Grammar, house hunting and procrastination, oh my!

When I started this thing, I had high hopes for daily updates, lots of photos and a boatload of followers. Well, one outta three ain't bad, so thanks to those of you who have decided to tune in frequently to my tales of adventure in Italy. I apologize to you for the lack of the first two items on that list.

As I write this entry today, it is around 4 p.m., on the third Saturday (of three) of the class: the whole shebang is over next Friday! I am severely procrastinating the completion of a take-home (thank goodness!) grammar exam, but I will get to that as soon as I finish this. And check my email. And upload photos onto Facebook. Priorities, right?

Anyhow, the course is going well, though this weekend (read: tomorrow) will be jam-packed with school-related stuff, including this stupid test, a lesson plan, a written analysis of one of my lessons that was videotaped early last week and viewed yesterday, and a summary of two one-to-one teaching sessions I did at one of Florence's business schools last week. It seems like a lot, and it is, but it will get done before the deadline. So, I've got that going for me, which is nice...

In my spare time (of which there hasn't been much), I've been looking for a place to live with my roommate, Meara. The good news is that I think we've found one, and the even better news is that our friend, Liz, will be joining us, making our rent/utility bills that much cheaper! Yay! Nevermind the fact that the three of us will be sharing a room...it will be just like my freshman year of college, when I lived in the dorms! Oh, joy, oh, rapture! No, really though...the place is pretty sweet, it's in the city center and will cost us each less than 300 euro, which is super.

What else have I been doing, you ask? ... Huh. I can't seem to come up with any other fun things. Once this class is over, though, you can bet (or hope, maybe, would be more appropriate) that I'll be able to regale you with tales of frivolity, entertainment and travel. Or, maybe just passing grades, a job hunt and slight improvement on my Italian. Regardless, I'll do a better job of keeping this thing updated once I don't have to focus on school so much. Or, at all. Until I get a job. Cross your fingers and toes for me on that one!

Eight days in...

So, I arrived in Florence (or Firenze, as the locals call it) late Friday night (Sept. 4, if you're curious), and I met up with Christina, one of the girls in my program. She had already moved into her apartment, and she said I could stay there. After 24 hours of traveling, walking around and not sleeping, a good night's sleep on a living room couch sounded pretty nice.

Fast forward to 8 a.m. the next morning when Franco, the apartment building's maintenance man, pounded hard on the door. He had to fix something with the kitchen sink faucet. Thus, started my first full day in Florence.

Christina and I enjoyed a typical Italian breakfast of bread and cheese (they don't really do 'breakfast' here, per se, but I can't go without at least something when I first wake up), and espresso. We then walked around Florence, found our school, had wine with lunch, spoke broken Italian to people on the street, ate gelato, moved me into my apartment, met one of my roommates, ate the most delicious pizza ever and laughed well into the night.

"So far, so good," I thought.

I went for a run Sunday morning, got lost, walked to the Duomo, made sure I had the route to school down pat, met the third of four roommates, had the best pasta ever, unpacked the rest of my stuff and hit the hay.

For the next five days, take all the action and activity away from the weekend and replace it with lectures, note taking, practice teaching sessions, homework assignments, grammar lessons and a whole lot of commiserating with my 14 fellow classmates (all of whom are women, in case you were wondering). As you may have gathered, the course I'm taking to get certified to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is relatively difficult. But, it's only for three more weeks, so I think I can handle it. Probably. Maybe.

Anyhow, the first week (which felt like an eternity!) is over! To celebrate, my classmates and I (and our instructors!) met for drinks Friday evening at a local pub. That continued into the wee hours of the morning, but not so as to prevent me and three other gals from waking up Saturday morning and catching a 9:30 train to Forte dei Marme...a beach on the Mediterranean! Oh my, it was fantastical! I got some sun (but not too much), swam in the sea, studied some grammar and worked off the pizza I ate for lunch by walking to and from the train station. It was a glorious day, to be sure!

Today, Sunday, was spent doing school work. Nothing exciting to report there.

Now, I'm getting ready for tomorrow's class, during which I will be teaching an intermediate lesson on adjective order. Did you know there was a rule to be followed when using a series of adjectives? Yeah. I can't wait to share that with you in person. Remind me.

Ciao for now, USofA!

Silently, effortlessly, I shed a tear from each eye as my gigantic, Amsterdam-bound plane lifted off the ground in Chicago. No sooner had I wiped them away and sighed heavily, did the person next to me ask if I was traveling for business or pleasure.

Well...kind of both.

Anyway, as it turns out, this nice fellow and I became fast friends, and after he congratulated me on my first steps on European soil (it sounds corny, and it kind of was, but it was appreciated), we ended up sightseeing and enjoying the crisp, fall-like morning together in the city's center. Sadly, he had to return to Schiphol to catch his flight to Bulgaria, but it was fun while it lasted. To those of you who may be wondering, it was not THAT kind of fun...the one that's legal in coffee shops over here. Oh, no. That came later in the day. Can I say that? :o)

With several hours to kill before my flight to Florence, I walked around literally all day long. I went to the Rembrandt Museum, the Red Light District, Hermitage and took an hour-long cruise throughout A'dam's ridiculous network of canals.

And then it was back to the airport for my 19:15 flight. Or, so I thought.

Due to weather-related issues in Amsterdam, my plane didn't take off until after 22:00. I was less than stoked about this. But, all was well because I met this adorable couple from Vancouver. They were on their way to Florence to meet up with a group of folks to take a bike tour throughout Tuscany and down to Rome. When I told them I was jealous, they said I would have an opportunity to do that any time I wanted. How quickly I forget!

I'll let y'all know how that bike thing turns out. And everything else.

Is it time yet? Is it time?!

As I sit here typing this, I really should be packing my bags, converting my money to euros and, in all actuality, having a one-day-before-I-leave-the-country freak out. I am happy to report, however, especially in regards to that last one there, that I feel...fine. Surprisingly. I'm a little nervous and excited (okay, a lot!), but not too upset/anxious/uncomfortable. So, I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Regardless of how I'm feeling right this minute, what I'd like to express most in this first blog entry (or dispatch, as I like to call them) is how much I appreciate all the support, encouragement and advice I've received from family, friends, friends of friends, and people I've encountered on various CTA buses and trains, in line at the grocery store, etc. But, since those folks will probably never see this (famous last words?), I just want you to know how grateful I am for the help. You know who you are. You've filled me in on how best to prepare to leave Chicago, tolerate the eight-hour flight and overcome the subsequent jet lag, navigate my new city and cope with the inevitable pangs of homesickness I will encounter. I'll let you know how all that that pans out. And more!

Stay tuned (please) to this here fancy-spangled new blog o' mine for updates on what I'm doing, where I'm going and how I'm faring. Oh, and check in every once in a while to make sure I'm not drinking too much vino...

Ciao!