I forgot to post these the other day. Tuesday I woke up to snow, and it continued to snow all day. In true fashion I didnt leave the house, but rather took photos out my window... the view from my new apartment is quite different, being on the ground floor and with a bit of a courtyard.... It never snowed that heavy, rather light all day. but still managed to get a few inches.

(I started writing this post, and without thinking started writing in Italian... I suppose that's a good sign, right? anyways, pardon me if the writing is a bit dull... my brain is kinda dead after a full day of Italian...)

Today I went to Torino with Caterina. It was a fun day out of the city, fairly uneventful, but fun none the less. I always had a bit of a bad impression of Torino... for some reason I thought it was a rather ugly town (I blame my friend Alex from Napoli.. who lived there for a year and was always complaining about it). Proved myself wrong though today. it's actually quite a nice town, and I'd like to return another day... a day that is a bit warmer perhaps so I can enjoy walking around more.

Our primary reason for going was to go to a photography exhibit of Robert Mapplethorpe. I have to admit that I didnt know anything about him except for a brochure that Caterina showed me for the exhibit, and asked if I wanted to go. I was excited to get out of Milano and go somewhere new, so I quickly said yes. The exhibit was interesting, fairly pornographic, but there were some humerous parts, and some parts that made you think. Overall a good exhibit.

We also went to the Egyption museum, which was quite different after the photos. It's been awhile since I've been to a museum with Egyption stuff, so it was interesting as well. It turned into a bit of a treasure hunt trying to find the entrance to the museum, as we were right where it was marked on our handy map from the train station tourist office, yet all we found was a Benneton (and some how resisted the urge to go in... holding out for those January sales!) We eventually found the entrance after going almost completely around the building.



The street outside of the building had all these flags hanging... not sure why... anyone know?



blah blah blah. Anyways, enough of that. As for the city, it was rather nice, but eirily deserted all day. We arrived around 11 am, and the streets were so quiet, and empty of life. Quite odd. The city looked quite different than Milano (sorry mom, meant to take a picture of the architecture... but kept thinking i would do it later and then forgot....) It was much more austrian than Italian looking. Both of us really felt as though we had gone to another country... you know, other than the occasional Italian we heard. I did take a picture of the river though, and the Castello del Valentino....





By the time we were done with the egyption museum it was around 5, and we were quite hungry as we hadnt eaten yet. We set off in search of food, and found an "american" themed pub that looked decent and cheap enough. Good choice. I havent had a hamburger since probably June. boy did that hit the spot. along with a some beer and fries we were quite content and sat relaxing for awhile before we ventured back out into the cold.

When we left it had gotten dark, and the city had some how managed to come back to life. The streets were lighted with holliday decorations, and we actually had to compete for space on the sidewalk at times. Walking along we joked about what we would do if there were no more trains (although we knew there would be as it wasnt even 8 yet...) Perfect timing, just as we were talking about how we'd be popcicles by morning, we walked by our savour, a barel with a fire burning in it. Perfetto. We quickly made a mental note of where it was incase we needed to return later. ;)

I'd have to say the higlight of the trip though (second to the hamburger of course), was just hanging out, wandering around and talking. I usually hang out with guys here (not that I'm complaining Fede, you're wonderful!) but it was nice to spend the day with another girl for once. I'm really happy that I've become friends with caterina. I've never had many female Italian friends... they always seem rather closed, and uninterested in talking to me. while I dont know Caterina very well yet, we're quickly becoming good friends (especially since we've been abandoned here in Milano for the break!)

It was also rather rewarding today to see that my Italian has improved in areas other than just design vocabulary. While she knows some English, she very rarely uses it. so about 99% of our conversation is in Italian. I'm not complaining as its great practice for me. and it felt good to be able to spend all day speaking in Italian and not need a dictionary or have to give up on any subjects because translation was too difficult... I dont think I've done that before today.

Anyways, we'll see what new years eve brings tomorrow. Unless we can find some guys willing to pay our way into a club (its atleast 40euros entrance!) we're just going to wander around the center where there are supposed to be concerts, fireworks, and ice skating - though i doubt we'll do it as we'd probably both fall flat on our faces within the first 10 seconds! :)

well, winter break is finally here. yesterday was my last day of classes. Over the past week the numbers have dwindled at school, as so many people were headed home for the hollidays. Everyday was a round of goodbyes, and well wishes as people left for the airports and train stations. What will I be doing this holliday season? you're looking at it. As prices are high for plane tickets, I've decided to stay here for the break.

I havent been big into the hollidays for years. We're not a religeous family, so I never had that aspect of christmas as part of my life. honestly, although I know as a child I was excited about christmas, I couldnt tell you when the last time was. Winter break for me meant time away from classes and homework (here we only have two weeks off, and homework to do during it!); time with friends drinking hot chocolate, watching movies, and playing a few rounds of jenga; and seeing family who, while we all lived in Oregon, I only saw once or twice a year. Over the years things have dwindled down, last year I even spent half of christmas day working in my brothers livingroom.

This is my first Christmas away from home, and I have to say, it really doesnt feel much like christmas. Chirstmas, like Thanksgiving, has turned into just another day. Like a weekend, time to relax, listen to some music, and do some homework. The only signs of Christmas around me are a tree in the lobby of my building, and a card on my table from a friend at school. I cant say I'm particuarly sad. I'm happy to have a two week break from my alarm in the morning. I'm actually viewing this lack of christmasness as an advantage over my classmates, as I'll have move time to work.

So, what will I be doing this weekend? well, tonight has started with one of my christmas present to myself: a jar of nutella. I've never actually bought a jar before - I've never allowed myself. My reason being that I know, that like a pint of Ben and Jerry's, it's likely to dissapear in all one sitting, and I'll be left with a bad belly ache. The jar has been open for about 10 minutes now, and I'd say I've gone through a good quarter of it. Time to get that lid back on, and get it out of my sight. my goal is to make it last the weekend... wish me luck.

My other present to myself (or rather from my mom as I used xmas money to buy it :D), a bottle of rum and a bottle of coke. No, my plan isnt to sit at home alone and get drunk, but rather have a little holliday cheer with my friend Caterina. Caterina, while from sicily, is unable to return home for xmas as she has to work the day after. We've yet to go out together, as between school and her work schedule there just hasnt been the chance. So tonight we're treating ourselves. She'll be coming over later for a few drinks before we head to a nearby disco to dance the night away.

Tomorrow, after sleeping in as late as possible, we'll be heading over to Michelle's house (Michelle is from Chile, and is the 3rd and last person who has stayed here in Milano). There the three of us will be having a little holliday celebration involving a couple bottles of wine, and dinner of "pancakes"....? Michelle said that we'd have pancakes... although I think maybe she meant some kind of crepes, as the things she was talking about putting in them would be quite strange in pancakes... and for dessert, pancakes/crepes with nutella! (she doesnt normally by it either, as she has the same problem as me when a jar is around...)

Christmas day I think I may head into the center with my camera... I expect the streets to be a lot emptier as so many people have left town.... and I hope to get some good photos. Some time this week I think I will head to Torino with Caterina for a day to see a photo exhibit, and wonder around town as neither of us have been there before. I've heard mixed opinions on Torino, but I think getting out of Milano for a day would be good for me. As for the rest of the break, relaxation - we dont have another day off of school until April!

It's hard to believe that I've been here almost 5 months already, and my time is almost half over. Soon I'll be having to make decisions on what to do next. While I would like to try and find work in Italy and stay for awhile, I think financially I cant afford to. Pay is soooooo much lower here, and my student loans at home demand a higher income. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I do miss America (or atleast starbucks...). So most likely I'll be moving "home" come end of June. Where my next home will be is still up in the air. I've several ideas floating around in my head, but for the time being I'll keep those secret. Still, pretty soon Ive to start looking at airline tickets. I'm not ready to leave Italy yet, but I've still got six months here. And something tells me it's gonna feel nice to take that first step on American ground...

I hope you all have a great holliday season, wherever you are, whatever you're doing...

I'm in the process of learning a new language. and it's not italian. it's a language i've come to despise, not because it's bad, but because I'm utterly lost with how to speak or understand it, and frustrated beyound belief. i cant do anything without my 'dictionary,' and even though i know translations, its still not clicking. i wasn't expecting it to be this hard.

what new language could i possibly be studying, or why would i be studying ANOTHER when i'm still in the process of learning italian? well. it's not actually a language. but it feels that way. it's the metric system.

for most 'expats' i doubt its as big of a deal. look up a conversion now and again. not a daily part of your life. for me though, i'm forced to work with it constantly. every time i need to design something (which i spent about 75% of my waking hours doing) i have to do it in mm and cm. but someone tells me a square is 165mm by 74mm.... okay, 16.5cm by 7.4cm, but how the hell big is that? I cant picture it! my fellow americans can understand this frustration, and lack of visualization. for the non americans, try this: try to picture a shape that is 17inches by 11in.... can you? can you visualize how big that is without having to convert it all to cm? and when you do convert it, it's an odd number: 43.18cm by 27.94 cm. now try visualizing that. annoying with those decimals and odd numbers in there, isn't it? now imagine you have to spend hours doing this. and you have to waste so much time doing calculations just so you can visualize the size of something. its frustrating as hell.

i've gone from being able to visulize what i want, and put it on the computer in a matter of seconds, to having to spend 5 min to figure out how many mm wide i want my text box to be!

The TV at my old apartment was in Stefano's room, so I hardly ever watched it. Actually, I'd guess that I have watched less than 1 hour of tv since October. At my new apartment though, I have a tv in my room. It stayed off for the first few days, as I have been really busy. but the last two days I've needed a break from work, and have ventured to turning it on. I've been greeted by old friends, tv shows I havent seen in months, and something else. The ability to understand.

Before when I watched tv, I could understand the basic story line, what was happening, and a good portion of the dialogue. Still, I had to think about it, had to concentrate on the Italian. Now I find myself sitting with the tv on, while chatting to friends online. I'm not watching, only listening, and yet I know what's happening. It didnt even occour to me at first that it was in a different language. I no longer sit and translate the words in my head. They're there. I know them. In fact, when I stop and try to translate things into English, rather than just listening, I often find myself getting blogged down and lagging behind. It's a good feeling to be able to understand without trying.

So while my speaking stills are still a little slow at times, I have faith that my brain knows the words, it's just a matter of finding where they are hidden away when I want to use them.

I just got done with my first "real" meeting with my group for a project at school. It was envigorating, frustrating, funny, annoying, and complicated. Not only are there language barriers to face, but also the fact that we come from different training backgrounds, and have different views.

I can be a very external person, and tend to take charge of a situation, rather than sit idely. If I dissagree with someone, I will state my viewpoint, and give reasons why I believe as I do. I like my opinion to be heard. Today I am kicking myself for having left my dictionary at home. Working in a group can be difficult, but luckily I've had some experience with it, and while by no means am I an expert at it, I have progressed in my collaborative skills. To this extent I tried not to take control at our meeting, but let everyone have input, as it should be. I quickly learned that with this method, no body said anything. And several times, eyes turned to me and asked "what do we do?"

So finally I gave in and started talking. However, il mio Italiano è veramente brutto. I feel bad for the way I express things, because I know it comes across more as orders. That than saying "we should" do something, I say "we must" do it. Those who have worked with me on projects know that in English I often come across as demanding, when I dont mean to be. Well, in Italian its way worse. Still, my group is patient. They understand that I'm not trying to boss them around, but rather it is just a fault of my language skills. By the end of the 3 hours though, my Italian was flowing smoother, and coming more easily. It always takes awhile to switch my brain to thinking in Italian rather than English.

Still, problems came. Not big problems, but just a matter of communication. We'd go round and round in circles, me saying one thing, another saying another, then me, then them. And finally we'd realize that we were both trying to say the same thing. Things were never tense or bad, always laid back and relaxed, but frustrating because of the language. When the professor came in to say bye to us, he laughed at me as I was laying on the floor, leaning back and looking at him upside down. my head was spinning from the Italian, and in times like this I just cant sit still in a chair.

I have to say I really enjoy this professor, or rather art director, as he doesnt like us to call him prof. He is very open, and very easy to talk to. If I disagree with something he says, I'm free to say so, and he'll listen to my opinion. And he doesnt just listen and dismiss it, it takes it into consideration. I can also do things such as lying on the floor, or wearing sunglasses in class, dancing to music when there is no music, and he doesnt look at me like I'm strange, but rather looks as me as though I might be on to something. I think he apreciates this laid back attitude that I have in his class. With other professors this wouldnt be acceptable. Things must be very professional. But how can I be creative when I'm forced to sit still in a chair for 3 hours listening to them talk AT me? At this stage in our schooling we are not children anymore. We need to be able to relate to our profs as equals, or atleast quasi-equals. :) We need to be able to say our ideas, to have conversations, to form relationships with them. That is one thing that I dearly miss from OSU, knowing my profs, having them know me. I know it will come with time, but for the most part, the profs dont seem itnerested in learning how our minds work. They seem interested in their paychecks. This doesnt produce a good learning environment. When you're working on a large project with many people, you have to be able to trust your art director that the see the bigger picture, and that they are leading you in the right direction. I have that trust in him. That's not something I can say about many of the profs at the school.

I seem to have gotten sidetracked, and I'm not quite sure where I was going with this post to begin with. but I wanted to say something about the language. In the beginning I was quite frustrated that we werent starting our projects sooner, but now I see that it was neccasary to wait. If we had started working right away, it would have been so difficult just to communicate with each other. As it is, it is still difficult. My group is 4 people, me, two Italians, and a Korean girl. The Korean girl is very sweet, but her Italian is still horrible. We cant understand what she is talking about most of the time. And we can tell her the same thing 20 times and she still doesnt understand. I'm by no means fluent in the language, but I have it better off than a lot. And I'm thankfull for this. I've felt in the last couple of months like my language hasnt really progressed any. I havent been studying at all. At the end of the day I just cant bring myself to do it. My brain wants relaxation. And I end up speaking English a lot of the time as I hang out with Fede so much, and its just easier for us to talk in English. But in reality, my language has improved. I look at the conversations I had in the meeting today, and realize that 2 months ago I couldnt have had them. Just being in class everyday and hearing the words has taught them to me. My brain knows the words, its just a matter of me finding them in there. In some ways its frustrating that no one in my group speaks English, and I wish that I had Fede with me to translate my ideas. but at the same time its better for my Italian this way. I cant lean on him as a crutch forever. Although I was wishing I'd had a couple beers in me this morning, as its somehow a lot easier to speak Italian with the aid of a little alcohol. ^___^

well, seeing as i've had some demand from people to post photos of me and friends, i've decided to finally get off my ass and do so. we really dont do anything that interesting, just hang out. so here is proof from dinner last night, that i actually do have friends. :D




Andrea, me, Egidio





































Federico