Adventures in Italia and beyond

Buongiorno a Tutti!

Today I learned when NOT to take a vespa on a thirty minute ride into the city. It's been pouring rain all day today which normally doesn't conflict much with my work day. The school I'm working at most of the week is two blocks away from my house so I dont need more than an umbrella in rainy weather. But of course on the crappiest day since I moved to Italy, I had to go to Padova University to teach Business English to masters students. Needless to say, between failing to dodge the cavernous puddles in the streets and the enormous tractor trailers on the highway, I arrived to teach soaked and muddy. But aside from today, I am completely in love with traveling via vespa/ motorino and if I had the cash I would definitely invest in my own while I am here. Maybe if I get a raise.... hmmm.

When I hear from people back home about college life, work, and play back in the states I definitely take a moment to get nostalgic and sad, missing everything! But all I seem to need lately is a moment relapse and then I come back to appreciating my beautiful surroundings here in Italia. In the beginning, I was very skeptical about everything.... whether the job was legitimate, how much (or rather, how little) I was getting paid, and whether my new acquaintances and environment would ever size up to my content life back home. But all those feelings are passing now as I am getting much closer to my director and his wife (who also happen to be my romates and as a result, the people who I go out with every weekend). Sometimes I wish I could take myself out of my life for a moment to have an outsider give me their perspective on the situation. Am I being too naive here to think that I have actually found some real friends here with people who have led lives completely different from mine in countries I am only just beginning to understand? Silvio, my director, and I argue almost every day about something political or cultural. For instance, he firmly believes that all Americans, even New Yorkers, eat McDonalds, put ketchup in their pasta, and are generally ignorant about the rest of the world. So, naturally, I feel compelled to defend us, especially on behalf of my small little group of former international studies majors, always striving overcome the harsh generalizations made by the rest of the world through our eternal quest for worldly knowledge and experience. But gladly, these issues never seem to divide us. Instead, I feel like we have grown quite close. And his wife, Yoshie, a generally reserved and very traditional Japanese woman who moved to Italy 3 years ago to help Silvio pursue his dream of opening up a school in his home town, Legnaro, has surprisingly opened up to me a lot in the past few weeks. Maybe it was only after her shock and awe in my ability to use chopsticks to eat a whole bowl of Chirashizushi (a rice dish with raw fish and vegetables) or maybe she too was looking for a friend in this country where she is considered even more of an outsider than me at times.

I am also finding a great deal of happiness here because I feel like I have found a great calling in life. Though I certainly cannot see past the next few months, at present, I consider teaching a great fit for me. I finally feel like my job is contributing to something positive for the growth of others and for the growth of this little community. Its so amazing how hard they try every day to promote this school- this tiny one room school house that offers students the chance to learn 10 different languages and about 10 different cultures. I really believe in what I am doing and above all else, that maks me want to stay. Silvio also got me a job teaching Business English to Masters students at Padova University to help me make a few extra bucks. He's paying me 10 euros an hour to teach about 4 extra hous a week. The course is not easy- to teach nor to prepare lessons for. The studenst are all older than me and at a higher level of education so obviously I feel a certain sense of unworthiness teaching them. But its a valuable and enjoyable experience nonetheless. I think one of the most educational and rewarding experiences a person can have is to teach his or her mother tongue in a foreign country to those whose language you are seeking daily to learn. I have acquired a new sense of humility and compassion when i teach now- I feel a connection with the students because I know exactly know they feel in their frustrations. It also helps me teach better because I know which teaching techniques work and which do not.

Anyway, I could go on forever but ill save it for the next blog. I'm so sorry if I have still not responded to any individual emails and dont take this as the response... I will write individually ASAP, promise! And for those of you who have not written me back... tear, tear. I am still anxiously waiting for your responses! I hope to hear back from everyone soon bc i am always curious about what life is like back in the states right now.... I hope everyone is happy and healthy doing whatever you are doing, wherever you are doing it! Missing everyone and thinking of you guys always.

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give a little update about my new life here in Italy in case anyone was wondering if I was still alive. (Especially after spending that wild week with Blair in London!) We arrived in London about two weeks ago and I arrived in Treviso airport about a week ago. Blair and I had a great time together- did the pub thing quite a few times, the art and history museums a lot, and of course we managed to see a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater, A Winter's Tale. Oh and of course there was the very strange, dark play starring Val Kilmer, which we couldn't resist. It was called the Postman Always Rings Twice, but we don't remember seeing any postman. However, after missing the check in gate for my flight to Treviso by 4 minutes, London no longer looked so inviting and fun to me. I had to fork up 200 bucks for a new flight the next morning, sleep in the airport, and miss my first day at the new job which definitely didnt go over so well with the new boss because he no longer was willing to pick me up at the airport. Normally, I would no problem taking a train a few hours in the lovely Italian countryside, but this new home was not exactly on most maps- it involved taking three different buses into the very tiny village of Legnaro, two hours outside of Treviso airport (Venice is about an hour closer but I had taken Ryan Air in an unsuccessful attempt to save money.) The only upside to report is that I met two very nice Croatian guys and a wild Argentinian girl, living in Barcelona. We stayed up at the airport playing football (soccer for all you Americans) until a guard threatened to throw us out if we did not try to sleep on the comfy and spacious folding chairs with all the other poor travelers.
So, I finally arrived in my new home Thursday morning- a very large, but very unfinished and quite messy house on a beautiful street just a few blocks from the school I will be working at. At present, I am living in a room in the basement with a very cool Japanese girl who doesn't speak one word of English, my boss, an Italian guy who thinks he is a hippie at age 31, and his wife, a kind and welcoming Japanese turned Italian, who will be taking my English class. Though I have certainly not fully adjusted to this new experience, I am gradually learning to find the comfort and excitment in this seemingly strange and mundane environment. Despite the language barrier, my roomate and I have connected quite nicely using our combined knowledge of the Italian language. We have found comfort in each other's company, especially when we start to feel embarassed having long conversations in not so perfect Italian with our boss who's native language is Italian. For most meals, the four of us eat together, watching Italian television and speaking only in Italian. I have already started buying and cooking some of my own meals for the family, even though I don't think I have to, nor do i really have the money. But it's an ackward feeling at times, having strangers house you and feed you constantly. I feel like I owe them something. Perhaps when i start working for 200 euro a month I will feel differently.

I have had a few private italian lessons at school with my boss and started work today. This weekend actually went very well. I am a little shocked by how much my boss and his wife drink and actually do a good job of finding the party scene in this small, family-oriented village. Friday night they sponsored a Japanese cultural event where students studying traditional Japanese swordsmanship put on a show in the piazza outside of school. In return, the Italians provided them with a taste of typical Veneto cuisine- sliced horse meat with arugula and radicchio. Yes, I was compelled to try it and yes, it was good, but no I doubt i will be trying it again any time soon. Saturday night was particularly good for me, as we were able to get to know each other much better over many drinks and many long hours. When I went to bed a 6 am, I finally felt a small sence of belonging and comfort in this strange, new home. Nevertheless, things are stll strange between my boss and I when we are at school, but i think it is his way of trying to maintain a sense of professionalism in an environment that begs itself to be anything but.