Leaving Italy

I know it’s mid-March and I haven’t posted about things that happened from mid-November onward. The truth is, I was working on my thesis like a fiend during that time. I really didn’t do much at all! After that, I had about two weeks before my graduation and move back to America. I took a trip to Berlin, Venice and Bari (Italy) with one of my friends. Right before I left I went to Montepulciano with the Italian boy. Then it was back to America for Xmas and New Years.

Then, it was time to job hunt. Luckily I found something and am slowly replenishing my savings after spending a year without working full-time.

This pic is from a lake in the Como area of Italy… I actually have no idea where we were. I went out with my classmates after we graduated for a little tour of Lombardy and a “last group outing”. It was a fun time, and this pic makes me miss Italy. Boo hoo…

I promise I will write about my few other trips because I do have a good story for one of them. I’m also going to Indonesia in April and would like to blog about that trip. I’m really trying to get back in the swing of things. It’s taking a long time :/

On a side note, I started a work-related blog about random UI designs I find during my daily web surfing. Check it out!

Happy 6 month anniversary to me! I’ve been in Italy for half a year now and was thinking about what I expected when I first decided to move here. Obviously I wanted to study interaction design, but I had other goals as well. Here were my hopes and dreams when choosing a graduate school in the land of la dolce vita versus elsewhere:

1. Spend less hours working, more hours playing.
2. Travel as much as humanly possible
3. Learn Italian
4. Don’t get fat

Now let’s see what actually happened these past 6 months:

1. I work more now that I did in NYC. I go to school from around 9-5:30, then work at a dance studio from 6-10:30ish and get home around 11:30pm. LOOOOONG day, especially when I am not earning a salary and am flat broke!
2. Since I work so much during the week, the weekends are dedicated to more work, or just becoming a zombie until I have to work again. I started dating an Italian guy shortly after I arrived, and the weekends are the only time I see him. I have traveled some places…. like 4 places. Lamezilla.
3. Ahhh, Italian. So not happening. My NYC Italian tutor emailed me the other day and I left his message in my inbox for two weeks before responding- because I’ve learned so little Italian! My vocabulary is still awful and my grammar horrendous. I need to up the ante and seriously get back on the learning wagon…
4. The one goal that I actually achieved is not getting fat! SUCCESS!! I haven’t really curbed my eating habits and exercise far less than I did in NYC, but I actually dropped a size while binging on pizza and pasta daily. This is the best diet I’ve ever been on!

Looking on the bright side, I guess I can count my 6 months as a success since 1 of my 4 goals came true. Sheesh. And actually, even though I work all the time, I am meeting really interesting people. Going to work has saved me from being trapped in a school bubble, hanging out with students who only speak English, and working helps me learn Italian. There’s no better practice than having to answer a phone in a foreign language. (You don’t realize how useful the Italian word for G-string can be!)

So maybe my failures are actually positives. We’ll see what happens in another 6 months!

The notebook in question. Yes I know this picture is blurry; I still haven't figured out how to use my camera... I'm "special".

This is a picture of a notebook my friend gave me before I left for Italy. (Yes, I wanted an excuse to post a ridiculous photo of us. This is how we spend Saturday nights in NYC- we’re just that cool.)

She thought I could use a nice notebook at school, but in actuality she wanted me to do a favor for her while she was out of town. (I still love you, K!) Anyway, it was a nice gesture, and naturally I brought this notebook with me to Italy.

This notebook has been something of a curiosity at school. I have been asked if I speak Chinese by at least 6 different people, and 2 people have asked me if I AM Chinese. Cosa?!?

I didn’t realize having an Asian-style notebook with Chinese writing would throw people for such a loop. It’s giving me some fun ideas though. Like, if I come to school wearing the bindis my sister-in-law’s parents’ gave me, will people think I’m Indian? Or if I continually make enchiladas for lunch, will I be Mexican? And maybe if I come to school dressed like the cast of the Jersey Shore, can I pass for a real Italian?