--I mean process
3. Name the mov... oh wait, I just did.
During orientation at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the people helping the international students explained that we would all need to apply for a permit of stay. They even had a session the next day to help us fill out the long and very complicated paperwork, and told us we had to just turn it in to the post office. Just turn it in... yeah right. I went to the post office at the same time as one other girl, and we were there for almost an hour. We waited to be helped and then my number was called to counter number 2. At counter number 2 was Santa Clause minus the coat, hat, and presents. He hums more in real life than in all the movies. Okay, okay, it wasn't Santa Clause, it was just a jolly look-alike. What really clued me in was the fact that this guy moved way too slowly to be able to make presents for every kid in the world in a year, even if he did have elves to help. Anyway, I thought I would be done with the application after turning it in. Nope. Santa set up an appointment for me at the police station to finish the process. The appointment, as it turns out, was for today. The same day as my final exam. I told my teacher, and she said I could come late and stay late if I needed to, but since my appointment was set for an hour before the exam and the police station is about a ten minute walk from the school, I was hoping I would not be too late. Foolish thinking. I showed up early (Dad, are you proud of me?), let them know I was there, and sat down to wait with several other people. About an hour later I called my friend to ask her to tell the teacher I would certainly be late, but didn't know exactly how late. It was hard to tell since I was not able to track any progress. I spoke slowly and annunciated clearly when I said, "Niki, can you please tell our professor that I will be late to our final exam? I'm waiting at the police station. My appointment was for an hour ago, and I don't know when they will be able to see me." Figured it couldn't hurt. You never know if an English-speaker with some influence is within earshot. Shortly after that I was called into the office, where the woman told me that they could not process my paperwork today, so I should come back for another appointment on October 15th. Yippee.
In other news, fashion week is starting in Milan, and there are lots of tall skinny people wearing cool clothes walking around the city. As I walked with my friend down the street, we passed in front of a large building, and lots of important looking people were in front of it, apparently waiting for one or more vehicles to pull up. There were the people who looked important because they were wearing fancy suits, and the people who were wearing casual clothes but looked important because they had laminated badges hanging from their necks. There was a section designated for the press, and there were some expensive cameras in that section, lemme tell ya! I wonder what was going on there, and who they were waiting for.
Oh, man. It's raining outside and now my ceiling is leaking. Drops are unrhythmically slapping the tile floor. I guess the only thing to do in this moment is to put a bucket under it and go make some tea.
1. Name the movie and the character who...said...the above quote.
Classes commence on Monday. Being very on top of things in an Italian sort of way, the international office emailed me yesterday--Thursday--to let me know which classes I am registered for on Monday. Unfortunately, my level of Italian is not good enough for the class I was most excited about (think Italian language class + Italian cooking lessons with a famous Italian chef), so the international office threw that one out and registered me for a class I neither signed up for nor want. So I'll have to clear that up. Besides that, I'm excited to go start my semester!
The end of all things
2. Name the book (or movie) and the character. This one's a little tougher, huh?
My Italian class has ended. I took the final today. I was a little late for it, but I'll get to that story in a minute. Does it feel too soon for me to take a final, since I just wrote about taking a midterm? Yeah, I feel the same way, but take it I did. Speaking of the midterm, I got it back a couple days ago. I felt like I did pretty well on it, so I was eager to get it back. When I finally had it in my hands and looked at the 2 circled on top, I hoped the exam was not out of 100. It was not. The grading was as follows: 0-very bad, 1-pretty good, 2-very good. I didn't even know you could grade like that. I kind of what to become a teacher now just so I can get really creative with numbers and grading.
Never-Ending Story--I mean process
3. Name the mov... oh wait, I just did.
During orientation at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the people helping the international students explained that we would all need to apply for a permit of stay. They even had a session the next day to help us fill out the long and very complicated paperwork, and told us we had to just turn it in to the post office. Just turn it in... yeah right. I went to the post office at the same time as one other girl, and we were there for almost an hour. We waited to be helped and then my number was called to counter number 2. At counter number 2 was Santa Clause minus the coat, hat, and presents. He hums more in real life than in all the movies. Okay, okay, it wasn't Santa Clause, it was just a jolly look-alike. What really clued me in was the fact that this guy moved way too slowly to be able to make presents for every kid in the world in a year, even if he did have elves to help. Anyway, I thought I would be done with the application after turning it in. Nope. Santa set up an appointment for me at the police station to finish the process. The appointment, as it turns out, was for today. The same day as my final exam. I told my teacher, and she said I could come late and stay late if I needed to, but since my appointment was set for an hour before the exam and the police station is about a ten minute walk from the school, I was hoping I would not be too late. Foolish thinking. I showed up early (Dad, are you proud of me?), let them know I was there, and sat down to wait with several other people. About an hour later I called my friend to ask her to tell the teacher I would certainly be late, but didn't know exactly how late. It was hard to tell since I was not able to track any progress. I spoke slowly and annunciated clearly when I said, "Niki, can you please tell our professor that I will be late to our final exam? I'm waiting at the police station. My appointment was for an hour ago, and I don't know when they will be able to see me." Figured it couldn't hurt. You never know if an English-speaker with some influence is within earshot. Shortly after that I was called into the office, where the woman told me that they could not process my paperwork today, so I should come back for another appointment on October 15th. Yippee.
In other news, fashion week is starting in Milan, and there are lots of tall skinny people wearing cool clothes walking around the city. As I walked with my friend down the street, we passed in front of a large building, and lots of important looking people were in front of it, apparently waiting for one or more vehicles to pull up. There were the people who looked important because they were wearing fancy suits, and the people who were wearing casual clothes but looked important because they had laminated badges hanging from their necks. There was a section designated for the press, and there were some expensive cameras in that section, lemme tell ya! I wonder what was going on there, and who they were waiting for.
Oh, man. It's raining outside and now my ceiling is leaking. Drops are unrhythmically slapping the tile floor. I guess the only thing to do in this moment is to put a bucket under it and go make some tea.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Traveling here, traveling there... Angela's traveling everywhere!
While I was living with my lovely relatives in beautiful Liguria (the region of Italy that contains Genoa, Chiavari, and Cinqueterre, for those of you "in the know"), I traveled quite a bit around Italy. Joshua and I visited Florence with my cousin Tomaso and his girlfriend Laura, we explored Venice by ourselves, and experienced Rome with Tomaso. We also saw the area around where we stayed. Joshua and I headed out to Cinqueterre for a day to hike through the five towns strung out along the Mediterranean coast, and we saw Zoagli and Rapalla. I'm feelin' pretty good about seeing Italy. Now to expand my horizons a little bit...
The first weekend in October I'm off to Germany; Oktoberfest, here I come! One of the international student groups at my university here planned a trip which involves leaving Friday night, arriving in Munich Saturday morning, leaving Munich late Saturday night, and being back in Milan by Sunday morning. Whew! Long story short, I'm going to Germany for a day for 36 euro! Pretty excited about that.
At some point in October, I'm back to Chiavari for an olive-picking weekend with the relatives! I can't wait. We will harvest the olives that grow in their very own olive grove, and then send off the olives to be made into olive oil. Honestly, how cool is that? They get olive oil made from what they've grown and picked themselves. And this year I get to be part of it!
I've been to Rome, as you know. Tell me, what would bring a nice historical balance? Let's see... "the ______s and the Romans"... If you just shouted "Greeks!" in your mind, you are correct! This November I'm jetting off to Athens with some friends during fall break. I'll be honest: when I came to Italy, I never thought of taking a trip to Greece, but now I feel a dramatic rush of excitement in my stomach whenever I think about it!
Later on in November or December, I'll fly away to a city lit with enchantment and laced with romance... Paris! There some starlit evening, I'm going to meet my beautiful friend Rebecca, who is spending the semester studying in Northern Ireland, and my lovely friend Marie, who is teaching English in Spain this year. We have been eagerly anticipating this reunion since before we were even apart. (We shared an apartment in Chicago last school year.)
Holy smokes, this sounds like SO much traveling! I guess I've never looked at it all at one time before; it seems a little different when it's spread out over five months. I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have while I'm here. In one year, will I be able to hop on a plane to Athens for a nice little trip? Heck no! Now's my only chance!
Tomorrow I get to go to the police station for the next step in the process of applying for a permit of stay. So laborious and confusing! I spent way too long filling out the ridiculously complicated paperwork before spending a tragic amount of time at the post office, where I had to turn it in. I foolishly thought I would be done when I turned all my paperwork in, but no. I need to go in tomorrow. My friend went today and it took three hours. Hopefully since she was in a different city, it won't be the same. It would be great if Milan processed people faster, especially because after my appointment, I have to take the final exam of my Italian language class! Speaking of which, I should really go study more and then get to sleep. Good luck, me!
P.S. Soon I'll try to figure out how to post pictures. I don't see anything that seems easy right now.
The first weekend in October I'm off to Germany; Oktoberfest, here I come! One of the international student groups at my university here planned a trip which involves leaving Friday night, arriving in Munich Saturday morning, leaving Munich late Saturday night, and being back in Milan by Sunday morning. Whew! Long story short, I'm going to Germany for a day for 36 euro! Pretty excited about that.
At some point in October, I'm back to Chiavari for an olive-picking weekend with the relatives! I can't wait. We will harvest the olives that grow in their very own olive grove, and then send off the olives to be made into olive oil. Honestly, how cool is that? They get olive oil made from what they've grown and picked themselves. And this year I get to be part of it!
I've been to Rome, as you know. Tell me, what would bring a nice historical balance? Let's see... "the ______s and the Romans"... If you just shouted "Greeks!" in your mind, you are correct! This November I'm jetting off to Athens with some friends during fall break. I'll be honest: when I came to Italy, I never thought of taking a trip to Greece, but now I feel a dramatic rush of excitement in my stomach whenever I think about it!
Later on in November or December, I'll fly away to a city lit with enchantment and laced with romance... Paris! There some starlit evening, I'm going to meet my beautiful friend Rebecca, who is spending the semester studying in Northern Ireland, and my lovely friend Marie, who is teaching English in Spain this year. We have been eagerly anticipating this reunion since before we were even apart. (We shared an apartment in Chicago last school year.)
Holy smokes, this sounds like SO much traveling! I guess I've never looked at it all at one time before; it seems a little different when it's spread out over five months. I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have while I'm here. In one year, will I be able to hop on a plane to Athens for a nice little trip? Heck no! Now's my only chance!
Tomorrow I get to go to the police station for the next step in the process of applying for a permit of stay. So laborious and confusing! I spent way too long filling out the ridiculously complicated paperwork before spending a tragic amount of time at the post office, where I had to turn it in. I foolishly thought I would be done when I turned all my paperwork in, but no. I need to go in tomorrow. My friend went today and it took three hours. Hopefully since she was in a different city, it won't be the same. It would be great if Milan processed people faster, especially because after my appointment, I have to take the final exam of my Italian language class! Speaking of which, I should really go study more and then get to sleep. Good luck, me!
P.S. Soon I'll try to figure out how to post pictures. I don't see anything that seems easy right now.
Friday, September 17, 2010
First work, then play
Can an exam rightfully be called a midterm if it is after only one week of class? Apparently, yes. This morning I had a midterm for my Italian class. Pretty sure I owned it. The hardest part for me is listening comprehension, which is kind of funny because I'm naturally an auditory learner, and I've been in this country listening to the flow of the language for a month and a half. We'll see how I did sometime soon, I hope.
This afternoon, a few friends and I headed over to the Milano Film Festival and watched two groups of short films. Some were funny, some were sad, most were just plain confusing. Well, not plain confusing--artistic confusing, if you know what I mean. A couple were in English with Italian subtitles, a few were in Italian with English subtitles, and several were in different languages with both English and Italian subtitles. One of my favorite parts of the experience was after one short film about a father and a son going fishing on a lake. There seemed to be one story being told by the voice-over, and a similar--but different--story being acted out alongside the voice-over. Maybe the young man killed his father at the end, I don't know. Nothing was very clear. The director came up at the end and said how the main theme of the movie was about how when a boy grows up, he reaches a point when he has to resist the authority of his father. After this "war" the boy is free to become mature and grow into a man. He spoke in English because his Italian was not very good, and someone translated for him. He asked if anyone had any questions, and a woman near the back stood up and asked a question in Italian. I couldn't be sure, in fact I was nearly certain that I had misunderstood, but I thought that in the woman's question there was something about speaking and cats. My suspicion grew stronger during the pregnant pause as everyone turned to the stage to see the response and the interpreter hesitated, not knowing what to say. Finally the director apologized for not understanding Italian, and the woman repeated her question in heavily accented English. Yes. It was indeed something about speaking and cats. The director started to explain how he did not like to use dialogue very much in his film and the woman cut him off to bring the conversation back to the cats speaking. Heads in the audience swiveled back and forth as the silence grew and everyone wondered how the director would respond. "I'm sorry... I don't know what cats you're talking about..." he stammered. The woman just repeated her question, repeating "the cats, the cats!" a couple times. The swiveling heads stopped swiveling as people began to feel awkward looking at the director or the questioner. There was another woman on stage, a mediator or MC of sorts. She broke into what was becoming the third uncomfortable pause, thanked the director for his film, and started the applause to accompany them offstage. As far as I could tell, the woman in the audience was entirely genuine in her question about the cats. Maybe she was referring to a different movie she thought he also directed or something. All I know is nobody knew what the heck was going on, and the confusion and awkwardness in the room was so thick I could've cut it with a knife. I felt a little bad for the director, but holy smokes--it was hilarious.
This afternoon, a few friends and I headed over to the Milano Film Festival and watched two groups of short films. Some were funny, some were sad, most were just plain confusing. Well, not plain confusing--artistic confusing, if you know what I mean. A couple were in English with Italian subtitles, a few were in Italian with English subtitles, and several were in different languages with both English and Italian subtitles. One of my favorite parts of the experience was after one short film about a father and a son going fishing on a lake. There seemed to be one story being told by the voice-over, and a similar--but different--story being acted out alongside the voice-over. Maybe the young man killed his father at the end, I don't know. Nothing was very clear. The director came up at the end and said how the main theme of the movie was about how when a boy grows up, he reaches a point when he has to resist the authority of his father. After this "war" the boy is free to become mature and grow into a man. He spoke in English because his Italian was not very good, and someone translated for him. He asked if anyone had any questions, and a woman near the back stood up and asked a question in Italian. I couldn't be sure, in fact I was nearly certain that I had misunderstood, but I thought that in the woman's question there was something about speaking and cats. My suspicion grew stronger during the pregnant pause as everyone turned to the stage to see the response and the interpreter hesitated, not knowing what to say. Finally the director apologized for not understanding Italian, and the woman repeated her question in heavily accented English. Yes. It was indeed something about speaking and cats. The director started to explain how he did not like to use dialogue very much in his film and the woman cut him off to bring the conversation back to the cats speaking. Heads in the audience swiveled back and forth as the silence grew and everyone wondered how the director would respond. "I'm sorry... I don't know what cats you're talking about..." he stammered. The woman just repeated her question, repeating "the cats, the cats!" a couple times. The swiveling heads stopped swiveling as people began to feel awkward looking at the director or the questioner. There was another woman on stage, a mediator or MC of sorts. She broke into what was becoming the third uncomfortable pause, thanked the director for his film, and started the applause to accompany them offstage. As far as I could tell, the woman in the audience was entirely genuine in her question about the cats. Maybe she was referring to a different movie she thought he also directed or something. All I know is nobody knew what the heck was going on, and the confusion and awkwardness in the room was so thick I could've cut it with a knife. I felt a little bad for the director, but holy smokes--it was hilarious.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Hooray for new things!
First things first. I am staying in the beginner-est language class. I spoke to my professor, as I mentioned before, and she spoke to the professor of the other class, and then we re-spoke. (Does anyone reading this like making up words as much as I do?) The conclusion: without having studied Italian before, the accelerated class would probably move too quickly for me, so I am staying in the slower class. My professor offered to provide me with extra worksheets and exercises that are a little bit harder than the rest of the class will get, and correct any writing in Italian I feel like doing. It's very nice of her to give herself the extra work so that I don't feel like I'm not getting as much out of the class as I could be. And this way I am able to help the other students in my class, which I like because 1) I generously enjoy helping people, and 2) I selfishly enjoy feeling smart. Call me crazy for that second one.
The new things...
I got an Italian cell phone! The school sets up an account with a phone company over here to make it as easy as possible for international students. Unfortunately, I cannot make calls from my phone. When I try, I hear a recorded woman's voice throwing Italian words at me as fast as possible. Now I get to back to the phone store, wait in line again, and try to communicate enough to have them fix whatever is going wrong. So much for easy.
Also along the communication lines, I bought a headset. Yup, that's headphones and a microphone, so for those of you who have skype... Just wanted to throw that out there.
New roommate! When I arrived at my apartment, the person who brought me said my (unspecified number of) roommates would be arriving probably in a week or two. With no word or notice after that, someone walked into my apartment through the door I had locked and plopped her stuff down on the floor. I showed her around, we discovered her key to the front gate did not work, and she chose a bed in which to sleep off her jetlag. And then there were two. I guess we'll see how many more saunter into my--our--apartment in the next few days/weeks.
Tomorrow is a long class day. Normally class is from 9:30-11:00, and then 11:30-1:00. Tomorrow we're tacking on a 2:30-4:00 session, and then some students from my class and I are grabbing dinner with a couple native Italian speakers (friends of one girl's host family) to practice Italian and study for our midterm exam on Friday. Whew! I have a feeling I'll be using that handy-dandy Italian-English dictionary I bought today. (Another new thing!)
I am happy to say that I am getting to know some of the people here better. There are some friendly and interesting girls who seem to be as happy to spend time with me as I am to spend time with them, and I've stopped having to exchange names with people that I'd already met before. Some of you reading this may know that I believe I have "one of those faces." People are constantly telling me that I look exactly like their best friend, cousin, or famous person. Last night a couple girls I had talked with two or three times bestowed upon me the knowledge that I looked "SO much like" a girl they knew from home. Except, they clarified, she was a "Jesus freak." I smiled big; I have more in common with that girl than they realized.
They'll catch on.
The new things...
I got an Italian cell phone! The school sets up an account with a phone company over here to make it as easy as possible for international students. Unfortunately, I cannot make calls from my phone. When I try, I hear a recorded woman's voice throwing Italian words at me as fast as possible. Now I get to back to the phone store, wait in line again, and try to communicate enough to have them fix whatever is going wrong. So much for easy.
Also along the communication lines, I bought a headset. Yup, that's headphones and a microphone, so for those of you who have skype... Just wanted to throw that out there.
New roommate! When I arrived at my apartment, the person who brought me said my (unspecified number of) roommates would be arriving probably in a week or two. With no word or notice after that, someone walked into my apartment through the door I had locked and plopped her stuff down on the floor. I showed her around, we discovered her key to the front gate did not work, and she chose a bed in which to sleep off her jetlag. And then there were two. I guess we'll see how many more saunter into my--our--apartment in the next few days/weeks.
Tomorrow is a long class day. Normally class is from 9:30-11:00, and then 11:30-1:00. Tomorrow we're tacking on a 2:30-4:00 session, and then some students from my class and I are grabbing dinner with a couple native Italian speakers (friends of one girl's host family) to practice Italian and study for our midterm exam on Friday. Whew! I have a feeling I'll be using that handy-dandy Italian-English dictionary I bought today. (Another new thing!)
I am happy to say that I am getting to know some of the people here better. There are some friendly and interesting girls who seem to be as happy to spend time with me as I am to spend time with them, and I've stopped having to exchange names with people that I'd already met before. Some of you reading this may know that I believe I have "one of those faces." People are constantly telling me that I look exactly like their best friend, cousin, or famous person. Last night a couple girls I had talked with two or three times bestowed upon me the knowledge that I looked "SO much like" a girl they knew from home. Except, they clarified, she was a "Jesus freak." I smiled big; I have more in common with that girl than they realized.
They'll catch on.
Friday, September 10, 2010
2 days of class. Yeah, I speak Italian.
Two days of class down, two weeks to go until regular semester courses begin. I spent a little time looking at an Italian language textbook before I came to Italy, I've been here hearing the language for a month, and I speak a little Spanish, which helps. In short, the class has been easy for me thus far. Almost too easy. I spoke to the professor after class today and I'll go to this class on Monday and then we'll talk about possibly moving me up to the accelerated beginner's class for Tuesday. For a class that's less than two and a half weeks long, I don't really want to take too long before switching. So--by Tuesday I'll know whether or not I'll switch.
Last night was "Vogue's Fashion Night Out" in Milan. Shopping centers and big shopping streets were packed and the fancy-schmancy stores stayed open very late and held special deals. A group of us dressed up and went to be a part of the excitement. We walked for a ways, and the first store we entered had a famous (not to me--I don't remember her name) designer who signed some t-shirts and was surrounded by people packing in to buy a t-shirt or get a closer look at her. We spent a few minutes watching, grabbed a free mini-sandwich, and continued on our way. We spent the more time at Mac makeup than anywhere else. They had employees ready to do some free makeup on people, so a few of us took advantage of the opportunity. I told the artist to do whatever she wanted with my eyes, figuring she knew better than I what would look good. I chose... wisely. I had no idea purple and green could be used together so tastefully. I looked pretty and dramatic by the time she was done. Only a couple people could go at a time, so while we waited, the rest of us enjoyed complimentary glasses of white wine, and some cookies served by a model. The model was wearing gold-accented makeup, and her eyelashes were curled the wrong way! So weird. Instead of curling up towards her eyebrows, they were curled down over here eyes and the tips had gold mascara on them. It was kind of riveting. I wonder how much it impaired her vision. We also visited Ralph Lauren, the house of Armani, and Prada, to name a few in the "Golden Quarter." Most of the big name stores had servers walking around with trays offering people complimentary drinks. I think this should be done where I shop in the US; I bet people would start viewing Goodwill differently.
Some observations about Italy:
1) The birds have good aim. While looking out over the sea from a Portofino vantage point with Gloria, Luke, Joshua, and some Italian relatives--Irene, Tomaso, and Giovanni--BAM! Right on my head, in my hair. While walking in Venice with Joshua, BAM! Hair again. Double points for the bird, though, because he also managed to get Joshua's arm. While walking to my Milano apartment today, bam. (<--that one is smaller.) This one needs to practice more because he misjudged my walking speed and just missed my head. Actually caught the heel of my flip-flop as I was stepping on the ball of my foot. What are the odds?
2) Every region has so much regional pride. They say, "Well, in THIS region, we do/say/eat this. It's very particular to this city/area/region." Very cool, but occasionally I question it. Really? Is saying "allora..." during any pause in the conversation or before you start to speak really particular to the speech patterns of people in this city? Because that has been very common in every city I've been to in Italy. Hmm.
3) Nothing can get in the way of true love. Especially not age differences. 'Nuff said.
NOTE: I'M SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION THIS LAST OBSERVATION MAY HAVE CAUSED. I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH ANYONE IN ITALY. THE AGE DIFFERENCE IS ONLY UNIMPORTANT IN THE MINDS OF MEN OF DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT AGES THAN ME. THE FOLLOWING STORY IS AN EXAMPLE.
Which reminds me... After a confusing visit to the bank yesterday, I stopped back in today to tell them that I would actually not be opening an account there. The man I spoke with yesterday looked disappointed but was quick to tell me how nice it was to meet me. The bank teller (who unlocked the door specially for me since I arrived before they opened for the afternoon) abandoned his desk to come talk. When he heard the news, he sounded a pained "Ohh..." and pretended to pull out his hair. I'm sure they do that for everyone, though.
And starting tomorrow--my first weekend in Milano!
Last night was "Vogue's Fashion Night Out" in Milan. Shopping centers and big shopping streets were packed and the fancy-schmancy stores stayed open very late and held special deals. A group of us dressed up and went to be a part of the excitement. We walked for a ways, and the first store we entered had a famous (not to me--I don't remember her name) designer who signed some t-shirts and was surrounded by people packing in to buy a t-shirt or get a closer look at her. We spent a few minutes watching, grabbed a free mini-sandwich, and continued on our way. We spent the more time at Mac makeup than anywhere else. They had employees ready to do some free makeup on people, so a few of us took advantage of the opportunity. I told the artist to do whatever she wanted with my eyes, figuring she knew better than I what would look good. I chose... wisely. I had no idea purple and green could be used together so tastefully. I looked pretty and dramatic by the time she was done. Only a couple people could go at a time, so while we waited, the rest of us enjoyed complimentary glasses of white wine, and some cookies served by a model. The model was wearing gold-accented makeup, and her eyelashes were curled the wrong way! So weird. Instead of curling up towards her eyebrows, they were curled down over here eyes and the tips had gold mascara on them. It was kind of riveting. I wonder how much it impaired her vision. We also visited Ralph Lauren, the house of Armani, and Prada, to name a few in the "Golden Quarter." Most of the big name stores had servers walking around with trays offering people complimentary drinks. I think this should be done where I shop in the US; I bet people would start viewing Goodwill differently.
Some observations about Italy:
1) The birds have good aim. While looking out over the sea from a Portofino vantage point with Gloria, Luke, Joshua, and some Italian relatives--Irene, Tomaso, and Giovanni--BAM! Right on my head, in my hair. While walking in Venice with Joshua, BAM! Hair again. Double points for the bird, though, because he also managed to get Joshua's arm. While walking to my Milano apartment today, bam. (<--that one is smaller.) This one needs to practice more because he misjudged my walking speed and just missed my head. Actually caught the heel of my flip-flop as I was stepping on the ball of my foot. What are the odds?
2) Every region has so much regional pride. They say, "Well, in THIS region, we do/say/eat this. It's very particular to this city/area/region." Very cool, but occasionally I question it. Really? Is saying "allora..." during any pause in the conversation or before you start to speak really particular to the speech patterns of people in this city? Because that has been very common in every city I've been to in Italy. Hmm.
3) Nothing can get in the way of true love. Especially not age differences. 'Nuff said.
NOTE: I'M SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION THIS LAST OBSERVATION MAY HAVE CAUSED. I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH ANYONE IN ITALY. THE AGE DIFFERENCE IS ONLY UNIMPORTANT IN THE MINDS OF MEN OF DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT AGES THAN ME. THE FOLLOWING STORY IS AN EXAMPLE.
Which reminds me... After a confusing visit to the bank yesterday, I stopped back in today to tell them that I would actually not be opening an account there. The man I spoke with yesterday looked disappointed but was quick to tell me how nice it was to meet me. The bank teller (who unlocked the door specially for me since I arrived before they opened for the afternoon) abandoned his desk to come talk. When he heard the news, he sounded a pained "Ohh..." and pretended to pull out his hair. I'm sure they do that for everyone, though.
And starting tomorrow--my first weekend in Milano!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Orientation? Yes. Oriented? No.
Well, welcome to my blog. I hope it's easier to navigate than Milanese streets.
Today was orientation at my new university, and I am currently quite overwhelmed with everything. One thing I know for certain--the cappuccinos are good at a little place near at least on of the buildings of the university. I'm sure I'll know later if it's also close to other buildings. All the streets are curvy (to say the least!) so between the curves of the streets and turning onto other streets, I lose my sense of direction very quickly.
My first class starts Thursday morning, and it's going to be a few weeks of Italian. Four hours a day in class. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to being able to communicate better with people. Take today for instance...
I am sitting in my apartment as I write this, missing a free dinner and party. I know--when has that ever happened before? Well, my plan was to meet up with some girls and we would all travel there and back together. That way we would be in a group when we came back at night. However, due to a minor miscommunication and some majorly vague directions (can't blame the girl, she had only been to her apartment once) I spent an hour wandering down streets and asking strangers for directions, only to find once I arrived that they had already left. So, instead of voyaging forward alone, I came home. It seemed wiser and safer, but I am sad to be missing the chance to meet new people. Not to mention the free food. Really, the beginning of the year in a new place is a crucial time to meet people, because no one knows anyone yet, so everyone is open to making friends. As time passes, people find their circles and it becomes a lot harder to meet people. So tonight is a little bit of a bummer. Oh well--there will be more opportunities.
"The Man in the Brown Suit" by Agatha Christie is a book of which I am quite fond. At one point, a few characters are talking about traveling in Italy, and one woman says something along the lines of "When you ask for directions in Italy, instead of saying sensibly "first to the left, second to the right," the Italians poor out a flood of well-meaning directions you can't understand, and when you look at them blankly, they take you kindly by the hand and lead you there themselves." Well, when asking strangers for directions tonight, not once but twice did people kindly lead me at least most of the way there. I thought of the book and inwardly rejoiced.
I have not had to ask for very many directions in Italy up to this point because I have either been with Italian relatives or Joshua with a map, so we always knew pretty much where we were going. Now Joshua is in IL and my relatives are several cities away, and for these first few days at least I find myself, like Blanche DuBois, depending on "the kindness of strangers." Okay, okay, I'll tone down the literary references. But first--who can name that quote? Impress me!
That's the news for now. If at any point during the semester you feel I am not posting enough on my blog, just send me a kick-in-the-pants email or facebook message, and I'll step it up.
Ciao!
Today was orientation at my new university, and I am currently quite overwhelmed with everything. One thing I know for certain--the cappuccinos are good at a little place near at least on of the buildings of the university. I'm sure I'll know later if it's also close to other buildings. All the streets are curvy (to say the least!) so between the curves of the streets and turning onto other streets, I lose my sense of direction very quickly.
My first class starts Thursday morning, and it's going to be a few weeks of Italian. Four hours a day in class. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to being able to communicate better with people. Take today for instance...
I am sitting in my apartment as I write this, missing a free dinner and party. I know--when has that ever happened before? Well, my plan was to meet up with some girls and we would all travel there and back together. That way we would be in a group when we came back at night. However, due to a minor miscommunication and some majorly vague directions (can't blame the girl, she had only been to her apartment once) I spent an hour wandering down streets and asking strangers for directions, only to find once I arrived that they had already left. So, instead of voyaging forward alone, I came home. It seemed wiser and safer, but I am sad to be missing the chance to meet new people. Not to mention the free food. Really, the beginning of the year in a new place is a crucial time to meet people, because no one knows anyone yet, so everyone is open to making friends. As time passes, people find their circles and it becomes a lot harder to meet people. So tonight is a little bit of a bummer. Oh well--there will be more opportunities.
"The Man in the Brown Suit" by Agatha Christie is a book of which I am quite fond. At one point, a few characters are talking about traveling in Italy, and one woman says something along the lines of "When you ask for directions in Italy, instead of saying sensibly "first to the left, second to the right," the Italians poor out a flood of well-meaning directions you can't understand, and when you look at them blankly, they take you kindly by the hand and lead you there themselves." Well, when asking strangers for directions tonight, not once but twice did people kindly lead me at least most of the way there. I thought of the book and inwardly rejoiced.
I have not had to ask for very many directions in Italy up to this point because I have either been with Italian relatives or Joshua with a map, so we always knew pretty much where we were going. Now Joshua is in IL and my relatives are several cities away, and for these first few days at least I find myself, like Blanche DuBois, depending on "the kindness of strangers." Okay, okay, I'll tone down the literary references. But first--who can name that quote? Impress me!
That's the news for now. If at any point during the semester you feel I am not posting enough on my blog, just send me a kick-in-the-pants email or facebook message, and I'll step it up.
Ciao!
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