I have run out of new things to talk about, so I think now it's time for some reflection on my experience this summer. But to avoid boring you with an essay of yadda-yadda-yadda, I've decided to make some top five lists... sorry for the lack of photos!
Five Things I'll Miss
The Italian language - I must admit that in hindsight I didn't improve my Italian nearly as much as I should have, and I think two factors that contributed greatly to this were that 1) most of our coworkers' English was better than our Italian and 2) the three of us MIT students could speak English to each other. Maybe if I had been placed somewhere where nobody really spoke any English, I might have wished otherwise, so who knows. But I will at the very least miss listening to people speaking in Italian, as it is a very pretty language. I do hope to somehow continue learning the language back at home.
The laid-back lifestyle - I'd say that Europeans in general tend to be much more laid-back than Americans. People like to have a simple lifestyle here, which contrasts with the hustle-bustle lifestyle that's all over the US, especially in the cities. There are some things that I do like about the American lifestyle, but people should also take some time to relax. More on this tomorrow.
Lunch at Massimo's - It's interesting how we were able to eat lunch at the same place every weekday and never get bored of the food, and it's because it's kind of like home cooking. Also we have noticed that in many of these cafés, it seems like everybody knows each other, and after a few weeks, we were able to fit in ourselves among the regulars.
Traveling - Here in Europe, everything is close together and especially with the EU making international traveling easier, it's not too hard to make a nice weekend trip. This is different from the US, where places worth visiting are far apart and would often require at least a week. Combine this proximity with Europe's rich history, and we've got something that I probably won't be able to experience back at home. Sure, traveling every weekend ended up getting pretty hectic, but I will miss it once I won't get the opportunity to see these places again.
Italian coffee - MOST OF ALL, because it's just that good. Back the US, I will have to find a place that makes a decent espresso...
Five Memorable Moments
Going to the movies - I'd have to say I wasn't too crazy about seeing Harry Potter, but seeing it in Italian made it worth it. It's just one of those experiences that you need to have in a foreign country (if you can understand the language at all).
Trip to Lyon - In Lyon, an old man looking for something to do that day took Fernando and me around town. We were originally going to just walk around but instead got a full tour! This, in addition to Lyon having some of the best food I've ever had made our trip to that city particularly memorable.
Awesome day at work - Our day at work a few weeks ago started off well enough, with a trip to the test track. But it became many times more awesome when our boss told us to take the day to go sightseeing instead of - well - working. Sebastian drove us around, and in addition to seeing some beautiful places, we got to bond with one of our coworkers.
Getting music from Fabio - My supervisor was really excited to find out that I liked the heavy metal music he listens to because he was the only one at work who listened to that kind of music. Probably from his excitement, he brought his CD collection to work one day to share with me!
"I'll break your nose!" - Of course, how can we ever forget this odd, crazy, and funny incident in Paris? The story is too long to recount here, but you can dig back a bit to the Paris posts to find it. Generally I'm not a fan of inside jokes, but this has kind of become one for us. But now that I think of it, a joke is only an inside joke if you don't explain it to other people... but I'd be more than happy to tell this story to my friends!
Five Things I'm Looking Forward To Back in the US
Change of scenery - Everybody likes a change of scenery, and even though I'm in beautiful Italy, I also feel ready to go back home, and then off to grad school. Of course, after a few months or weeks of grad school, I'll be dying to go somewhere else again, but that's life, isn't it?
Catching up with everybody - I must admit that I have never really been the type of person to maintain old friendships, but I think this trip helped me put things in perspective. Unfortunately, the time difference here was not so favorable, so I am looking forward to spending time with the family and catching up with my friends once I get back home.
Food - Italian food is really great, but I am also really craving a nice steak, some Chinese take-out, and homemade Filipino food. The food here certainly hasn't gotten boring, but I do miss other kinds of food.
Grad school - I will probably take this back after not too long, but right now I am very much looking forward to grad school, just like I look forward to anything new. Sadly, the situation with finding funding is looking cloudy... I have been in contact with a professor, but we have not been able to schedule a time to talk, as he is traveling. So unless I can get the situation sorted out by the beginning of next week, I may end up having to pay for my first semester, which is clearly undesirable. I am definitely looking forward to many things about grad school though: the campus, my coursework (believe it or not), visiting some new cities, and taking up martial arts again.
Tomorrow will be not be my last day in Italy, but it will be my last day with internet access. Stay tuned until then, where I will finally wrap up this great summer with a little cultural commentary. Ciao!
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