ahhh venice. how wonderful it was. but before I get to that re-cap, I have to complain about one thing: the price of printing.

i just went and paid 57euro to print 27 pages (A3/tabloid) in color and have it bound. For that same price I have printed 100 pages back home, on higher quality paper. I cant believe how expensive it is here! I am NOT looking forward to having to print all these projects come June for our final portfolio presentation... there goes a few hundred right there. The only good thing is that the quality is good, and the service was fast, the whole thing took less than 20 min - where as at home I would have had to wait a day or two. Still, 57 euro... and tomorrow I have to give it to the client (bastard) who for sure isnt actually interested in using any of our work - and even if they did want to use it, they get to use it for free - how crappy is that!

At least though I had my venice mini-vacation, so im in a good mood even though ive got a long night of work ahead of me still. The day started off a bit rough, waking up at 6.30 to get to the station at 7 for a 7.15 train. Then it was too close to departure time for me to buy a ticket from the automatic machine, and the lines were so long at the counter that there was no way I'd get one in time. So I called up a friend of mine who was waiting at Lambrate, the next station to catch the train, and had her buy one there for me. I figured that the guy wouldnt be coming by before Lambrate to check the tickets anyways - unfortunately he did come by. But it was alright, I told him that my friend had my ticket and we'd had confussion about what station we were meeting at. He didnt seem to care, as we were just pulling into Lambrate and sure enough a few min later when he came to check the tickets, I had one.

The ride there was an uneventful 3.5 hours, spent listening to an American across the isle complain loudly to her friend about anything and everything. I wanted to strangle her by the end of the trip. Although it was funny listening to the Italians who were sitting next to her talk about her in Italian as they understood her English. The train was packed full of people heading to Venice for Carnivale, and when we arrived we all poured off the train in a big mob heading to San Marco. Along the way I decided to play tourist for the day (something I rarely do) and gave in to buying a mask as my friends had them as well. It was fun to join in the festivities. We found a place selling hot wine, which none of us had ever tried but considering our cold hands thought it'd be a good idea. So we grabbed some to have with our lunch, and then wandered the back streets some more. Eventually we made our way to the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco stopping along the way to take some photos.


(K, me, and Sasha after our hot wine)

(while I'm becoming Italianized in my lazyness, I'm becoming Asianized in my photo poses)

(a new friend I met along the way)

(Sasha and K in front of the Rialto bridge)

The closer we got to San Marco, the more people there were. Way more people than the little streets were meant to handle, as we were packed like sardines, unable to do anything but move along with the crowd as we were smashed body to body everyone pushes forward. Eventually though the crowd broke as we entered into the Piazza - of course there was a new crowd awaiting us, but this one was slightly more dispersed. Here we ran into all kinds of people masked and costumed for Carnivale. Some were decked out in extravagent costumes, others were in halloween type costumes (normal in Italy for the youth during Carnivale) and everywhere there was confetti being thrown. At one point a little girl ran up to me, threw confetti all over me with a big grin on her face, giggled and ran away. After a brief tour of the piazza and photo sessions with the costumers, (on Sasha's camera, I'll post them after I get them from her), K and I decided it was time to open one of the bottles of wine we'd bought. I'd come prepared with a bottle opener, so we found ourselves a seat and started drinking. Sasha was catching an earlier train back and only had another hour or so left before needing to head to the station, so she continued on the photo-hunt through the piazza while K and I relaxed.



We warmed our steps for a couple of hours enjoying the people watching. As I was opening the bottle a group of Americans passed and made a comment about how it was a good idea. I think they were a bit surprised when I responded back in English, as I had previously been speaking Italian. They asked if they could use my cork screw if they got a bottle, and I said sure thing. So after a few minutes they returned with a bottle and we all sat around talking for awhile. It turns out they are living in Germany working on building a cruise boat for an American line. They had just come down to Venice for a couple days for Carnivale. After awhile we said our goodbyes as they decided to continue their tour of the island and we still had more wine to drink. While sitting there masked I looked over at one point to see a guy crouched down next to me taking a photo. I couldnt tell, but it looked like he was taking a photo with me on the side. After a min I felt a tap on my shoulder, and sure enough there he was motioning with his camera for me to turn around so he could take a photo. It was a bit strange, but I figured what the heck, so now some tourist or someone or other has a nice up close shot of me in my mask. I'm not sure where he was from, as he didnt say a word the whole time, but he didnt look Italian...



Eventually Sasha came back and we said our goodbyes as she headed off to the train station. In need of a bathroom, K and I decided to wander a bit more. Long lines and an euro charge each awaited us at the bathroom, but boy did we feel better after that. We headed back to the square where a big stage was set up and a bit of a fashion show going on.



After the show was over we decided it was time to open the other bottle of wine, so we found ourselves another step, and relaxed. After a while a mother and her son in costumes decided to hang out next to us for a photoshooting. So pretty soon we were unable to see anything but the crowd of people in front of us taking photos of them. While it was a bit annoying we kept ourselves entertained with our bottle, and conversations with the boy who really didnt want to be there. He told us he wanted to go home and was tired of having people take his photo. He found it fun though putting on a bit of a show for us as he made faces to the different cameras, and I even got him to make one for me.



Around this time we had a choice to make - we could either start heading back to the station to grab an 8pm train home, the last of the night, or stick it out till 5am when the next train left. We were feeling pretty good with the wine in us, and the festivities were starting to pick up, so we decided we'd stick it out. We wandered off in search of an area with more locals and students rather than all the tourists, and headed over to Campo Santa Margherita. Here some music was just starting up as the students were coming out for the night decked out in all their strange costumes (sandwiches, football players, babies, etc). We grabbed ourselves a couple of kababs and beers, and found a bench to hang out on. We talked to various people throughout the next couple of hours, but no one had any definite ideas on where we could go that night to party. Eventually I had a guy come over and start talking to me in what I thought was bad English, but after realizing that he wasnt understanding my Italian, found out he was actually from New Zealand. He was living in Venice working, and after a beer with him (Alex) and his friend (Andy) we decided to head off with them in search of some of their other friends. The next few hours were spent wandering the streets through the crowds of parties, and stopping at various bars to drink. We met quite a few people, some italians, some from australia, and others from other places. It was a great time speaking a mix of Italian and English and making some new friends. As the night wore on and we were all getting a bit tired, Alex and Andy offered to let us crash at their place instead of having to stick it out for the train (not to mention trying to find the station in the dark). We eagerly took them up on the offer and were soon sleeping peacefully in a warm house rather than hanging out on a cold bench at the station. We ended up missing the 5am train as we slept till early afternoon. Eventually we caught a train and made it back to Milano around 9pm, exhausted from our adventure but quite happy all the same - and better yet with an invitation to come back and visit with a free place to sleep.

Venice was wonderful, exactly what i needed. But I'm extremely tired right now, so details and more photos will have to wait. I should have time Tuesday to get some things up. :D

well, ive decided that despite how much homework i should be doing all weekend, im gonna take a vacation. i think i need it.

so tomorrow morning im off bright and early (well, early atleast, 7.15am!) to Venice with a couple of friends from school. we dont really have a plan, but im sure there will be plenty to keep us entertained. As to when we're coming home... well, that depends on where the day leads us. its either an 8pm train, or keeping ourselves busy till a 5am train. We're young, we can do it!

im finding myself totally un-motivated these days. i've been sick for awhile now, sleeping a lot, too much in fact. while im feeling a bit better this week, im continueing to miss a lot of lessons. im hoping to get over this flu/infection soon and get some energy back, so i can actually wake up in the mornings and go to class. its hard though. school is boring me, the projects arent very interesting, the classes are reguarly things ive studied before, learned before, and have no desire to sit through another lecture on history of design, or how to draw a text box in flash. the teachers dont motivate me to do any work, as my friend likes to say, im being italianized, not caring, not putting in my best effort, or anywhere near it, sleeping, and finding myself saying "va bene" to school projects that i know arent good enough and could be improved.

---but when no one else cares, when the standard is so low, when i get nailed for being a hard ass because i think we should actually try to do something that gets a comment other than "va bene" from the instructor then we dont do it because im out voted and when we get told we should have done it i get blamed for it not having been done, when i personally get blamed for the work of a group of 15 people not being done even though it wasnt my responsibility to do it, when the instructor is talking to the class about what we have to have done, but is looking straight at me because for some reason im supposed to carry the weight and be responsible for the actions of others to do their work, when im some how expected during the last 30 min before an exam to explain to everyone how flash works because they didnt listen during any of the lessons and then during the exam they get mad at me because i wont come to their computer and do the work for them, when i continuously say something but am completely ignored then one of the guys in my class says the same thing and he's praised for such a great idea, when im not afraid to say that a design is horrible and doesnt work and then get pegged as being pissed off at everybody because i dont want to put my name on work that i would be ashamed to show, when im forced to sit through a 2 hour class doing absolutely nothing because for some reason it takes 2 hours for 15 people to save one file each to the profs usb key, when i have to sit waiting to look at other peoples work because they didnt come prepared to class and instead do their work during class while we're supposed to be presenting, when everyone talks through the presentations so you cant hear the person that is talking and the teacher does nothing about it, when people come to class and paint their nails instead of listening to the lecture and trying to understand the italian then i have to explain everything to them, when the computers never work at school, when we have to wait 5 months to get mousepads (and still only at half of the computers) so the mice actually work, when classes continuously start 30 min late because the prof doesnt show up, or decides to go 2.5 hours with the other group and only 1.5 hours with our group yet if i show up more than 5 min late im told i cant go to the lesson---

...when i can continue to go on with this list for the rest of the day and not run out of things to add to it...

id say i have a right to be frustrated, and justified in lacking motivation.

its one of those days when i just want to quit it all because its a waste of my time, but i paid too damn much money to be here to do so.

Can you believe that all fit into the box??!!

this morning im enjoying a big hazelnut latte..... mmmmmmm
nothing can make this a bad day

today I arrived home from school, after 10 hours straight of lessons, brain dead and tired. I had just finished checking online after a package my mom sent me, to discover that it arrived in Italy this morning (so the post office claimed anyways), when my roommate said "o c'è un pacetto per te alla cucina" (there's a package for you in the kitchen). I was a bit confused, thinking maybe my brothers box had finally arrived. but when I went to the kitchen i discovered it was from my mom!

I was a bit too tired to get really excited about it, but imediately grabbed my keys and started trying to get it open (which took a few min as i didnt have stregth to break through the tape). My mom had warned me that she packed it full, but i really couldnt believe just how much she crammed in there. i dont have the brain power right now to line things up all nice and take a photo, but will do so tomorrow (you wont believe how much was in this box). In the meantime, a list will have to suffice - if i can remember it all.

allora:
-10 pairs of socks
-two small bottles of Torani (my favorite) hazelnut syrup
-Aleve
-a jar of kraft cheese spread
-3 boxes of mac and cheese
-a big bag full of mac cheese mix (which i originally thought was a yellow diaper for some reason - but knowing my mom wasnt that surprised if she had sent me a diaper with something wrapped in it)
-2 boxes of stove top stuffing
-2 packs of peanut butter cups (which i imediately introduced to my roommate as he LOVES peanut butter but had of course never seen it with choc before)
-8 packets of gaucamole spice mix
-2 packs of taco seasoning
-choc strawberry cream things
- 2 snack size bags of ritz crackers (one peanut butter, one cheese)
several hot cocoa mixes
-4 top ramen mixes
-2 snack bags of cheetos
-choc coins
-3 packs choc cow tails (never seen these before)
AND (items typical of my mom)
-a weird cow where you pull the string and the arms and legs move
-5 washclothes where they are all compact and you get them wet to make them full size

I think that is all. I'm not motivated enough to look through it again at the moment. :D all this fit into a box about 12x12x8 I-ll include a pic of the box as well tomorrow.

the hard part was deciding what i wanted for dinner. I was tempted to eat a bunch of choc and cheetos, as this would mean i wouldnt have to get up from the couch, but decided instead on mac and cheese, or rather pasta and cheese made from the bag of powder (which I gladley would have eaten a whole box of mac and cheese, simply for the taste, i wasnt really hungry enough).

anyways, i think this has been one of the dullest posts about something exciting, but as is evident by now, i could have won the lottery and not had the energy to be more excited at the moment :D

Thanks mom!

Living in Italy the different regional dialects are part of my life on a daily basis. I always hear my friends speaking to others in dialect, and have picked up some bits and pieces over time. being exposed to it has made me think more about my own language, English.

Everyone is well aware of the differences between English, and American. When my friends ask me questions about the language, I always ask whether they want an answer in English, or American. A couple weeks ago though, I was talking to another American at my school, from Pensylvania. I dont really know her, but one of my friends knew her, and I have spoken to her a couple times. We were talking about English and American, and I jokingly said that I speak Oregonian.

This has gotten me thinking about whether dialects exist in America as well. Sure, we have different accents depending on what part you're from, and some different expressions. It's hard to know though, unless you have traveled around a lot. The majority of my life has been spent in Oregon. After Oregon, I've spent more time in Italy than I have in the combined rest of the US. So I wouldnt neccasarily consider myself well informed on the different dialects. I would take a guess though, that they do exist. They're just harder to notice as we're so much more spread out, and most times i think they fall into the category of slang.

I've noticed that a lot of dialect here, is merely shortening of the words, things I do with English all the time. the most common come to mind: wanna, gonna, shoulda, woulda, whatcha, coulda, doin, etc. These are all things I'll write, and are more noticeable. There is also the genre of words that I'll say, but have never actually written. One of my friends who only knows a bit of English, likes to say "dont you worry about it." I was thinking about this phrase, and how I would say it.... 'dont worry bout it' - and I realized that I wouldnt even say it like that. but more of like 'don worr boud i.' hearing it said, it's easy to understand to an english speaker. but seeing it written it takes on a whole new form. it's almost undecipherable.

when I speak English here, it's almost always to non-natives, and so I have to speak slower, and clean up the language. when I'm not thinking though, I often slip back into my normal tounge... and the confussion of my friends has lead me to notice just that much more how much the language has changed.

anyways, as usual I'm not quite sure where I am going with this. Just a thought.

well, i've been having a bit of bad luck lately. my brother mailed me a package almost a month ago. it has yet to arrive. the american post office claims the italian post office has it. the italian post office claims they've never seen it, as its not in their system. so my brother has started a trace on it, and it could take up to 60 days to figure it out. my mom also just sent me a package - hopefully better luck with that one.

the bad luck doesnt end there though.

tonight my mom tried calling me - i wasnt sure if it was her, as i missed the call, but it was a "nessun numero" so i figured it was from america. so i checked my computer, and sure enough she was online saying she had something urgent to tell me. fearing for the worst, i was a bit worried - i wasnt sure if something had happened to someone or what. anyways, it turned out to be a problem with the bank.

so i called the bank. apparently they have reason to believe that someone has gotten ahold of my card number (even though i assured them that all transactions that have happened and are showing up online, are mine.) they however said there was nothing they could do, their security system has closed my card. normally this wouldnt be a problem. a new card would be mailed to me, I'd have it within a week, and in the mean time i could just go to the bank in person to get money. unfortunately there is no US bank in Italy.

So now I'm in italy, less than 10euros cash, and no way to access money. good thing I went shopping for food the other day.

luckily, the bank automatically sends you a new card every year. my mom got this card about a month ago, but I told her not to bother sending it to me, as i didnt want to take the chance of someone taking it, and i had my other card here which was valid for another year. now though, i wish i had had her mail it to me. she's now running to the post office with the card, and sending it to me fast as possible. but with me being here, it'll most likely be monday before i get it. in addition, I'll probably have to sign for it, which means I have to skip my class on monday and wait for the mail man to come - so he'd better have it when he comes!

to add to injury, but a bit funny at the same time... as i was talking to the guy on the phone at the bank, he kept making lots of small talk, what im doing here, how life is trying to say stupid things in bad italian, like buona fortuna and such. then, at the end, he had the nerve to say "well, when you come back to portland maybe we'll meet sometime, I live in portland too" - !!! there was no way i was going to continue down that path. so I just laughed, said maybe, and bye.

somehow though has much as its been a bad week (treking around milano to several post offices waiting in long lines searching for a package that seems to have 'dissapeared' - then having my card cancelled) im actually in a good mood. I woke up this morning with energy (been exhausted lately, my iron had gotten really low so I've been swallowing pills twice a day for the last couple weeks, thinking its finally starting to take effect), got 42/46 on my color exam at school today, hung out with a friend afterwards, and tonight after this whole bank incident, had a good laugh with my roommate over her flash project that I helped her with. In addition, she has a friend who wants to pay me to do her next flash project for her! I know its wrong to do others homework, but it seems to be pretty common here... and $$ is always good, especially these days :D

so although i feel like i should be in a bad mood right now, i've got a smile on my face that i really cant get rid of. not that im complaining though.