Back to School

As much as I enjoyed our family vacation, I have to admit that it's nice to settle down for a bit. We spent the last two weeks going from place to place, city to city, hotel to hotel. We were rarely anywhere long enough to unpack much and get comfortable, which was just as well because we were out all day, every day touring the most amazing places. Don't get me wrong- I loved every second. Well, maybe except for lugging our suitcases over the bridges in Venice when it was really, really hot. But with the exotic part of our trip over, my life can sort of become routine again. Although I'm studying in another country, school is school, you know? Wake up, get ready, go to class. I've done that for fourteen years!

I had an 8 AM class last semester at Ohio State. It wasn't my first one, but it was my first while I was living off-campus. I had to get up extra early to not only get ready, but make the trip to class in the unpleasant winter weather. I am so not a morning person, but here getting up is a little easier, possibly because it's actually light at 6:30 in the morning. When I can wake up to sunshine instead of pitch-black and more snow, it's generally a better feeling.

Nothing terribly exciting happened today. In my first class, we started working with the pluperfect tense, which I've never done in Italian. It's just like in Spanish and French, though, so it's not like it's a new concept. I won't pretend I haven't made any mistakes, but I'm trying really hard to learn from them instead of beating myself up over them. (That's a work in progress.) I just pray that the day will come when my speech is smooth, my vocabulary plentiful, and my homework without errors... at least when it's my turn to read.

In my second class, we talked about what it was like to come to Italy from another country, which was neat because, since we all come from different places, we all notice different things that are new or strange to us. I got to share some stories from our trip, comparing different Italian cities since we have been to north, south, and central Italy now. My teacher was surprised to hear my story about the buses here: I told her that at Ohio State, when the bus gets too full, the driver will actually tell students, "Sorry, wait for the next bus." In Rome, that's totally not a thing. No matter how full the bus is, and just when you're thinking that no one else could possibly squeeze on board, several people manage it at the next stop. I still haven't been Mona Lisa Squished again, though, so I guess there's always room until that happens.

I went out to "do homework" with Bart and Isabel after unwinding a bit with some Once Upon a Time. I think I actually managed to finish one of my activities in between talking about everything from how our classes went today to the weather in Ohio. Apparently, Amsterdam doesn't do eighty degrees to snow in two days, but then... does anywhere but home?

I'm so glad I'm getting on with the two of them. We're planning to have a bit of fun tomorrow, so I hope that works out. They're not here for that much longer, and I'm excited to spend some time with them before they go. Even just one good roommate memory is worth it!