09-Jan-2006

Today our mission was to meet at 8am so that one of the program directors could show us how to take the bus and get to school. The students who live in the downtown are the furthest away from the campus and thus have the longest bus ride. We made it there a little after 8am and waited for Daniele, our favorite Italian boy thus far. Italians are definitely on a much more relaxed schedule, he made it by 8:30 and we headed to school.


close to home... Via Garibaldi

From 9:30am til 12:30pm we had to sit through orientation, which we thought would never end. Most of the information was valuable; it just seemed very long-winded. Then we met our teachers and broke for lunch. During this time, Casey and I decided to run to the mall to get some things done. We managed to get an important stamp we needed and get locked in the ATM room.. It was kind of freaky, but we made it out alive. Then we made it back to meet our Elementary Italian teachers. Our teacher is female and sort of acts like a headmistress, but not like the one from the movie Matilda. She is almost that scary but not quite. Who knows, its only been day number uno of school, there is much left to be decided.

bonjurno!

I've made it to Italy!! it was an amazing trip.. the plane ride was not fun, and very crowded, but we got here. oh man, this was quick. i've got to go to orientation!

ciao!

08-Jan-2006

Being well rested, I managed to be a bit friendlier than I was the previous evening with all of the other students. We got our roommate assignments and would soon be moving into our apartments for the next six months. I asked to live with Casey and Jeff so we naturally assumed there would be four students in our apt, on the contrary, there were six of us to be sharing a place. I knew one of the other guys was from Michigan Tech, Seth, but the last two I had not met. Turns out, one of them is a yearlong student, which will be a very good thing to have around. He doesn’t arrive until next week and his name is Brad. Jeff is the other student I did not know, he lives in Nevada and goes to school in Reno. He seems very nice and social; I think our house will get along fine. Seth and I hit it off faster than you could say “pasta.” Not just because he was from Michigan Tech and a snowboarder, but we think the same and just have personalities that are very similar.

Our apartment was not very far from the hotel we were staying in. Unfortunately, we had to carry our bags there. What a bum deal. Regardless, we made it and got all settled in. The bedrooms are good sized but the kitchen and bathroom is a wee bit on the small side. The big disappointment is that there isn’t a living room. Other than that, as soon as we can get our drain unclogged, we’ll be in good shape. Our landlord, Deborah, seems very nice and she’s even a travel agent. We are hoping she can get us some good deals to see some different sights and parts of Europe.

7-Jan-2006

Arrived in Paris at 9:30am to make a connecting flight to Torino. The Paris airport was not designed very well and pretty crowded. On top of that, our flight was delayed an hour which wasn’t much fun when we’d just gotten off an 8 hr flight. We just wanted to be done with flying. I am taking this trip with two of my friends, Casey and Jeff, and plan on meeting many more cool people.

While driving to our hotel from the Torino airport, we saw a lot of squatter settlements. That made me nervous, but there was also beautiful scenery. The mountains surround the Torino area and are just beautiful. I was disappointed that there was not any snow on the ground when I arrived. After all, with the winter Olympics on the way and being so close to the Alps, you would think that there would at least be some fluffy white stuff. We met the rest of the students studying in our program at the hotel and headed out for dinner. Carrying luggage was a rough time. I had just enough bags to have everything be really awkward. My snowboard bag through me off kilter and I managed to embarrass myself whenever I was carrying it.

Our first dining experience in Torino was interesting. The program covered the bill and we had a choice between pizza and pasta. I chose four-cheese (formaggi in Italian) pasta and it was good. I didn’t feel that the restaurant was overly generous with the sauce, but I managed.

After dinner our bodies were exhausted from the flight, so we headed back to the hotel and slept like logs. Sleep was a very good thing.


@ the airport

To Torino

Unwritten Lyrics

I Am Unwritten, Can't Read My Mind, I'm Undefined

I'm Just Beginning, The Pen's In My Hand, Ending Unplanned

Staring At The Blank Page Before You, Open Up The Dirty Window
Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That You Could Not Find
Reaching For Something In The Distance
So Close You Can Almost Taste It
Release Your Inhibitions

Feel The Rain On Your Skin
No One Else Can Feel It For You
Only You Can Let It In
No One Else, No One Else
Can Speak The Words On Your Lips
Drench Yourself In Words Unspoken
Live Your Life With Arms Wide Open
Today Is Where Your Book Begins
The Rest Is Still Unwritten

Oh, Oh

I Break Tradition, Sometimes My Tries, Are Outside The Lines (yeh yeh)
We've Been Conditioned To Not Make Mistakes, But I Can't Live That Way (oh oh)

Staring At The Blank Page Before You, Open Up The Dirty Window
Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That You Could Not Find
Reaching For Something In The Distance
So Close You Can Almost Taste It
Release Your inhibitions
Feel The Rain On Your Skin
No One Else Can Feel It For You
Only You Can Let It In
No One Else, No One Else
Can Speak The Words On Your Lips
Drench Yourself In Words Unspoken
Live Your Life With Arms Wide Open
Today Is Where Your Book Begins

The Rest Is Still Unwritten
The Rest Is Still Unwritten
The Rest Is Still Unwritten