Packing List

Briefly, this is what I've packed so far:

clothes
towel
small but warm quilt
toiletries
stockpile of OTC medicines I may need
shoes
books
empty scrapbook

I wonder what I've forgotten? I haven't weighed my suitcases yet but they aren't completley full yet. If I didn't totally mistrust airlines I'd only bring a backpack as far as carry-ons go, but my mom thought it might be a good idea to bring a carry-on suitcase with things that I want on hand in case my luggage is delayed/lost - some clothes, etc. I don't wanna bring most of my OTC drugs though because I'll probably be under enough scrutiny w/my prescriptions.

I actually haven't taken packing very seriously - an hour here, an hour there. I can still function just fine w/o any of the things in the suitcases. I hope this doesn't mean I'm trying to throw crap in last-minute or that I find myself in Italy going "I don't have this, this, and that...and I really should have brought them." My biggest thing is being COLD...even in Berkeley I had 3 blankets, a quilt, and a comforter in my apartment!

The next thing I want to do is figure out how to transport mementos and whatnot because papers, posters, etc, don't travel so well in suitcases. Anyone have any suggestions?


PS - I think it's a no on the Vitamin Water. Too damn heavy. It's not like I'm going to Mexico or something.

RSV

I went to the doctor today because I have been sick since 01/01 and I figured that if something IS wrong with me, talking to a doctor that speaks really good English might be a smart thing to do while I can. Also, I don't want to fly while sick - the altitudes KILL your ears and wearing a mask will get me all SHUNNNNNNed and whatnot.

As it turns out I have an RSV and if you are a baby or elderly, it will make you super sick. Since I am a "young person" it just means I will be sick for at least two weeks - I will be flying while sick, it appears. The doctor gave me a prescription for an expectorant that "may cause dizziness or insomnia" and an inhaler for the wheezing and whatnot. The expectorant is working wonders and actually made me fall asleep. I haven't gone anywhere since then cause I figure driving while on that stuff isn't good. Though neither is driving while having a coughing fit and almost running over a skunk, either. Anyways I don't know if the inhaler works yet because I HATE using inhalers and I already feel a lot better just by using the expectorant (I hope I am spelling that correctly).

In other news that nobody cares about, I continued to pack today. Here's an interchange I had with a friend about bringing Vitamin Water:

me: i think id rather take vitamin water than picture frames
me: my mom would kill me if i tried to do that though
A: do they not sell vitamin water there?
A: ick
me: they do not
me: i researched this througly via wikipedia
me: coke bought Glaceau
A: interessant
me: yes
me: and they pretty much only distribute in america
me: i dont think there is a market for it in europe
A: true dat
me: i dont think they pay like a buck fifty for delicious sugary water
A: haha
A: yeah they just drink straight from the rivers and are like rawrrr nature

Also, I got three pieces of non-junk mail today: a reimbursment from Comcast, a card from my aunt, and the iTunes gift card I bought off a friend. He put those little Lisa Frank stickers all over the envelope, it totally made me smile! I am going to try and send all my friends postcards from Italy cause getting mail is always fun (sadly snail mail is more of a novelty than a form of communication for my generation) but I am probably going to spend a LOT of Euros to do so =/
Lastly, my grandmother sent me and my mom flowers =D

Choice 1 of a Million

So I've decided that I am probably not going to date or otherwise get romtntically involved with Italian guys while I'm abroad. The advice I've gotten from people and my personal boundaries and beliefs tell me that it's not really what I want. Guys are way different than they are here, and the entire guy-girl dynamic is different. I'm going to have enough to get used to. On top of that, foreign girls like me are apparently supposed to be "easy", so all in all it seems like more trouble than it's worth.

I don't want to go on this trip with a closed mind or anything like that, but I think it's good to know what I will stand up for before I go. If I can pinpoint a few core values and beliefs then I am hoping that I can let myself experience everything else without regret.

Sigh. There seems to be a fine line between playing it safe/not being open to things and compromising yourself.

I belong in Milano

A friend of mine is studying in Bologna and she took a trip to Milano recently. I have decided that that city is where, out of all of Italy, I truly belong...sigh. Think the EAP guys will switch me? HAHA

The streets of MILAN

The xmas lighting in MILAN

The beautiful architecture and people of MILANO

random panic-inducing thought of the night

How do I file and pay taxes from abroad??



Why don't they tell you that kind of crap in the UOEAP giant handbook thing? it seems much more important to me than telling me how to access telebears (ie do the same thing you ALWAYS do)......

Good news!

According to my BPSA General Orientation Guide, writing about my experiences in Italy and once I get back will help me cope with "culture shock".

I love how they explain culture shock in great detail (even including a letter from a school psychologist) in this thing, as if we don't know what it is and have never experienced it before. I have mild symptoms EVERY TIME I move back home or back to Berkeley (I usually need 3 weeks).

And um....moving to a city of 100,000, giving up my car, and living in a high rise matchbox with another chick at age 17? Yeah, I might have already experienced a bit of this "culture shock" they speak of.

Semesters are LONG.

That is the basic problem with semesters. I'm doing really well in school (96% on my arch 120 midterm, the highest grade I've ever gotten) and I'm not in the C range for arch 110 (yet). My Italian instructor also commented today that my speaking skills are really good ("why don't you speak up more in class?") and that my analysis of La meglio gioventu` was great..but there is SO MUCH left in terms of school work for the semester =( I need a real breather and I'm not getting one until after December 5th...which seems far away but it'll be here in a flash.

I hope I can keep up...in the mean time I'm gonna attempt to not be lulled into a false sense of security haha.

So that means:
CP 110 Memo 3
Arch 110 Pt. 5
Italian paper (2+ pages)
Italian presentation (15+ minutes - got any suggestions?)
--> will get done in the midst of parties, rallies, meetings, SUPER FUN DAY and city planning tours.

This also means that I gotta take a step back from some things (so far it's been Team HBV and API ICON08.) I have a feeling that this may be resolved for me, because I'm getting left out of a lot of the dialogue in CMI circles (in virtually every external convo I'm not mentioned. Tis a bit frustrating). There's a lot of nitpicking and whatnot going on with that too. Maybe J was right...6 people is too many to coordinate. I think after the decision not to go to UC Regents as a big group in November (which I totally understand), I lost a lot of my direction because coordinating that trip was to be my main responsibility.

So for now, I'm going to concentrate on being a good APAC rep, publicizing for NCS 07 and learning hip hop. I can't do it all and even when I come close, it's not all its cracked up to be.

And for those of you tracking my Italy progress...I spent $28 to fax my housing application to Italy and UOEAP and sent off a bunch of other stuff....only one more form to send!!!!!!

Crazy different

That's all I can say about the University of Padova at the moment.

60,000 STUDENTS.
>.<

Plus, it's a biking city. "Your university residence should be no more than 20-25 minutes away by bike." Um, that sounds FAR compared to here. I effing hate riding my bike in Berkeley, so I hope it's more bike-friendly than here.

me = scared shitless
but hopefully not paralyzed.


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random office quote:
"Does anyone actually know what Sue Grafton looks like? I mean is she hot?" - Andy
"She's crazy hot." - Crete

The Italian Saga Begins

Forreals, yo!

Yesterday I received my paperwork for my study abroad stuff...to say the least, it is going to be one major pain in the ass. I don't like the EAP website very much, plus I have to go find all these documents that I don't have and get a bunch of shit notarized...ugh. It's another thing (and by thing, I mean fifty things) to add to the list of things I have to get done, which is starting to crush me. Or whatever comes right before crushing. I know my stress hormone levels are going to be elevated until after I get my visa stuff cleared out of the way in a month =(

Then there's the prospect of going about how to live in another country. I need a bunch of shit (I'll classify it all as "travel equiptment") which I can't afford IN ADDITION to the whole social/cultural/linguistic stuff I've been trying to prepare myself with. The whole process makes my head spin just thinking about it...but man I'd kick myself for the rest of my life if I gave up this opportunity.

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In other things of recent, my buddy group hosted its first "buddy event" last night. I got to cook (I like to cook but I rarely cook good food because it's difficult to cook for one...plus it takes time) and get to know people and hang out in a chill environment. I think that's what I miss most about my recently graduated friends, just hanging out and having one hell of a time. All the orgs and school stuff I'm running around doing are important and fun and interesting, but de-stressing they are not....

Today it was all rainy and gray in the morning (the rain abated in the afternoon) and it's the first day of fall so the poetic whateveritscalled was not lost on me. I didn't really mind it too much though, because as I was walking home with my buzzed friend, the sunset was coming through over the bay. Something about looking west and seeing absolute beauty shine through the clouds, and looking east and seeing the world look dark and menacing but framed in the vibrant reflection of the sun...it's as close to spiritual euphoria as I get. The ephemeral quality probably has a lot to do with it, but at the same time it makes it difficult for me to share that feeling with anyone...which is what I desperately want to do. This is why I can never properly explain how I can claim to love being near the ocean and the beach and the California landscape so much, and yet I don't surf and I don't go hiking and things like that...

This isn't from tonight - I actually took it two years ago from my dorm window - but I didn't have my camera with me today. This was actually on my photobucket site, which I probably haven't looked at since 2005...let's just say there are some memories on there. Some of them are heartbreaking - everyone seems so much more distant now.