November 25th, 2012 - Milan, Week Thirteen!

We did some Christmas decorating yesterday, including putting up a tree, making sugar cookies, hanging mistletoe, and listening to excessive Christmas carols. Winter is coming!

November 21st, 2012 - Milan, Week Twelve!

Guys! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, mostly because I like telling people that I think they're great, and also I like holidays that encourage me to eat a lot of pie.

This year is going to be a little different, though. Usually, around this time tomorrow, I would be at my aunt and uncle's house, gorging on way too much turkey and having a great time with my entire extended family. There would be football and my mom and I would have watched the Thanksgiving Day parade earlier that morning, and she probably would have made us all cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

However, this time tomorrow, my schedule will have looked a little different. I still have class tomorrow, though I'm done at 3 o'clock so it isn't terrible! And then I will be coming home to make some biscuits and some apple pie, and later that night my roommates and friends will gather at our apartment where we plan to eat and be thankful together! So in honor of that, in honor of 'making things work,' and in honor of being grateful for the opportunities I've been given, here are the things I am so thankful for this year. 

1. My family. I know it's obvious, and I know #2 on this list (Heads up: It's going to be 'My Friends') is equally obvious, but I can't say it enough. My mother has emailed me every single day since I've been here. I think she missed one day, and it was because she got distracted when she opened up her email and ended up responding to work stuff. When I Skyped my brother earlier this week and asked him how he felt about One Direction, he responded by temporarily leaving the screen and returning with his hair slicked into a coiffeur that Harry Styles himself would have been extraordinarily proud of. My sister sent me a video the other day just proclaiming how much she missed me. My father lets me make fun of his beard when we FaceTime. I know it is the little things, but I am so grateful for such a loving, supportive family. 

2. My friends. Sometimes being abroad is lonely. Sometimes it's scary and frustrating, other days it's jump-up-and-down, never-want-to-come-home exciting. But no matter what kind of feelings I've had or experiences I've gone through or stupid, silly things I've wanted to share, there has always been an abundance of people willing to listen and laugh with me. Not everybody gets to say they have friends as dedicated and wonderful as mine. I'm so thankful! 

3. Globalization. Tomorrow, I'm going to get to eat mashed potatoes and turkey and apple strudel (pie isn't a real thing here, sorry) and stuffing. If I work hard enough, I think I can find a live stream of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Thanks to the extensive globalization of American traditions, I found some cookies shaped like little turkeys and pilgrim hats in the grocery store the other day. It's weird not being home for the holidays, but the dissolution of a lot of barriers that used to exist has made it so much easier to feel happy and healthy and excited about spending Thanksgiving in a foreign country. 

4. Being in Italy. I feel very fortunate to have my dreams come true. It sounds corny and silly and overdramatic, and let's be honest, I'm probably phrasing it melodramatically because I'm feeling sentimental, but I do feel extremely lucky to be living abroad. Despite the whining my roommates and I all do about the steep prices of Metro passes and the homework and the creepy guys who follow us around with umbrellas in the sunlight, spending three and a half months in Italy is the most ideal situation I can think of. I am grateful for all sorts of little things that Italy has given me: Amaretto gelato. A trip to Scotland. An appreciation for my own bathroom. Grocery stores within walking distance. A reliable transportation system. Italy has never looked so good!

5. Coming home. In 28 days, Mom and I will be boarding a plane to come home so that I can hug my friends and kiss my siblings and eat Chipotle and celebrate Christmas. I can't express my gratitude enough that I have a place to call home and that I have people I love to come home to. 

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Eat a lot and don't feel guilty about it. Give everyone you love a big hug and a kiss. Say nice things. Do something great! 

November 14th, 2012 - Milan, Week Eleven!

So, it's been a while since I've updated! Sorry bout that...time has been flying lately, and I keep forgetting to report on what I've been doing here! As of today, I have exactly five weeks left until I come home. Crazy, right? I can't believe it. 

Things have been going really well here! The news of today was a general strike that happened across Italy. Kids marched down the street next to my school, hundreds of kids, stopped outside our gates and threw eggs and fireworks at the school. They were extremely unhappy about the state of private vs. public education in Milan, and since they have every right to express that displeasure, we were forced to stay in the school and just wait it out. Luckily it passed after about 20 minutes, nothing violent happened, and it was a cool sight to see! 

The past few weeks have been a flurry of schoolwork/midterms, cooking, shopping, and wandering around the city. Anne and I went shopping near the Castello Sforzesco last week where we found the best amaretto gelato I've ever eaten. The weather has been changing, so it's been cooler and rainier here (my favorite weather). Other than that, I feel like I don't have a lot of exciting things to report! Milan definitely feels more like my home now. I adore this city and I am going to be heartbroken to leave. I can't imagine what I'm going to do without the city that has taught me so much over the past three months! 

It's not time to be sad yet, though. I still have so much time! So in the meantime, I think I'm going to go hunker down with a vat of pasta and watch a little TV with my roommates. 

Have a great day!

November 2nd, 2012 - Milan, Week Nine!

Hello!

Just wanted to give you a little update. This weekend is my 'fall break,' so we had Thursday off for All Saint's Day, and we resume school (and midterms) on Monday. 

For Halloween, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by some great friends and FANTASTIC food! We held a miniature aperitivo at our apartment and everyone contributed a dish. Some of my personal favorites: toasted pumpkin ravioli, grilled prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, and mac'n'cheese gnocchi. I'm picking up some great recipes here! After dinner, a couple of my roommates and I headed to one of the theatres here in Milan to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" because it was being shown in English! It was one of the best Halloween's I've had in a long time - probably because it consisted of two of my favorite things: food and musicals. 

"It's just a jump to the left!" 

The rest of the weekend has been delightfully calm. This morning I went out to the Duomo and toured the cathedral/climbed to the top so I could see the city from way up high. Yes, it took me exactly two months to be a 'true' tourist in my own city. It was worth it though! The view was fantastic. Tonight my roommates and I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs, and have been listening to Christmas music on repeat. (A little early? Never.) 

Yep, this is the city I get to live in!

The rest of my weekend will consist of studying (gross), shopping (thank the Lord! The credit cards have arrived!), and eating (as usual). Hope your weekend is great, too!

October 30th, 2012 - Milan, Week Nine!

Today I would like to do a compare and contrast post. I've been noticing a lot of similarities/differences in this country and I think it's time we discuss it. 

Compare/Contrast #1: Fun 

Things that are fun: being in a foreign country. Things that are not fun: being in a foreign country with no money (yeah, I'm looking at you, Barcelona). This leads us to Compare/Contrast #1.1: The Post Office. In the United States, my packages get delivered, and that's that. In Milan, my packages, which contain my brand spankin' new credit cards, gloves for the cold winter months, and a nice pair of headphones so I can listen to Nitty in peace, 'clear customs' on a Friday, 'clear customs' again on Monday, and then don't get delivered at all. (It's Tuesday and even though the USPS site says it was delivered, I have yet to see evidence of that. You win, Milan. You win.) 

Compare/Contrast #2: Lectures

Milan gets approximately a thousand points in my book for the lecture I got to attend tonight. I was fortunate enough to be invited by my roommates to a lecture hosted by Ezio Guaitamacchi, who sat us down in a circle on the floor and attempted to "recreate Woodstock." This included singing Bob Dylan songs while he played his acoustic guitar and told us about his close personal relationship with Country Joe from Country Joe and the Fish. The last lecture I attended at UNL was about water security, which, while it was informative and obviously a very important topic, didn't strike quite the same chord as hearing someone speak who had seen Bob Dylan live in concert 55 times. 

Compare/Contrast #3: Media

Something I've been noticing here in Milan: There are virtually no outlets for media out on the streets. Restaurants do not have TVs in every corner where you can watch the news or a sports game or some quippy pop culture talk show while you eat. Even down in the Metro and other public transportation terminals, the screens that are present are mainly to advertise dining services on the trams or highlight the fact that you can buy a 49 euro round trip ticket to Hungary (Good deal!) While sometimes this makes me feel pretty isolated in the city, it is also kind of nice. Rarely do I feel ashamed of my not-quite-as-fashion-saavy taste in clothes (sweater weather, whaddup!) or concerned with what day-to-day decisions celebrities are making. 

Compare/Contrast #4: Cafeteria Food

I can honestly say that I have been very lucky with dorm food during my college career. Neihardt had a good selection and rarely did I feel like I wasn't getting my money's worth because all of the food was cold, slimy, or inedible. However, Neihardt's cafeteria food has been sufficiently shown up here in Italy. How is it possible that even the food mass produced for Italian college kids is still kind of a delicacy? Every day I get to eat some fancy pasta dish, or a beautifully roasted chicken, or, as was the case tonight, a great plate of steak fries that were perfectly seasoned and didn't even need ketchup. I am grateful for great food. 

Compare/Contrast #5: Wanderlust

I'm going to be honest. After Barcelona, I didn't quite feel like myself. For one thing, I was constantly paranoid about being mugged or harassed or even approached on the street. For another, I didn't feel the same pang of wanderlust that I have felt basically every day since I knew what wanderlust was. I didn't have the same desire to travel endlessly; I just wanted to be safe and tucked into my bed here in Milan, eating gigantic bowls of pasta where no toothless men could steal my belongings. But today, something changed. I was walking down the street on the way to school when all of a sudden, I got a wave of restlessness and started wishing that I were back in Scotland. That got my mind wandering and I started thinking how cool it would be if I were in London today, just roaming around. And then I started wondering if it were possible to teach foreign languages in London, and thinking I should look into that. I guess the point of this is that it was just really nice to feel a familiar breeze of listlessness. Made me feel a little bit more like myself (and also made me really want to get over to London.)

Milan is doing great things today! Hope you are too :)

October 23rd, 2012 - Milan, Week Eight!

Hello!!

Just wanted to give you a quick mid-week update. Not too much has been happening here out of the ordinary, but here's a couple of things I've been excited for!

1. I had my first midterm this week and it went surprisingly well - I'm really pleased that I was so well-prepared, and that I have one less test to worry about for when midterm week rolls around in early November!

2. ABSENTEE VOTING. I finally got my ballot together, found the consulate, found the right envelope/address/postage, and got to cast my vote. I am so excited to have officially voted in my first presidential election!

3. National Novel Writing Month starts November 1st! I am so excited to get started. I found an adorable American-style coffeeshop right next to school this weekend, so I hunkered down and got some character sketches going and I'm feeling prepared and motivated, so that's great. 

4. My new credit cards are on the way! Thank goodness for that - plus, that means there's shopping on the horizon, which is great news.

5. The food here just keeps getting better and better. This weekend has been a cornucopia of truffles, stews, and fresh fruit - all of the best things in the world!

Hope everyone's having a great week!

October 18th, 2012 - Milan, Week Seven!

You Can't Know What You Want Until You Know You Don't 

Know What You Want

This popped up on my newsfeed two days ago (on my father's 50th birthday, by the way! Happy birthday, Daddy!) and it was pretty much the culmination of every thought, fear, and question I've had over the last month. So thanks, Thought Catalog, for hitting the nail on the head once again!

"I hope your biggest revelation this year is that you don’t really know what you want.

We grow up thinking we know what we want, but we’re wrong. We all start with the wrong idea about it. Your whole life, society has told you what you want. Others know what they want you to want. Your family, your religious institutions, your politicians and your retailers know exactly what they want you to want. You’ll get everyone’s idea but your own, but these foreign ideas will accumulate, and in the absence of your own they get you chasing things.

And you’re not born knowing what you want, either. People assume they ought to know automatically what they want, which tends to be whatever the convention it is in your culture. For some that means marrying off to “a good provider,” for others it means achieving a senior managment position, for others it means a Personal Relationship With Jesus.

Then we become adults and, if we’re lucky, slowly learn that nobody can teach you what you want. You stumble upon it. But only if you do a lot of stumbling. Your parents didn’t know what you want, they figured it’s the same as what they wanted. The only ideas they can give you of what you ought to want are the wants they can identify with. Advertisers don’t know what you want, they fish for it. The only idea they can give you is what they hope you want, which is to buy something from them.

Your own idea appears only when you have the actual experience of what you want. You can’t know until you taste it. We all start with a false idea of what we want in life, inherited from others during childhood, before we gain any perspective about life. The false idea has to be given up and the real desires have to be discovered. They may make others uncomfortable. They may make you uncomfortable at first, because you inherited your comfort zone from others.

You will either recognize this and overcome it, or you will always pursue what other people want you to want, convinced it’s what you want.

I am convinced that how happy a person becomes in life depends on how much time they spend learning what they want. Just to know what makes you glow inside is the work of a lifetime. Your real, heartfelt wants accumulate over the years, as you stumble into new experiences that electrify you.

How quickly that happens depends on how often you do what you’re not used to doing. That means travel hastens it, and habits stifle it. Doing scary and unfamiliar things hastens it, doing comfortable things stifles it. You can’t know what you want until you taste it. Do more tasting.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking what you want is just one thing. Each of our personalities is so intricate that we will resonate with thousands of categories of experiences, from the kind of clothes you feel best in, to the city you want to live in, to the person you want to grow old with, to the way you take your coffee. You may not know these preferences of yours yet, even if you assume you’ve known for thirty years. 

Your wants are always going to be more articulate than the ones you inherit from society. They are more specific. They make something tingle in your consciousness in a way that nobody else will understand. That’s why you can’t listen to anyone else when it comes to what you want in life.

I’m slowly learning what I want, and I only began to learn, really learn, once I discovered that I don’t already know what I want — that the things I’ve been chasing all this time have been other people’s wants.

A few things I know I want, even if nobody else wants me to want them:

I want more driving with the windows down and the radio off

I want fewer things from the dollar store in my house

I want more one-on-one coffees and lunches with friends

I want more walking

I want more savoring and less chugging

I want more metal possessions and fewer plastic ones

I want more plants

I want to wear clothes that make me want to stand up straighter

I want more time with a book in my hand and less time with a mouse in my hand

I want more talking and less thinking

I want less drink-nursing and more dancing

I want more greens and fewer starches

I want people to collect things I create

I want color co-ordination

I want things well-oiled and tuned up

I want baths with ambient music playing in the next room

I want to meet people with unconventional attitudes towards sex

I want to be a regular, with a usual, somewhere

I want to mingle with strangers, everywhere

I want to surprise people who know me

I want to change plans without fretting about it

I want to read one book at a time, instead of eight like I do now

I want to change the way you think about the important things

What do you want? Tell me, but don’t answer too quickly. "