Well, This Isn't As Exciting As Italy, But...

"(talking about writing sentences)... don't pad them, enjoy thinking about the language..."

- Curtis Swope, my German Cinema professor.

I think what my professor said today is quite beautiful and it got me to thinking. How wonderful would it be if every time we sat down to write a paper, a poem, a facebook message, or a blogpost, we used words to express the beauty and volatility of our language. What if we study words not just as a means to state facts or our ideas, but as elements or tools of creating art that can only be understood by certain groups of people? Hmm.

Food for thought.

Also, in case you were wondering why a German Cinema professor was talking about writing techniques, it's because 1. the methods and skills used in writing are similar to those we use to critically analyze films (not sure how, but I guess I'll find out) and 2. we'll have to write papers that include such analyses and the tips he gave are supposed to help us express our arguments.

Arrival in a Strange Land!!!

I still kind of find it hard to believe that I'm going to be living in Italy for the next four months. I'm a little intimidated by my lack of knowledge of Italian, but I think that by four months this will really feel like home. To begin with, the land is beautiful. We land at the Rome airport and within minutes we're sailing past such lush, green countryside with grazing sheep and fog-covered mountains. We arrive at the Due Santi, my current residence, a small property with palm trees, vineyards and groves of olive trees. Our window opens out to reveal acres and acres of vibrant, wild land barely affected by its human inhabitants. The air is cold, but the sun is warm and after lunch we find ourselves laying out in the sun and just being so, so content. Tomorrow we are venturing out to go to Rome and see the St. Peter's Basilica - we'll learn the public transportation system which our school allows us to navigate for free (good job, UD ;] ). The days are not too much colder than in Texas, but the nights get pretty chilly, and there's no heating in the dorm rooms, so we dress warmly all the time. It's still a bit colder than I like, but I know I'll manage.

One of the most interesting thing to me is the time difference. It seems so late at 7:00 now that the sun has set and I know that back home in Texas it's only noon. The internet here is pretty difficult to obtain out here in the countryside where we are, and thus very expensive, so our minimal networking service here closes down at 10:00 pm, meaning that communication home ends at 3:oo pm central time. It's a bit troublesome, but I have a feeling I won't be spending much time on the computer here anyway. Most students even turn in their papers handwritten. I know I'm going to enjoy this coming semester. I'll stay in touch, ciao! ;)

Love, Mika