My New Home

I arrived from Italy on May 27th. It was a day earlier than the gals and two days earlier than the students, and I am glad that I arrived when I did.

It gave me time to get used to the idea that I was in Switzerland and that a big mountain was staring me in the face every time I passed by my balcony. (Yes, I have a balcony… a big one in fact that stretches to the bedroom.) It also gave me time to unpack and figure out my new surroundings.

The apartment I’m in is pretty nice. It has a locked main door and I am on the 2nd floor to Americans, which is the 1st floor in Italy. The bottom floor is the “zero” floor. I’m not sure if that is the same in Switzerland, but my guess is it is. But I digress. So the apartment, yes. It’s the furthest away from the school but the closest to the lake.

In the living room, I have a forgettable fireplace. Not that it isn’t cute, but I just keep forgetting it’s there. It’s far too comfortable here to use such a thing this time of year. I also have a charcoal grey IKEA-style couch with bolsters and everything. There’s also a desk/dining table. The TV sits in a corner close to the entrance to my bedroom. For a TV-watcher like me, the positioning is awkward, but my guess is that few guests sit and watch television here. Most of it is in Italian, German, or French, except for CNN International (I think). Regardless, it’s a TV and while I was here alone, I did take time in the mornings to see what was on and enjoyed some familiar American TV shows that were dubbed. Scrubs is still funny in German!

My temporary home has one bedroom with two twin beds. It has a nice-sized bathroom complete with bidet. The kitchen… hmm. I guess the kitchen is small but I would have no idea really since the kitchen is usually the last place I would (read: should) be.

“What’s that last comment about?” you’re probably thinking to yourself. Well, I’m not exactly a super-star in the kitchen. Apparently, my talents don’t suddenly change when I attempt to cook in a foreign country. I still boil over pots when I try to cook pasta. I still burn things when I try to fry them. And I still experiment with spices that I have no idea about. All in all, at least I made something edible: pasta with fried zucchini. (I know! I should open a trattoria!)

Food-topia!

It’s official. I’m in the greatest place on the planet. There is gelato right around the corner. I had a Swiss milk chocolate bar in my lunch bag. And I have had pork for two dinners so far. Mmmm. My tummy is so happy.

Where, oh, where, dear readers is this food-topia? It’s a glorious place called Switzerland, specifically the Ticino region where Italian dishes reign supreme.

If you’re looking for a visual. I have one for you. Beyond the trees, this is what I see when I turn my head left as I stand on my apartment balcony:

I know. I know. Try to hate me later. For now, allow me to take you along for the ride.

Our Amazing Race

OK, before I post pictures, I have to tell you about present conditions.

There is a big party right outside my balcony, just a few feet from my bedroom. I’m not kidding. Step out, look to the left, and there it is. It’s loud. There’s music, there’s food, there’s drinking, and a bunch of my students are there along with fellow faculty. When I look straight out, as opposed to the left, I can see the men’s WC, and none of the men seem to care about closing the main door. It’s… lovely. Actually, I’m not bothered by any of this. I think it’s kind of neat. I feel like I am living in a big city above a bar, instead on the shore of a lake in a small town.

Anyway, so here I am now in Switzerland. I’ve been in the school all day today. Today was the day that all of our students arrived from everywhere. And by “everywhere” I really mean that. Some of them came from Milan, others from Tuscany, others from the US, and another from Ireland. Regardless of where they have traveled from, they all come with stories of mishaps along the way. Oh, life of the traveler!

As the first group arrived, I felt like I was hosting the Amazing Race. The first group, the winners, arrived well before anyone else. They were amazed at how no one else from the program had arrived yet. They were then able to take on the next leg of the race, which was either exploring the town via bicycle, changing their money, or getting gelato! Truly for this group, their reward was being able to rest.

The rest of the teams eventually trickled in, with the last seven students arriving after we had already started dinner.

And so, the journey begins and ends all at the same time.

Buona Sera from Florence!

Well, it’s been a very nice trip so far. We started off in Zurich in chilly temperatures, then moved on the Bellinzona where it was warmer. As we made our way to Italy, it got hot.

Our first introduction to the country was Marina Di Pisa, a coastal area outside of Pisa. The next morning we headed to Pisa to roam around for a few hours and take the typical Leaning Tower photo. Later that day, we were off to Rome and our lovely apartment that was in a great location to walk everywhere.

Now we’re in Florence and are leaving for Venice in the morning. Fun, fun!

More details and photos to come once there is time to blog longer.

Ciao!

When It Rains, It Pours.

Today began with my getting up early to give a make up final exam. The exam was scheduled for 9:30 and this morning I also had to remember to bring in student projects that had been cluttering the house as well as textbooks that I needed to ship out for the Study Abroad program. Also on tap today was graduation walk-through.

As I was getting ready to leave the house, I headed downstairs (on that level we have a small foyer, coat closet, garage, and storage room) to put on my shoes. Imagine my shock when my socks were soaking wet in less than 2 seconds. The foyer was wet, really wet. The little carpet that is under our feet when we come into the front door was soaked, so was the tile, so was the carpet in the coat closet, our shoes, the garage, and everything that was on the ground in the storage room. What a mess.

The runoff water from everyone else’s yards probably streamed through ours.

Here you can see where the stream flowed.

I tried to use a wet vac to get the carpet dry, but I gave up and decided to pull it up instead.

We think the water seeped into the house from this corner of the storage room.

We had a box of books that we were going to put in a yardsale or donate. Here’s the no-longer-mini French/English dictionary on the carpet I pulled out of the closet.

It rained a lot last night. And by a lot, I mean torrential downpours, a mudslide in the neighborhood, and one of my friends (who is a colleague from work and lives on the next street) having his home condemned. It’s been a laborious day but I am thankful that we only lost some negligible items and had water clean up to do. We had the worst problem in our row of townhouses, but I can’t imagine what my friend is going through right now, and I don’t even know where he is. I’ve tried calling him all day with no luck. I didn’t even find out the full extent of his problem until I happened to watch the 10 o’clock news, and I immediately walked over to his house to check on him, but he is no longer there. He doesn’t use a cell phone. It’s graduation weekend and most of the hotels in town are packed.

I’ve reached my capacity for stress these past few months. Help me out and try to think positive thoughts and hope it doesn’t rain any more.

I’m Over You

Lately the phrases “I’m over it,” or “I’m over them,” or “I’m over something,” have entered my mind. It is typically due to major frustrations with life, students, or work. For some reason, though, whenever I say one of these phrases, it takes me back to…

Friends (from msnbc.com)

“So no one told ya life was gonna be this way…” clap, clap, clap, clap

Oh, Friends, that was a fun show.

In particular, the line that has always stuck in my head was when Ross discovers that Rachel is “over him.” I believe it was when he was involved with Julie and he was unaware of Rachel’s feelings for him. Do you guys remember this line? Whenever I think of it, it makes me chuckle.

Ross: “You’re over me?… When… when were you under me?”

ha! Share your favorites with me.

My Step Brother, aka My Cousin, Lives in Port Charles.

This is in response to CWG’s Monday Theme Post.

When I was a kid, I watched Soap Operas, though it is rare that I watch them now. My watch-it-any-time-and-it-still-makes-sense-in-a-ridiculous-kind-of-way soap is General Hospital. It’s at 3:00 on ABC.

In my younger years, after we finished school my sister and I would end up at the neighbor’s house until Mom got off from work and could pick us up. I remember that General Hospital was usually on the TV at some point. And this is how the two of us learned about life.

Life is dramatic. Life is romantic. Life is full of ups and downs. People live in places called “brown stones” and everyone enjoys a good get-together at a places called Kelly’s where an older, wiser woman behind the counter could always make you feel better, knock some sense into you, or let you rent the room above the dining area if you needed it. There were people with last names like Scorpio and Quartermaine, but there was also a Jones in the mix. Port Charles was a thriving metropolis of mysteries, crazies, drug lords, and millionaires.

After a few years, I grew into watching more soap operas, mostly the ones on ABC. Getting out of school earlier meant being able to watch One Life to Live. In the land of Llanview, there were schizophrenics named Nikki/Vicki, a patriarch named Asa, and a hot guy named Max who was coupled with an equally hot Gabrielle…. Once I got to college, I kept up with Days of our Lives…. Now? I don’t have time to keep up, nor do I care to.

The former Billy Douglas. (from instyle.com)

The former Eric Brady is now Supernatural. (from cwtv.com)

The thing that I remember the most about Soaps in general is how they were the training ground for actors. For example, did you know that Ryan Philippe played gay teen Billy Douglas on One Life to Live? Yup. I followed the storyline one summer. In fact, I even wrote him a lovely fan letter commending him for his brave performance. In return, I received an autographed photo. Beat that, Twitter!

And then there’s the very easy on the eyes, Jensen Ackles. Rrrrrrrow. That kid’s pretty. He played Sammi’s twin brother on Days.

Who can forget Jack Wagner from GH. Frisco Jones? Rick Springfield = Dr. Noah Drake. John Stamos = Blackie Parrish. Meg Ryan was on As the World Turns. David Hasselhoff was on something, too. Man, the list goes on and on.

Happy Mother’s Day from Justin and Andy

It’s no secret that I heart Justin Timberlake. He’s charming, funny, talented, and willing to laugh at himself. Last night JT hosted SNL again and it did not disappoint. Every skit he was in was so funny! And I’m sure the Digital Short in particular will quickly make its rounds in emails, tweets, and FB messages. (Clicking the images will take you to NBC’s website.) Take a look but… don’t send the link to your mother… but then again, maybe you should.

5 Months Later... a new song, a new message.

And just for fun, here’s another one that got some big laughs.

Cornelius Timberlake predicts the future.

Breaking Bread, Breaking Down Walls

Today I took a couple of my students to lunch. I thought it would be fun thing to do since they will be graduating next week and the likelihood in my seeing them any time soon is quite slim. I have known one of them since his first semester as a transfer student, which also happens to be the first semester I started teaching. And I grew closer to the other student when she would help me put classroom equipment away and ask me questions about life after graduation. On top of that, the two of them are good friends, so it made for a fun afternoon.

I no longer felt the need to act like their “instructor” and they were more open than they have ever been in the past. It was a David Hasselhoff moment in Berlin. The walls came down. Truly, it is not until you have a meal with someone that you truly begin to see who they are. The conversations were rather amusing and enlightening. Some stories were unexpected and a little scandalous but not surprising.

Oh, what a difference a day makes! I was stuck in world of misery for such a long time, lunch with the two of them really perked me up. All in all, I’m so glad I did it.

The New Therapy

Lately, I’ve noticed that I’m super cranky and easily irritated. A lot of this has to do with things going on… or not going on… at work. I’ve had difficulty getting past my irritation, and don’t feel like myself at all. Usually, sitting and listening to John Mayer on my iPod soothes me and puts me in my happy place. When that doesn’t work, I sometimes just need a good cry to release whatever build up is brewing inside me. Even after both of those things, I felt a little better, but the feeling did not last long.

I didn’t realize this until just a few moments ago, but blogging also helps. In looking at my latest posts, you can see that I have not been keeping up… and I’m well aware of that. In fact, that bothered me. It bothered me in multiple ways: I hated that I didn’t have the time to blog, I hated that I was so consumed by work that I didn’t have anything to blog about, and I hated that I have not been able to keep up with the blogs that make me laugh and smile.

In the big scheme of things, I need to do this. For me. So even though things are crazy right now, I am going to make a point of writing every other day, even if it has to do with work things. And, I’m going to get back to finding time to read the blogs that I’ve lost track of. I’ve missed you guys and I’m missed my bloggie.