26 gennaio

Weekend Update! Friday was so much fun. Kelsey and Katie (who live next door to me) invited me out on Friday night and I decided to come last minute. What a good decision. We hopped on a bus to our friend Megan's and had a quick drink at a pub near her apartment. We then headed down to Piazza Vittorio to the Murrazi area. Murrazi is a strip along the river Po which is basically discoteca after discoteca. As fun as it was, it seems like it would be a gigantic party when the weather is warm and people can dance and drink outside. We hopped from one to another and danced up a storm. My favorite one was called Alcatraz and played my favorite American jams (i.e. Bad Romance, Tik Tok, Sexy Chick). Another bar we hopped into was called Ole Madrid and played saucy tunes (and gave us free shots). With our sore little feet we walked back to the bus stop around 3am. Side note: No one really came to the bars until 1, so next time we need to plan better for maximum energy. We got to the bus stop and since the night bus only comes once an hour we waited pitifully in the cold for another hour. I finally made it home at 4:45am. I was very very cold and my feet were cramped from my 4 inch booties but I had the time of my life and can't wait to go back.

On Saturday I slept in a bit and headed to the open market at Porta Palazzo around noon. Someone told me its the largest European Open air market. I didn't buy anything for myself but I bought my dad a soccer jersey for 5 euro (if anyone wants one let me know!). Then I went to the Lingotto for hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is a heavenly experience here. It is really thick like syrup almost, very delicious. Saturday night I stayed in with friends and kept it low key.

Sunday I worked on my internship blog. My job is to take pictures of people and their various outfits on campus. Then I interview them, write up a post, and make inspiration outfits. I finished two out of the five I have to do for this semester. My first one will be post Feb. 6th on collegefashion.net so look out for that! Drew and I ventured downtown to check out McDonalds and Drew had his first fast food hamburger EVER! There were little booths on the street selling jewelry and I was temped to buy a Padre Pio bracelet. I will definitely come home with a fun piece of Padre Pio memorabilia.

So funny Sunday night story, I told Kelsey and Katie to come over to look at pictures from the discoteca. Katie shut the door behind her and forgot that Italian doors lock themselves. The girls were locked out and stayed on our lovely (read: icky) pull out couch. Yikes! Oh well it was a fun mini sleep over.

Yesterday it snowed and graceful ole me slipped and fell on the walk to school. Luckily my friend Daniel helped me the rest of the way so I only have 1 bruise on my tailbone. This morning I met my dad's friends Davide and Paola at Cafe Torino in Piazza San Carlo for breakfast. They were very silly and fun. It was nice to see familiar faces while in Italy. I also met their friend Sisi who lives in Torino and has kids my age. In the next few weeks I'll try to meet up with them and do various things around the city. I am really excited to meet Italian kids and I think it will help me learn the language here. It's a bit disappointing how easily you can get along here without speaking Italian. This weekend I am going to Milan and Madesimo with Paola and Davide. Madesimo is on the border of Switzerland and Italy so I will be skiing in the Alps. Davide and Paola also know teenagers there who can help me with my Italian and one of them is going to the States to study for a year.

So I am very excited about this weekend and I hope the rest of the week moves by fast. Tomorrow we are going back to the open air market in search of white shirts for a graffiti party at a local pub. More to come at the end of the week with some skiing stories!xox

21 gennaio

I've had a pretty low-key week with getting adjusted to classes and everything. Monday I had Italian class once again and I am struggling but trying really hard to get the hang of it. Elementary would have been too easy so I'll stick with this one and study more. I had my first survey of art class Monday evening which was fun. The teacher is very kooky like a typical art teacher and she seems to be very knowledgeable so far. My friend Kyle made dinner that night which was penne in a very very good homemade marinara sauce. Its fun how people take turns cooking dinner. It's a nice way to get to know everyone.

Tuesday I finally fought the urge to oversleep and I went downtown Torino all by myself. I got on the correct bus (both times!) and I was even asked for directions from 2 different groups of people. I could only help out one person though but I was proud of myself for appearing as a local! I walked around Via Roma which is well know for ritzy shopping. I didn't go in to too many shops but I did do a lot of drooling while window shopping. I found this one bracelet I want to go back for which was silver with bronze charms. Each little charm was a different type of pasta. It was very very cute! Then I went to class and Italian tutoring. I did all of my homework and then ran into some friends in the cafe.

Some girls who live in Midtown invited me ice skating. We went to the ice skating rink where the figure skating competition was for the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was soooo exciting and surreal. I was a little rusty from not ice skating for years at first but I got the hang of it and sped around the rink (jk but it was fun). A ton of people from school went so it was fun to socialize and meet new people from different areas of town. I was exhausted after that so I headed to bed with bruised shins and sore legs.

The next day I had to be at school at 11am to receive my permit of stay from the police. So now I am officially here in Italy legally. After that I did a little more tutoring and then off for my first grocery shopping experience at Pam. It was so much smaller than an American grocery store and had a lot fewer options but also a lot of things I've never had. Everything seemed fresh which was really interesting and clearly not always the cause at home. I bought some proscuitto, breakfast cakes, yogurt and gelato. So far I haven't tasted anything here that I haven't liked. After Italian class I went to the Lingotto with Brianna and Drew. I fell in love with a million pairs of shoes as usually but didn't buy any. I really didn't want to go into Zara here since they have it at home too buy the sales drew me in. I found a very very cute dress for 10 euro so I bought it. After shopping we went home and made tortellini.

Today I slept in. Mainly because I had to wait for the construction workers to go to lunch so that they couldn't see me when I showered. I went to class and reviewed for my big test tomorrow. After class I went to the carteleria to buy notebooks and came home with 2 Hello Kitty notebooks. I don't know the obsession with HK here is all about but I am all about it! Later on we went to a bar for appertivo. Lots of places here in Italy have appertivo. Basically, you pay for a drink (rum and coke please!) and then you sit and eat little appetizers that they have out on the bar. It costs 5 euro on weekdays and since its mostly carbs it fills you up nicely for dinner. I think its a pretty genius idea that might do well in the states. The rest of the night I spent studying Italian in the USAC lounge at school. Learning Italian is nerve racking for sure but sooner or later I'll get the hang of it.

This weekends plans are up in the air for now. I think we're going to explore the sites of Torino and maybe Genoa. I will keep my blog up to date for sure.Let me know if theres anything you're dying to know about! xox

Gennaio 17 2010

Classes started officially this Thursday. I had intermediate Italian which was and will be challenging but I think ultimatly it will be better for me especially since I'm not taking it for a grade. I also had my first non-Italian class which was Business and Cross-Cultural ethics. There are people from all over Europe in my class and it is mainly discussion based so that makes for a good mix. I wasn't feeling to well so after dinner and class I went right to bed. I woke up feeling better on Friday, which was good because I went on a group tour to the top of the Lingotto Mall.

The Lingotto (which I've mentioned before) used to be where FIAT cars were built. They built cars vertically so the smaller parts are built on the bottom like steering wheels and such and the the top/roof was the test track for the cars. We got to walk around it and it was really really cool. There is also a really interesting ball/dome on top of the building equipped with a helipad and its a meeting room for important FIAT executives.

The view was disappointing because the weather hasn't been nice since Monday. It was hazy so the Alps we only slightly visible and my pictures only came out so so. We could see the Olympic bridge from the building and we can go walk on it so I may do that soon.

Next we got to see Giovanni Agnelli's (the former owner of FIAT)private art collection. I was amazing. There were 2 pieces from Picasso and a few from Matisse too. They were gigantic pieces of art, I can only imagine what their home looked like.

We made dinner later on and then ventured down town in search of gelatto from Grom. It's a chain and they have one in NYC too (highly recommend it). They do monthly flavors too according to which fruits are in season. Then we went out for a drink and then decided to head home, or so we thought...

We waited a while for the bus. When we got on the bus it took forever. Why? Because we took it to the total wrong end of town. I used my broken Italian to ask this group of guys how far away we were and then they called us a cab. 2 hours and 30 Euro later we were home!

Saturday morning we left for our weekend in Milano. The train was nice and only a 2 hour ride but once again the weather was gray and gloomy. We checked into the hostel and then went to il Duomo which is in the center of Milan. It was so gorgeous. The building was magnificent. The square it was in had tons of pigeons and guys scamming you helping the pigeons on you and then asking for money. Lucky for me I'd rather die than let one of those rats of the sky touch me. We went inside of il Duomo but pictures didn't come out too great. I said a little prayer for keeping my travels safe and then moved on to the Galleria. The Galleria had high ends shops, cafes, and hotels. Basically where I will spend all of my time shopping and dining once I marry George Clooney.

We then walked to the famous opera house La Scala. It was so unbelievable and grand inside.I would have loved to see a ballet there. They were preparing a stage for the next days performance. Then we walked through the museum and saw various costumes and instruments.

Next was Castello Sforzesco. Fun travel fact, museums don't charge you admission if its 30 min. before they close! That was really cool too. Someone raised a funny point that sometimes buildings don't last 25 years in the states (cough cough BATES) but all over Europe these accident buildings are everywhere. After we walked around a good bit we went back and hung out at the hostel.

Today we went to the church where DaVinci's Last Super is held. Tickets were sold out so maybe when Dad comes we'll plan ahead and go there. Then we went to the shop I read about on fashion blogs, 10 Corso Como. It. Was. Amazing. Itay's version of Henri Bendel only better! Everything there was so beautiful. Exactly the kind of art museum I enjoy. Too expensive for shopping but boy did I appreciate everything in there.

Tomorrow I'm going to explore downtown Torino by myself so I can shop and people watch. I can't wait and I'm going to try to meet some Italians so I can learn and assimilate. That's all for now but pics are up and more posts soon to come! xox

Gennaio 13, 2010

Today I was our last day of orientation and first day to meet our teachers. As I mentioned before I live only a block from school. For some reason our alarm never went off so we woke up at 10am, the time we were supposed to be at school, whoops! Luckily I had my outfit laid out the night before. I rushed over to school by 10:15 only to remember that Italians are always fashionably late and class didn't start for another 5 minutes. I think I can get used to this. We talked about all of the various events the office has planned for us and how to buy tickets for an Italian soccer game (!!!). Then afterward our teachers came in and gave course presentations. The professors seemed extremely intelligent and I feel like they have lots and lots to offer us. I am excited to start classes besides the having to attend part. And today I hate my first vending machine coffee, which is by far better than any coffee that I've had in the US. Later on we walked around our area of town and found a lot of quaint bakeries and shops. We went into a shoe store where everything was only 15 euro. I only restrained myself with the constant reminder of “don't worry this shop isn't going anywhere”. We then stopped in a little paneteria and bought biscotti and a liter box of white wine. Perfecto! It's been a calm night and I plan on getting some sleep so tomorrow I can go grocery shopping for the first time. I am excited to see how different it is from an American grocery store. And tomorrow I'm trying out Intermediate Italian to see if I can take on the challenge. And btw wine in a box is even good in Italy :)

Here's my bucket list for my time here in Italy:

Visit an open air market at eat fresh fruit

Cook an authentic Italian meal

Buy a beautiful Italian leather bag (and maybe boots)

Go to Milan Fashion Week

Eat procuitto and cheese in Parma

Ride a gondola in Venice

Go to a Juventus & AC Milan Game

Go to a Serie A Championship game

Eat a nutella crepe

Have a shot of Limoncello

Visit Alba and drink lots of wine from Piemonte

Walk along the River Po

Go to Paris, Barcelona, and Prague

Take a zillion pictures

Sit in a cafe and have conversations with Italians

Speak Italian fairly fluently

Transform my style into something sophisticated

Dress nice everyday

Get asked directions from an Italian

Find a perfect souvenir for each special person in my life

Go to a discoteca and dance the night away

Read a book in a piazza

Visit Connie in Rome, Lauren in Florence, Naomi in Barcelona and Leigh in Marseille.

Meet George Clooney at a bar on Lake Como

Buy unique pieces of jewelry from the open air markets or the piazzas

Go to the Alps

Go to the Opera in Torino

Buy something Hello Kitty

Go to the Almalfi Coast and get a tan

Only speak Italian for 1 day start to finish

Eat authentic Torino hazelnut chocolate

Visit Lavazza coffee plant

Shop on Via Garibaldi

Visit Sephora Italia

Make friends with our Italian neighbors

Eat a picnic in the park across from school

Throw an orange at the Carnival di Ivrea

Go to Venice during Carnival

Buy a piece of beautifully made clothing

Subtly stand out with impeccable style and HAVE FUN!

Travels to Torino and Settling in

This is going to be my blog while here in Torino so here is the rundown of my trip so far!

Saturday, January 9, 2010- I left for the airport in the afternoon after eating at Chipotle with Mom and Dad. We waited in line for a really long time at international check in. Going through security was really hard because it was so sad. I hate saying goodbye so it was not good. After I was told to stop crying because I was too pretty (right?) I passed through security and went on my way to the terminal. I was anxious especially because I can’t sleep on flights. I soon boarded and was on my way to Frankfurt. I avoided my beloved diet coke in hopes that it would help me sleep better and I chose beef teriyaki for dinner. I sat back and watched Sunny with a Chance of Meatballs. It was so cute! Kids movies are really the best. Unfourtantly the programming just ran on a loop for the 7hr 14min flight so I watched things over and over as I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I guess this is where timing gets a little complicated so now I shall move on to…

Sunday, January 10, 2010- I got off the plan in Frankfurt and felt a blast of cold German air. Gotta love winter storm Daisy! I walked very very far the large airport to get through customs. It was actually quick and easy. After that I had to walk through security to get to my smaller flight. I was extremely disoriented as I gathered my things to go through the check point. Apparently you don’t have to take your shoes off as you go through (might as well stamp my barefeet with AMERICAN on them haha). So after i went through security and found my gate I sat down at the terminal. Not sure if this was a European thing or maybe because it was a little commuter flight but the waiting area had big windows with little cafe-esque tables and chairs. There was also a little vending machine for coffee which was conveniently free. Stupidly I didnt realize this and paid $4 for a diet coke (Guess Dad was right, things will be more expensive than I expected). I had an hour and a half in Frankfurt before I went to Torino and students from the San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles flights slowly rolled in so I got to meet some students before I boarded. So many students are from CSU Chico. So many many West Coasters here. It seems pretty diverse with the except of the Cali influx. It was nice chatting with people and talking about how no one really slept on the flight. It soon came time to board and since in the US the checked baggage rule is 1 carry on and 1 personal item I thought I would be okay to bring my carry on and bookbag. Boy was I wrong. At the gate the persuaded/asked/forced me to check my carry on which contained my favorites clothes, toothbrush, prescriptions, warm pajamas and HELLO KITTY. Basically everything that I would NOT want to get lost. Well fast forward to Torino and the bag they persuaded/asked/forced me to check is missing (even as I write this). Funny part about it is that our flight was supposed to take off at 1:10pm but didn’t take off until around 2:30pm because there was a problem with luggage but “we promise you it is all on the plane now.” Omg fml really Lufthansa? Epic fail. The flight was smooth for the most part and I found out too late that wine and beer were free. The silver lining to this soon to be frustrating ordeal was the GORGEOUS view of the Alps from the sky. I took a picture. It was just unbelievable. When we finally touched down in Torino we were very excited to get there however we had no idea we would be waiting to leave for another 2 hours thanks to the baggage ordeal. Okay sorry about the luggage rant but it needed to be said haha. We took a private bus to Hotel Roma in Piazza Carlo Felice. It was located across from Porta Nuova one of the main train stations in Torino. After we put our bags down we went to a pizzaria named Stars and Roses and ate tons and tons of pizza. I had a particularly funny table and then made me cry from laughing so hard at one point. Afterward we went on a walking tour of central Torino. It wasn’t very cold, maybe about 40 degrees. Much warmer than NYC. We strolled down Via Roma and viewed the shops (Um Sephora?!), walked to the Savoys Palace, and saw il Duomo where the shroud of Turin is kept. I learned a lot about the city from walking around. The hotel had wireless connection but for me it was upsetting more than comforting. Because I had slept only 1hr since Saturday morning, I was very irritable and we very sad that no one could directly comfort me. It was hard at first but I went for a walk with another student and calmed down in the fresh air. Then it was time for some sleep (finally.)

Monday, January 11, 2010- Move in day! I woke up pretty easily and ventured down to the breakfast bar. I had forgotten how sparse Italian breakfasts were. After breakfast we had a small orientation and then time for lunch. I had a heaping plate of prosciutto and boy was it good. The one thing I have noticed about being in Italy is that I tend to get very parched very quickly. It may still just be a travel side effect. After breakfast we got on the bus and were driven to our apartments. Ours is one block from the school and one block from the Lingotto,which is a huge mall and used to be the FIAT plant. It has a racetrack on the roof which we will visit Friday. When we got to our 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment (complete with bidet and super awesome heated towel rack). We have 4 sky lights in our apartment and it is so pretty when the sun is out. We noticed there was no heat. The landlord, who speaks zero English, came up and fixed it. But for some reason as soon as he stepped out water began spewing out of the hot water heater Yikes! He told us to go out so we walked to the mall to get dinner and then checked out other student apartments. Later on that night we decided to check out an Irish pub. We wanted to go to an Italian bar but couldn’t find one. It was really fun talking to the other kids and laughing and having a good time.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010- Today was very very hectic. We still had no hot water so we had to shower at our neighbors place. Funny how there were men working on the roof, oops! Don’t worry we found the shade that goes over the window, crisis averted. We walked a total of 2 minutes to school (!!!) and then we ate at the cafe. It is really cute and very inexpensive. We had orientation today and they talked about all the day trips we have planned for the semester. There seems to be a lot to look forward to here to come. Side note: I hope I get to know Torino very well, it seems like its a big city though so there may be things I sadly miss. After orientation was over we went to the Lingotto to buy phones. It was so strange because it seems as though everyone (including Italians) for the most part buy phones and then recharge minutes as they go. Everyone had the same phone because it was the least expensive, so I decided to give mine some flair and added some signature Hello Kitty stickers (photo to come). I also bought an internet key which is a little USB that connects me to the internet wherever I go. I walked around the Lingotto with my roommate and went in a bunch of shops. I bought my first pair of Italian shoes which were little black flats for 16 euro, adorbs! I like how sales tax is built into cost so whatever the price tag says, it is for everything from phone to pizza to shoes. AND I saw my first Torino snow tonight. It was sooo pretty and very romantic.
Now I’m here perusing the internet and writing here. I’ve seen a whole bunch of Hello Kitty things so far including but not limited to: a scale, various types of gelato, stickers, fortune machine, dolls, necklace and many many more. Lovin it! I think I will blog every few days so I can look back and write the most important stuff but I guess I will see as I go on. I would love to hear comments and what not, I miss everyone in the USA. xox