(Or, Holy potato, what are you thinking?!)
I've changed my facebook language to Italian.
This is not a big deal. I can figure out that 'Gio' is Thursday and 22.20 is 10:20 pm. I know that 'oggi' means 'today' and, shit, I can translate almost anything when it's in exactly the same place as it's always been, even if the words aren't familiar. But it's reminding me that there will be a lot of little things that are going to be different over the next few months. It's the first of many changes to come.
I actually made a lot of progress today: filling out forms, acquiring property insurance mostly so that if anything happens to my laptop I won't have to live long in a state of Internet deprivation (it's questionable that I would live for long, really), making a detailed packing list that's forced me to start making painful decisions about which books to bring along, and trying to hold off the freaking-out point that I'm dangerously close to. I'm not sure what level of freaking out this one's going to be, but I've had a few already, and I think I'm due for a big one.
There are lots of reasons to freak out. There's also a pretty good reason not to: it doesn't help in the slightest. However, this rationale does not fully eclipse the crazy situations I'm concerned about: what if I can't communicate with my host family? What if I hate Italian food, or it makes me sick? What if I get lost between the airport and my homestay? What if all of my stuff gets lost? What if I get there and find that I've packed way too much? What if I leave something very, very important behind? What if I'm going to a foreign country where I don't speak the language and don't know anybody? OH, WAIT. Yeah...I signed up for this.
Okay, those are some of the things that could go wrong the first day.
I'll spend a couple more days relaxing. Maybe I'll schedule the freak-out for Friday. That seems pretty reasonable, right? So, on Friday, you should call me up and calm me down, or send me a really funny e-mail. Or just fix all the paperwork and take my place on my flight to Rome and get me settled in at Amherst; that works too.
Arrivederci, amici. I'm in for quite a ride.
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Answers to your questions:
ReplyDelete1. Use sign language and gestures to communicate with your host family until you can! Also, learn the words "slower please" because you know they're gonna be fast talkers.
2. WHO HATES ITALIAN FOOD THAT'S A SILLY QUESTION Pasta and tomato sauce. Trust me. You'll like it.
3. ...Can't help you there. You could get lost. Just find a nice looking italian boy WHO ISN'T LIKE THAT CREEPER IN "TAKEN" to take you there on his moped.
4. If all your stuff gets lost you'll just have to go shopping without me!
5. Honey, you've already packed too much. Just roll with it.
6. You'll be so busy freaking out you won't be able to leave something important behind. Write a post-it with everything you need now while you're coherent, and check it twice before you get in the car for the airport.
7. You're going to have so much fun!! Give me a call Friday, I'm good with freaking out. :) <3
Haha, I know they're all useless worries. In fact, I've just talked to my new roommate and she's already talked to the host family, so I'm much less concerned about anything going wrong when I get there!
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