It's been a million years, but better late than never, right?
Here I am. After a pause of about a semester, I'm back to LJ. Idk when I'll be back after this, but I'm here for now, and that's what counts, right? As Tiffany keeps reminding me, I suck at updating. But I'm here, just in time for Christmas.
I'm not gonna bother trying to update the last semester, that's too long & boring. Anyone who cares has either been talking to me throughout the semester or is perfectly capable of sending me an email if they haven't. It's enough to say that I've had an AMAZING semester. I'm in Italy (with my boyfriend). How could it not be amazing? I've traveled to a BUNCH of different countries, gotten 10 different passport stamps (though I should've had more, stupid EU free movement nonesense), traveled all throughout Italy, bought some Italian clothes, purses, shoes, etc, eaten SO MUCH ITALIAN FOOD (I had lost weight, but that was from all the walking & I think my metabolism finally stabled out & I"ve gained most of it back...oh well, c'est la vie), taken a few classes here & there, and guess what? I'm only halfway done. My Italian is improving amazingly - I'm definitely not fluent by any means, but I can get the gist of what almost anyone says to me & if someone doesn't speak outrageously fast or about a topic that requires lots of VERY specific vocabulary (i.e. car parts or nuclear physics or something), I can hold my end of a conversation. It's nice to be able to say that I'm at the least minimaly proficient (probably cosi cosi (so-so) proficient). Oh yeah, and I'm here with my boyfriend and we travel together all the time. And he likes to travel as much as (if not more than) me. Yeah, sometimes I have some wishes about various things (like I wish my roommates & i had more in common or that they weren't disgusting & dirty, and I wish I had more girlfriends that I saw more often & hung out with more often, and I wish my closest friends in the world could all be here to share this amazing year with me - though Tiffany & Hillary are coming in March and I am SOOOOOOOO psyched about that visit I can't even put it into words - but on the whole my life is good. I'm really happy. Italy is amazing and I would not trade this experience for a million dollars (even though my bank account will balance out at about 0 when I get home).
Okay, enough randomness. Currently, what's happening in my life? My parents are here visiting. They got here Sunday, and after some initial confusion with the trains (their cell phone didn't work & they couldn't call me to tell me which train they were on & i couldn't meet htem at the train station & it was real dramatic for about an hour, but then they used a pay phone and all was well again), we just kinda hung out Sunday night & went out to dinner with Brad. Monday I took them on a "tour" of bologna, then we spent the afternoon apart (they needed a nap) & then we all met up again for dinner and gelato. Brad flew out early Tuesday morning to go home for Christmas, and my parents, sister, and I went to Florence for the day. Since my parents lived in Florence one summer 25 years ago, there was some reminscing to be done. They found their old apartment & their old favorite gelateria (it's still there...apparently it's THE gelateria to go to in town). Wednesday we went to Verona (a really pretty city that I like a lot) and saw Juliet's balcony (supposedly) & an old Roman amphitheater (basically a mini-Colosseum) & just wandered around & took the city in. Yesterday, Venice was on the agenda. I bought Brad a watercolor of the city for part of his Christmas present b/c he really likes them (when they're done correctly & of a good city). Today Dad & Megan tried to go to Pisa (apparently they got on the wrong train, ended up in a different city, and decided they were tired & just decided to come home...without seeing ANYthing at all...just trains & train stations for 6 hours ), and mom & i went shopping. I got a purse & a pair of slippers (our floors in the apartment are dirty & my old ones got really beaten up & gross-ized), and a few more Christmas presents. I'm about to go wrap the presents for my family and then head over to their hotel room (Megan's staying with me, but mom & dad have a hotel about 15 minutes away on foot) and then we'll head to dinner around 7:30.
Idk what's going on tomorrow, though Sunday evening we're going to Christmas Eve mass in the big church in the center of the city & then Christmas we're obviously doing the family thing. The morning of the 26th, we're heading to Naples via Rome for most of the day. Then, b/c we're staying in Naples, we're going back to Rome for one more day, but coming back at night to Naples. Then we'll "do" Naples for a little bit, and also see Pompeii/Vesuvius and maybe some other random coastal cities in the area. After that, they head to Paris & I come back to Bologna, where my old roomie Lisa Biddle will be in town for New Year's Eve. On the 2nd, Brad & I leave for Trieste (in far Eastern Italy), then to Ljubljiana (the capital of Slovenia) and Zagreb, Croatia - fun passport stamps, and something Brad really wanted to do. Plus, it's Croatia! (though I'd like to try to get back to a more island-y place in Croatia later b/c it's supposed to be beautiful....but not in the dead of winter). We get back to Bologna on the 6th, and classes start on the 8th. 3 more weeks of classes, then 1 of exams and then we're off to Spain/Portugal. Then the second semester starts. Then tiff & hill come about a month later, then April break for 2 weeks, then a class trip to Poland for one of my classes for a week, then another month of classes & I come home in early June. wow. This year has already flown by SO fast, I can't imagine how fast the rest of it is going to go either. It's so insane.
It's so weird having my family here. I'm noticing all sorts of different things. Like my dad always thinks he's right, even when he's not or even when he's saying something painfully obvious & he'll say it with an air of authority & intelligence like it's some great piece of wisdom he's imparting. I'm also noticing how condescending he can be to my mom, and it makes me angry. ATthe same time, I catch myself doing the same thing to her - yelling at her for no good reason b/c she's done something that's really not a big deal & was extremely well-intentioned. Idk. and Megan's been sick all week with some killer cold thing, so she's not always in the best mood, though she & I have had lots of fun - we've watched movies, we made Snickerdoodles last night, all sorts of stuff. It's just so weird to realize that here I'm like the adult in the situation b/c I'm supposed to know the most about Italy & how to do things & ask for things & where to get things & what to do & all that, and at the same time I'm just "a third adult" and Megan almost is too. The dynamics of our family are much different than before. It's just so weird to notice how different things are from how they used to be.
Anyway, I'm off to wrap presents. I promise it won't be this long until I post again, though idk when I will. Reminders & nagging are helpful and not ignored (even if nothing necessarily comes from them right away, it stay sin the back of my mind). I miss everyone and hope you all have an amazing Christmas & New Year's.
I'm not gonna bother trying to update the last semester, that's too long & boring. Anyone who cares has either been talking to me throughout the semester or is perfectly capable of sending me an email if they haven't. It's enough to say that I've had an AMAZING semester. I'm in Italy (with my boyfriend). How could it not be amazing? I've traveled to a BUNCH of different countries, gotten 10 different passport stamps (though I should've had more, stupid EU free movement nonesense), traveled all throughout Italy, bought some Italian clothes, purses, shoes, etc, eaten SO MUCH ITALIAN FOOD (I had lost weight, but that was from all the walking & I think my metabolism finally stabled out & I"ve gained most of it back...oh well, c'est la vie), taken a few classes here & there, and guess what? I'm only halfway done. My Italian is improving amazingly - I'm definitely not fluent by any means, but I can get the gist of what almost anyone says to me & if someone doesn't speak outrageously fast or about a topic that requires lots of VERY specific vocabulary (i.e. car parts or nuclear physics or something), I can hold my end of a conversation. It's nice to be able to say that I'm at the least minimaly proficient (probably cosi cosi (so-so) proficient). Oh yeah, and I'm here with my boyfriend and we travel together all the time. And he likes to travel as much as (if not more than) me. Yeah, sometimes I have some wishes about various things (like I wish my roommates & i had more in common or that they weren't disgusting & dirty, and I wish I had more girlfriends that I saw more often & hung out with more often, and I wish my closest friends in the world could all be here to share this amazing year with me - though Tiffany & Hillary are coming in March and I am SOOOOOOOO psyched about that visit I can't even put it into words - but on the whole my life is good. I'm really happy. Italy is amazing and I would not trade this experience for a million dollars (even though my bank account will balance out at about 0 when I get home).
Okay, enough randomness. Currently, what's happening in my life? My parents are here visiting. They got here Sunday, and after some initial confusion with the trains (their cell phone didn't work & they couldn't call me to tell me which train they were on & i couldn't meet htem at the train station & it was real dramatic for about an hour, but then they used a pay phone and all was well again), we just kinda hung out Sunday night & went out to dinner with Brad. Monday I took them on a "tour" of bologna, then we spent the afternoon apart (they needed a nap) & then we all met up again for dinner and gelato. Brad flew out early Tuesday morning to go home for Christmas, and my parents, sister, and I went to Florence for the day. Since my parents lived in Florence one summer 25 years ago, there was some reminscing to be done. They found their old apartment & their old favorite gelateria (it's still there...apparently it's THE gelateria to go to in town). Wednesday we went to Verona (a really pretty city that I like a lot) and saw Juliet's balcony (supposedly) & an old Roman amphitheater (basically a mini-Colosseum) & just wandered around & took the city in. Yesterday, Venice was on the agenda. I bought Brad a watercolor of the city for part of his Christmas present b/c he really likes them (when they're done correctly & of a good city). Today Dad & Megan tried to go to Pisa (apparently they got on the wrong train, ended up in a different city, and decided they were tired & just decided to come home...without seeing ANYthing at all...just trains & train stations for 6 hours ), and mom & i went shopping. I got a purse & a pair of slippers (our floors in the apartment are dirty & my old ones got really beaten up & gross-ized), and a few more Christmas presents. I'm about to go wrap the presents for my family and then head over to their hotel room (Megan's staying with me, but mom & dad have a hotel about 15 minutes away on foot) and then we'll head to dinner around 7:30.
Idk what's going on tomorrow, though Sunday evening we're going to Christmas Eve mass in the big church in the center of the city & then Christmas we're obviously doing the family thing. The morning of the 26th, we're heading to Naples via Rome for most of the day. Then, b/c we're staying in Naples, we're going back to Rome for one more day, but coming back at night to Naples. Then we'll "do" Naples for a little bit, and also see Pompeii/Vesuvius and maybe some other random coastal cities in the area. After that, they head to Paris & I come back to Bologna, where my old roomie Lisa Biddle will be in town for New Year's Eve. On the 2nd, Brad & I leave for Trieste (in far Eastern Italy), then to Ljubljiana (the capital of Slovenia) and Zagreb, Croatia - fun passport stamps, and something Brad really wanted to do. Plus, it's Croatia! (though I'd like to try to get back to a more island-y place in Croatia later b/c it's supposed to be beautiful....but not in the dead of winter). We get back to Bologna on the 6th, and classes start on the 8th. 3 more weeks of classes, then 1 of exams and then we're off to Spain/Portugal. Then the second semester starts. Then tiff & hill come about a month later, then April break for 2 weeks, then a class trip to Poland for one of my classes for a week, then another month of classes & I come home in early June. wow. This year has already flown by SO fast, I can't imagine how fast the rest of it is going to go either. It's so insane.
It's so weird having my family here. I'm noticing all sorts of different things. Like my dad always thinks he's right, even when he's not or even when he's saying something painfully obvious & he'll say it with an air of authority & intelligence like it's some great piece of wisdom he's imparting. I'm also noticing how condescending he can be to my mom, and it makes me angry. ATthe same time, I catch myself doing the same thing to her - yelling at her for no good reason b/c she's done something that's really not a big deal & was extremely well-intentioned. Idk. and Megan's been sick all week with some killer cold thing, so she's not always in the best mood, though she & I have had lots of fun - we've watched movies, we made Snickerdoodles last night, all sorts of stuff. It's just so weird to realize that here I'm like the adult in the situation b/c I'm supposed to know the most about Italy & how to do things & ask for things & where to get things & what to do & all that, and at the same time I'm just "a third adult" and Megan almost is too. The dynamics of our family are much different than before. It's just so weird to notice how different things are from how they used to be.
Anyway, I'm off to wrap presents. I promise it won't be this long until I post again, though idk when I will. Reminders & nagging are helpful and not ignored (even if nothing necessarily comes from them right away, it stay sin the back of my mind). I miss everyone and hope you all have an amazing Christmas & New Year's.