Yeah, I just realized that I left the States a month ago (it seems like forever). Though I guess that's about right, because I'm just about finished with the box of tea that the family bought me (they don't drink coffee, so I have to indulge in that vice in town). I think one of the I-5 time bubbles followed me over here...
My Italian class continues to be both a source of information, entertainment, and the occasional source of confusing my foreign languages. On Tuesday we had about 13 people in class--not including the teacher!! To give an idea, normally these classes are about 4-5 people not including the teacher. About halfway through the class a French girl came in and joined our class, to the obvious delight of our teacher (she speaks better French than she does English). For the rest of the lesson she would translate it from Italian to French, and forget about English about half the time. My four years of French finally paid off, because I could understand what the teacher was saying as she translated the various verbs, and I could do a basic explanation in French with the other girl that I was here as an au pair (apparently she is too). The whole hearing Italian being translated into French does not help me that much. I have enough trouble trying to speak in Italian, because my mind tends to go to its French vocabulary first, and so hearing it in class just messes with my mind.
Tuesday I went into Turin slightly earlier than normal because I needed to replace my graphics card. I found one that's 22 GB that was a decent price. I made sure that it would be ok for me to borrow one of the family's cameras from time to time so I can take pictures and capture some of the beauty of Northern Italy--especially the architecture and the scenery. So Thursday I was going to take the camera with me and wander around Turin for a bit... But no, it was incredibly overcast and drizzly, and Friday wasn't much better. I checked the forecast for the next week, and from what I can see it should be nice. Hopefully I can get some pictures then.
One of the times I'll take out the camera is when I head out on the nature trail. I've taken to doing longer walks on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays because those are the days that I do not need to go into Turin for class. Through a combination of exploring and sheer stubbornness, I have gotten these walks to be at least 8 miles round trip by keeping track of the steps I take using my pedometer. Granted, my pedometer is not always accurate, but it's close enough that I trust it (so long as I smack it occasionally so it will count the steps. There have been a couple incidents where I checked the number of steps it said, walked 10 steps, and only had it record 4....). Monday I ended up climbing two hills as I ventured out trying to find the places that are listed for directions. Coming back up the first hill I had to stop a few times, because my legs were so sore! These walks are nice and help me relax and refocus, but I have to admit that I miss the ocean...
When I was younger my aunt told me that Italian drivers were some of the worst drivers she had ever seen, especially after seeing the drivers in Germany both on and off the autobahn. After personal experience with the Italian drivers after driving in America for 8 years, I have to agree with her. From what I've seen it's as if the Italians don't realize or don't care that they are navigating in a giant fiberglass death trap (or less, sometimes). I've seen motorcycles that will sneak up on the edges of the road to get to the front of the line of cars waiting at a stoplight, cars that take corners entirely too quickly to be safe (without even looking to see if the way they are turning is clear or not), cars that hit other cars while parking and don't even leave information, and cars that will blow past other cars/buses to be able to maintain the same speed, regardless of whether there is room in that lane of traffic to pass. They are not opposed to veering into the opposing lane of traffic to pass other people. Suffice it to say that I have yet to attempt driving in Italy (despite the fact that I have my International driving permit). Considering the fact that I don't have an "intimate relationship with a manual transmission", I'm pretty sure I'd get into a wreck.
Italian radio makes me laugh. The station that the family has their stereo set to plays mostly American pop (Yay WCS practice!), with one difference (besides the language) : they don't censor the songs. Imagine my surprise the first time I heard the latest Pink song that has the chorus discussing having a "shit day", and hearing the word "shit" come out on the radio! I keep having to remember that English is not the main language...
Normally I would try to fit the entire bit of what happened in a week in my blog, but my one month "anniversary" of being in Italy needs its own separate blog post. So y'all may luck out and get a few more posts from me over the next couple weeks than usual. First, though, I need to go finish my papers for my online classes...
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